after reading your peers post below, craft two questions

Chapter 3, Evolving Practices in the Development and Assessment of Global Learning

What is global learning, and how do colleges and universities seek to advance students ability to engage with and navigate local and global communities?

Global learning is a critical analysis of and engagement with complex, interdependent global systems and legacies (such as natural, physical, social, cultural, economic, and political) and their implications for peoples lives and the earths sustainability. Early global learning initiatives focused on semester break tours or eventual study abroad opportunities. Those opportunities expanded into international campus arrangements with sister schools and have recently come full circle in recognizing the nearly 1 million international students who study each year in the United States. Learning internationally and locally requires understanding and accepting cultures and customs through the lens of acceptance and inclusion in learning opportunities. In 2020 Agnes Scott College in Georgia sent all 270 of its freshman class on a weeklong international tour visiting 9 countries with college faculty as part of an introduction to its Global Journey courses to expose its students to the realities of globalization. The $2400 per student cost was picked up entirely through the colleges endowment fund as nearly 45% of the institution's student body received Pell Grant funding (NAFSA, n.d.)

What kinds of approaches and tools are used to assess global learning and intercultural competence outcomes? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of tools available?

Because global learning is connected to multiple educational practices and structures, its assessment tends to be context-specific and not limited to a single practice (Hundley, 2019). Early assessment tools consisted strictly of pre and post-assessments to gauge whether stated learning goals were met. More recent assessment tools have turned to portfolios and authentic (project-based) assessments as a means to judge and prove learning outcomes.

Pre and post-test models did little to evaluate to deep nature of learning or the ability of students to actively apply knowledge to a variety of situations and contexts. Newer authentic assessments can be custom-tailored to the student, the program, or changing learning standards that evolve each year. Application-based assessments can allow for self-reflection and situational learning opportunities much more closely aligned to learning goals than traditional pre and post-assessments.

What are the barriers to developing and implementing innovative approaches to the assessment of global learning? Consistency in defining expectations and terminology is one of the barriers encountered when developing and implementing innovative approaches to global learning assessments. In addition, the development of larger scale (University-wide systems) can result in differing approaches and purposes for utilizing the data. System-wide approaches often include multiple departments and divisions of a school with some complementary purposes but vastly different focuses. Offices of Residential life, international students, academic affairs, institutional research, and student support services all bring different needs to the table and schools often struggle to build the capacity to develop, administer, and collect data that is more holistic in nature as opposed to linear in its responses.

How does this assessment address cultural responsiveness? Global learning programs were originally developed to introduce students to a variety of cultures outside of their traditional campus or community. The experiences and skills learned by students could be utilized in career applications when students enter the workforce and interact with different cultures around the world. The reality is that global communities are no longer halfway around the world. The communities exist on our campuses and in our towns. Schools, K-12, and Higher Education are now the most effective tools to help citizens and students understand the unique needs, differences, and similarities between people and how we can best meet everyones needs. Global learning and living can no longer be accomplished in isolation.