Faculty Use of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for Internationalization at Home - Sally Strand Mudiamu

Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 5-22-2020 Faculty Use of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for Internationalization at Home Sally Strand Mudiamu Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the International and Comparative Education Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Mudiamu, Sally Strand, "Faculty Use of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for Internationalization at Home" (2020). Dissertations and Theses.7342 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar.

Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: pdxscholar@pdx. Faculty Use of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) for Internationalization at Home by Sally Strand Mudiamu A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership: Postsecondary Education Dissertation Committee: Karen Haley, Chair Dilafruz Williams Yoko Sakurauchi Kimberley Brown Portland State University 2020 © Sally Strand Mudiamu FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME i Abstract Universities are not preparing all of their students for 21st century global work and citizenship. Internationalization of the Curriculum is critical to this preparation and equity in higher education. Over the past decades, universities have relied on outbound and inbound student mobility to internationalize their institutions, the curriculum, the faculty, and student learning.

students neither study nor intern abroad. Of the 10% who do go abroad, very few are underrepresented, Pell-eligible, or post-traditional students. Universities need to shift their focus from student mobility to Internationalization at Home so that all students may have an internationalized education experience as part of their degree. This qualitative study examined faculty experience in teaching Collaborative Online International Learning courses as a pedagogical approach with curricular implications for Internationalization at Home.

The interview data and analysis have implications for institutional internationalization strategy to equitably prepare all students for 21st century global work and citizenship. Key findings include that Collaborative Online International Learning is a faculty-driven intervention for Internationalization at Home, giving all students opportunities for global learning and engagement. FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME ii Dedication To my family: Bernard N., Sarah, Aimée, Bernard M. & Lukusa Mudiamu For my parents: Larry & Harriet Strand FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME iii Acknowledgements My deepest thanks goes to my advisor, Karen J.

Haley, for taking me on as an advisee and shepherding me through the dissertation journey. Her calm and patient guidance was critical to this endeavor. Her generosity of time spent with me thinking through the study and reading endless drafts will make me forever grateful. I want to thank my dissertation committee: Dilafruz Williams, Yoko Sakurauchi and Kimberley Brown.

It is an honor for me to have you share your tremendous breadth and depth of knowledge around global learning in higher education. Thank you for the time you have invested in me. I also want to recognize my cohort, who were my “brain trust” for this dissertation. Their unwavering support and solidarity made this learning experience the best of my life.

Thank you for being such amazing colleagues. My family’s support and sacrifices made it possible for me to be a doctoral student. For my husband, Bernard: Thank you for believing in me. Sarah, Aimée, Bernard and Lukusa: This degree is for you.

I hope you will be inspired to pursue life- long learning to develop your gifts so as to share them with the world. For my parents Larry and Harriet Strand: They laid the foundation for every accomplishment and success I’ve ever had. I wished they had lived to see this day. They spent their lives lifting up others.

May I do the same in my work as a scholar- practitioner. FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME iv Table of Contents Abstract.iii List of Tables. vi Chapter One: Introduction of the Problem. 1 Background and Significance of the Problem.

3 Internationalization at Home. 9 Statement of the Research Problem. 11 Purpose of the Study. 12 Methodology and Research Questions.

14 Chapter Two: Review of the Literature. 15 Internationalization of Higher Education. 15 Internationalization at Home. 25 Internationalization of the Curriculum.

74 Chapter Three: Methodology. 81 Data Collection Process. 84 Coding and Analysis. 92 Validity and Transferability.

93 Limitations of the Method. 95 Chapter Four: Presentation of the Data. 97 Faculty Professional Growth. 97 Global Learning for All Students.

125 Equity of Access to International Learning. 177 FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME v Chapter Five: Discussion and Implications for Practice. 181 COIL is a Faculty Intervention for Internationalization at Home. 182 Faculty Use COIL to Prepare Students for 21st Century Life.

186 Faculty Experienced Benefits to Teaching COIL. 189 COIL Integrates UN Sustainable Development Goals into the Curriculum. 193 Implications for Practice. 194 Limitations and Future Research.

206 Appendix A: Interview Questions & Protocol. 244 Appendix B: A Priori Codes. 247 Appendix C: Study Invitation Email. 249 Appendix D: Informed Consent Form.

250 Appendix E: Email Follow-Up to Interview. 253 FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME vi List of Tables Table 1: Faculty Participants. 82 FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME 1 Chapter One: Introduction of the Problem Universities are not preparing students, especially underrepresented students, for global work and citizenship in the 21st century. This failure perpetuates structural social and economic inequalities for college graduates.

First-generation and Pell-eligible students pursue higher education as a way of joining the middle class through professional mobility. However, those not prepared through a formal international education experience to participate in the global workforce will find that their bachelor’s degrees worth less in the job marketplace. Lack of a global learning experience can also make students vulnerable to civic tribalism and nationalism, undermining the foundations of a liberal education. Employers are asking for “career ready” graduates (World Economic Forum [WEF], 2016, 2020), especially those who have intercultural problem-solving skills.

The Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum (2016) and UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015) both call for higher education that prepares students to work in a globally networked and globally sourced work environments. Nearly 80% of knowledge workers currently work on global virtual teams (Ferrazzi, 2014) and most jobs in the future will require the ability to do so. Therefore, practicing intercultural communication and problem solving virtually and collaboratively will be an important “career ready” preparation for all college graduates. Possessing a sense of global citizenship (Andreotti, 2006; Banks, 2008; WEF, 2019) is vital to enhance students’ critical thinking skills and informed action when FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME 2 navigating difference in their local communities as well as in the workplace.

Global awareness fosters accountability towards learning with “the other,” which is necessary prerequisite to sustain a pluralistic society (Andreotti, 2006; Banks, 2008; WEF, 2019) as well as to perform 21st century work. Therefore, global competency is both skill and attitude which must be cultivated as part of a university education. Universities are internationalizing themselves in response to the pressures of globalization. Indeed, internationalization has become ancillary to the mission of higher education.

Institutions have adopted a holistic institutional approach to internationalization that is referred to as “Comprehensive Internationalization” (American Council on Education [ACE], 2015; Hudzik, 2011) or “pervasive internationalization” (Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities [APLU], 2017). The Center for International and Global Engagement at the American Council for Education has recommended six strategic areas for institutions to align their institutional priorities to become more “globally orientated and internationally connected institutions” (ACE, 2015). The foundation is an articulated institutional commitment to internationalization, such as a mission statement linked to internationalized learning outcomes, student mobility targets, and faculty research. There also must be adequate support from administrative leadership to create staffing structures to support internationalization goals.

The curriculum, co-curriculum, and student learning outcomes should be informed by international learning for global citizenship and work. Faculty policies and practices, such as promotion and tenure, should be linked to Internationalization of the Curriculum and international joint research and publication. Outbound student mobility (study FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME 3 abroad) should receive the same resources as recruiting inbound international students. Finally, collaboration through public/private and international partnerships must be pursued to help universities better understand and respond to the needs of their communities and local employers.

These six focus areas of internationalization have been adopted by most universities in their mission statements, but there is uneven engagement in them (Hudzik, 2014). This uneven engagement can undermine institutional mandates that 100% of graduates leave with an international learning experience as part of their undergraduate degree (Landorf, Doscher, Hardrick, & Musil, 2018; Waseda University, 2012). For example, many universities look at internationalization as a way to increase revenue to benefit local students through international student enrollments and international special programs. However, there is little articulation on how revenue generated from international student enrollments is to be invested or reallocated at the university to provide an international learning experience for all students (Hudzik, 2014).

Similarly, universities pursue internationalization to increase their rankings and “brand” recognition (Hudzik, 2014) as a way to attract the most talented and motivated students (Astin, 2016). Again, there is a lack of clarity on how an improved world university ranking and bringing more “talented” students improves teaching and learning outcomes for all students (Hudzik, 2011). Background and Significance of the Problem Underrepresented students, who are pursuing higher education, are most vulnerable to the forces of globalization (Applegate, 2018; Morey, 2004). Wages are FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME 4 already lower for bachelor’s degree holders raised on low incomes (Herschbein, 2016).

Contemporary higher education inequalities are exacerbated for students at open access institutions, where notions of education for public good are undermined by neoliberal differentiation of disciplines and degrees (Altbach, 2013). A lack of an international learning experience as part of their degree will further hinder underrepresented graduates in a globally networked society. Conversely, while lack of an international experience can lessen the value of a degree, the intentional addition of such an experience can mitigate structural disadvantages for underrepresented students. An international learning experience as part of the undergraduate curriculum is increasingly identified with social mobility and professional employment (Department of Education [DoE], 2012).

Participation in international learning also improves the quality of undergraduate learning outcomes (Soria & Troisi, 2014) and the perceived value of the baccalaureate degree by future employers (Bondi & Matthews, 2017; Paige, Fry, Stallman, Josić & Jon, 2009; Streitwieser, 2014). Finally, it empowers underrepresented students by defining themselves in a global community (Acquaye & Crewe, 2012). While universities have widened the overall scope of their international activities, they have continued to rely almost exclusively on Education Abroad programming to deliver global learning experiences to their students (Farrugia & Sanger, 2017). Work to overcome the barriers of the “four F’s”—faculty, finances, family and fears (Cole, 1991) —to Education Abroad has been unceasing at the institutional level.

Universities participate in a national advocacy campaign, called Generation Study Abroad, through FACULTY USE OF COIL FOR INTERNATIONALIZATION AT HOME 5 the Institute for International Education. They negotiate external non-profit Education Abroad providers to bring down instructional costs and offer scholarships. Where possible, grants have replaced traditional financial aid to get underrepresented students, fearful of incurring more debt, to study abroad (Whatley, 2017). General education and disciplinary curriculum have been articulated through Education Abroad programming, some of which are led by home institution faculty and based on a course that is already offered (Hamir & Gozik, 2018).