Re-entry Course Content
Key Aspects of the Course:
- Micro-learning: provides short, focused bits of information and all modules conclude with a short quiz to assist students in their synthesis of information.
- Interactivity: grabs students' attention and encourages them to engage with the activities. With activities that are primarily reflective in nature, it helps to start with something concrete that the student can do. Discussion boards were used to create an organized space for sharing and connecting, which is a key component that students were looking for.
- Badging: used to incentivize and acknowledge student's efforts and skills.
- Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle: was used to guide the content and activities for this course. However, it was rephrased to make it easier for the students to think through.
Course Content
Module 1: Self-Awareness
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
- Reflect on their international experience and analyze how this experience shaped their self-awareness (social/cultural identity, feelings and emotions, values and beliefs).
- Review their health and wellness after returning from an international experience and identify supports and resources available to them.
Structure
- Feelings and Emotions: students reflect on the range of emotions they may have felt over the re-entry period and recognize that other students who have returned from abroad may be going through a similar experience.
- Values and Beliefs: the cultural iceberg was adapted to represent the re-entry experiences that students expect (above the surface, eg: unpacking, jet lag, re-establishing a routine, etc.) and those unexpected ones (under the surface, eg: loneliness, sense of accomplishment, etc.). Students then reflect on some of their own 'below the surface' changes and the impact this may have on their life moving forward.
- Social/Cultural Identity: students are asked to reflect on the elements that are core to their identity while at home, and compare the elements that were core to their identity while abroad. Did they change, stay the same, or what did they notice about their identity abroad versus at home?
- Health and Wellness: the health and wellness of students are important during this transition period, which can be a difficult time for many. Resources for students' physical and mental health and wellbeing are listed/linked for students' use.
Module 2: Intercultural Competence
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
- Define culture and intercultural competence
- Identify the attitudes, knowledge and skills required to develop your intercultural competency
- Evaluate how their international experience may have helped broaden their cultural understanding and intercultural competence.
- Articulate what they can do to enhance their cultural knowledge and intercultural competence.
Structure
- Understanding Cultural and Intercultural Competence: using Deardorff's (2006) Process Model of Intercultural Competency Development, students will explore the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they gained while abroad and how they can use these experiences to support their intercultural competency development.
- What You Can Do to Enhance Your Intercultural Competence: the process of intercultural competence development is lifelong, therefore, students are provided with resources, volunteer opportunities, readings, and more to continue their IC development.
Module 3: Employability
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
- Articulate and categorize the transferrable skills that you gained during your international experience.
- Describe specific examples that illustrate the skills you developed abroad, which will be helpful in preparing resumes and preparing for employer interviews.
Structure
- Identifying Transferrable Skills: a sample of transferrable skills are provided along with some examples of how those skills may have been acquired while abroad. Students are then asked to reflect on at least 5 of the transferrable skills they developed during their international experience.
- Communicating Your Transferrable Skills: students are asked to use the transferrable skills that they identified and the S.T.A.R acronym (situation, task, action, result) to practice and become familiar with answering behavioural interview questions.
Final Assignment: Postcard Gallery
Students will use a template postcard, where they insert a photo on the front and a brief description (50-150 words) on the back, to illustrate a learning moment while abroad.
Students will share their postcards through a discussion board with other students in the re-entry course, which will allow them to connect with and learn from each other's experiences. They will also have the ability to up-vote postcards that resonate with them, helping to create a sense of connection and shared experiences.