Developing Cultural Competencies through Transnational Learning Experiences in Active Online Learning Environments

Authors

  • Dominik May Center for Higher Education, TU Dortmund University
  • Kari Anne Wold Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
  • Stephanie L. Moore Curry School of Education, University of Virginia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v4i5.3534

Keywords:

intercultural competency, Engineering Education, transnational course setting, online engineering course

Abstract


In todayâ??s world cultural competency becomes more and more important in order to act successfully in the modern economy. Nevertheless it is often difficult to engage students in immersive international experiences that develop inter-cultural awareness. Especially undergraduate engineering students have to deal with packed curricula with little or no room for languages and an often unforgiving structure that puts them a year out of course sequences if they do travel for a study abroad. In this paper, we examine how an online engineering education can be a transformational factor in this challenge. We present a joint online engineering course designed and implemented by the University of Virginia (UVa) and the TU Dortmund University (TU) with students from both countries. In addition to the course concept itself we explain our findings on student interaction throughout the course.

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Published

2014-03-06

How to Cite

May, D., Wold, K. A., & Moore, S. L. (2014). Developing Cultural Competencies through Transnational Learning Experiences in Active Online Learning Environments. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 4(5), pp. 12–19. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v4i5.3534