Intercultural competence outcomes of a STEM living–learning community

Abstract

Background: Living–learning communities and global or diversity learning experiences have been identified as educational practices which often have a “high impact” on student success, as well as providing interpersonal competencies that are greatly valued by employers. Even without a specific intercultural or diversity component, living–learning communities would seem to offer rich settings for the development of the ability to work effectively across cultural difference. Yet intercultural learning outcomes are rarely assessed outside the domain of study abroad or diversity training programs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether participation in a “global science” living–learning community can increase the intercultural competence of first year international and domestic students, as measured by a well-known quantitative instrument, the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Results: In the first 2 years of the study, the intercultural learning content focused primarily on ‘dealing effectively with difference’ and produced minimal mean gains in intercultural competence. Examination of qualitative data from these experiences (using a well-known rubric to frame the analysis) as well as a review of the literature around intercultural learning (principally in study abroad contexts) suggested that focusing on similarity and self-awareness, coupled with individualized feedback, was likely to be a more appropriate pedagogy for students’ competency development. Following the curriculum revision, 2 years worth of participants exhibited much higher mean gains in IDI scores, as well as higher rates of shifting to a new stage of effectiveness by semester’s end. Conclusions: This study contributes to the STEM education literature by attempting to apply several years of research findings about effective intercultural competence development, principally from study abroad programs, to STEM education in on-campus contexts. In so doing, it has implications for how STEM educators can more effectively work towards cultivating global-ready STEM graduates, and towards reaching STEM students who, for whatever reason, do not typically participate in study abroad.