Assessing Intercultural Learning Programs

Hi Everybody,

I found an article on using rubrics to assess intercultural learning programs that I found very helpful. Cultural diversity is emphasized more and more in higher education, yet it is one of those areas that are difficult to assess. Students, and sometimes faculty, are not always clear about what is expected of them. The authors emphasize that rubrics can be used to provide guidelines that clearly articulate performance expectations and proficiency levels. They provide benchmarks for success and objective means to assess what can be considered subjective tasks or characteristics e.g. attitudes, values, critical thinking, etc. Rubrics can help students realize how their effort relates to evaluation.

The goal of cultural education, according to the authors, is for students to develop cultural fluency, which transcends just knowing about a cultural to a state of being. Clearly, this abstract competency is difficult to measure and assess. The goal was to facilitate and assess the developmental process of achieving competency in cultural fluency. Six objectives were developed which represent indicators of essential intercultural competence. Rubrics were then developed for each objective with clear performance indicators at three levels (insufficient, adequate, excellent). Three of the rubrics were incorporated into the article, providing great examples of how assess an abstract competency as objectively as possible. The learning objectives are listed below.
The student:
* Understands the dynamics of cultural differences and can apply that understanding through engagement with another culture.
* Sees global connections
* Has an expanded sense of self as a global citizen; understands self in relationship to the larger society
* Reflects and understands how personal identity is transformed through interaction with others
* Understands and can appreciate the context and perspective of others
* Can apply intercultural sensitivity and awareness to other situations, societies, and cultures

For example, in objective #1, the students are expected to move from seeing issues and complexities of people from other cultures as unrelated to their own life (insufficient), to appreciating how their lives intersect with people from other cultures (adequate) to the point in which students begin to participate in the multicultural environment, examining their own cultural empathy (excellent). Examples were given for the three rubrics presented, applying them to real student cases. This helped me to operationalize what I consider an abstract process.

The authors affirm that rubrics should be shared with students so that they know the criteria that will be used to measure their learning and performance. They have a right to know what the expectations will be. It is important that students and teachers dialogue throughout the assessment process and that the assessment techniques are used as tools for learning. When trying to measure a behavior as abstract as cultural fluency, rubrics provide a common language for faculty and students to measure skill development and competency.

I found the article interesting. To be honest, I do not use rubrics in assessing student performance to the extent that I should. I'm realizing how effective they are in communicating clear expectations and guiding assessment.

McGury, S., Shallenberger, D. & Tolliver, D. E. (2008). It's new, but is it learning? Assessment rubrics for intercultural learning programs. Assessment Update, 20 (4), 6-9.

Carla Gross