Developing Bridging Bilingual/Bicultural Courses (the “3B framework”) to
Prepare International Students for the American Online Classroom
in an Adult Learning Environment
Valeri Chukhlomin, Anant DeshpandeCenter for Distance Learning SUNY Empire State College
United States [email protected]
Abstract: Through the development of ―3B‖ (Bridging Bilingual/Bicultural) courses that use Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis, blogs, videoconferencing, lecture capture, asynchronous discussions, and virtual worlds, the Center for Distance Learning (CDL) at SUNY Empire State College seeks to enhance its curriculum to better accommodate international students studying remotely from their countries. Since 2007, CDL has been offering ―International eLearning Skills for Russian Speaking Students‖for individual students, as well as through partnerships with universities in the former Soviet Union. The course designed and taught by bilingual professors helps students overcome language, cultural, technological, and organizational barriers to global learning. The course introduces students to the use of learning technologies and helps them adjust their learning style to the learning culture of an American online college. The development of the course is informed by ongoing cross-cultural research.
Introduction
SUNY Empire State College (ESC) was established in 1971 to provide working professionals with the opportunity to earn associate, bachelor`s and master`s degrees from the State University of New York. The College employs a mentoring approach where students design their degree programs under guidance of faculty mentors using a process known as educational planning. Currently, ESC serves more than 20,000 adult students worldwide, with 34 locations across New York State and campuses located in Europe, the Middle East, Central America, China, and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The College‘s Center for Distance Learning (CDL), a founding member of Sloan-C Consortium, is a national leader in online learning. The Center employs LMS ―ANGEL‖, a video-conferencing tool ―Elluminate‖, a lecture capturing software ―Accordent‖, and widely uses Web 2.0 tools and virtual environments such as Second Life. To coordinate global learning, CDL has formed an international distance learning group charged with identification of potential partner institutions, advising and leading projects. Since 1998, this faculty-driven group has been involved in a series of projects with Russian universities aimed at developing undergraduate double degree programs in the field of business administration. Under terms of these projects, Russian students studying at their home institutions have an option to take online courses at CDL to obtain an undergraduate SUNY degree on top of their home qualification (Chukhlomin, 2010a, 2010b). This paper describes a particular approach named the ―3B framework‖ that uses bridging bilingual bicultural courses as a breakthrough strategy to accommodate (―acculturate‖) participating Russian students in the American learning environment.
Acculturation in a virtual context
In recent times, with the advent and increasing popularity of online education in the US and the global context, students from various countries are attracted more and more towards a US online degree (Pittinsky, 2003). With an increase in diversity in online classroom, there is a need to help learners acclimatize to the complexity of the virtual environment and to develop a culturally responsive pedagogy helpful to all learners (Gollnick & Chinn, 2002; Sahin, 2008). Particularly, in an online context researchers have reported high stress among foreign international students exposed to their first virtual experience (Kyungbin at al, 2010).
Acculturation, has been defined as ―those phenomena which result when groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous firsthand contact, with subsequent changes in the original cultural patterns of either or both groups‖ (Redfield, Linton & Herskovits, 1936. p. 149). At the education level, as pointed out by many researchers, acculturation is also the acquisition and adoption process which occurs when two cultural groups come into close contact as in case of a college and society setting (Flores & Clark, 2004). As human beings we are exposed to cultural patterns, and views which help us classify and interpret the world. Based on the recognition theory, for an individual to develop a sense of identity in a work group it is important that he or she seeks psychological affiliation, develops a perception of equality and respect (Lee & Heidegger, 2002). Acculturation helps achieve this. In an online context, international learners come from specific cultural backgrounds and have their own perception about the foreign culture and learning in a foreign host institution environment. Literature has often emphasized the importance of identification with background culture and its impact on educational outcome attainment in addition to enhancing one‘s self esteem and well-being (Phinney, 1990; Rumbaut, 1994). When dealing with homogenous bilingual communities and student groups, the use of thelearners‘ native language and bilingual instructors was found to have great potential (Taggart & Martinez, 2002; Werner-Smith & Smolkin, 1995).
Alleviating strategies and the use of Web 2.0 tools
Bridging courses if designed adequately help learners successfully assimilate to the foreign educational culture and context. Literature has often highlighted the importance of such courses for incoming foreign students and has called for research in this area (Peelo & Luxon, 2007; Evans & Northcott, 1999). Particularly, in an online context, this becomes extremely important for international learners as they do not have the opportunity to actually ―see‖ and experience the host culture. The benefits of such courses are significant. For instance, such courses provide students with an opportunity to learn about foreign country‘s educational setup and requirements. In addition, such courses provide students with cultural understanding and norms of the host country (Peelo & Luxon, 2007). This is particularly important as participation in such courses provides foreign students an opportunity to get assimilated in the host culture. Research also points that it is beneficial to conduct the distance education bridging courses in the host country as the possibilities for experiencing difficulty is less for foreign students in the host country as opposed to the student‘s foreign country (Evans & Northcott, 1999). This is because of the ready availability of support from the course provider in the host country as opposed to student‘s foreign country (Evans & Northcott, 1999). One of the other techniques in this approach also is blended learning. This tool focuses on the purposeful mix of various media to enhance learning (Yoon & Lim, 2007). For instance, the role and use of audio is important in such an approach as diverse learners respond well to guided instructions, conversations about the course and audio content material (Edirisingha at al, 2007). The use of video conferencing has also known to minimize the anxiety levels in distance education learners and promote learning (Israel at al, 2009). Literature has indicated that Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, multimedia applications and social networking sites, have been widely used by academicians to enhance educational activities and help promote future planning (Harstrone & Ajjan, 2009; Maloney, 2007; Prensky, 2001; Williams et al, 2009).
Based on the literature, as well as the results of an earlier SUNY ESC‘s project with Omsk presented next, it was hypothesized that using bridging bilingual courses could be a powerful breakthrough strategy to better accommodate international, namely Russian, students in the American virtual learning environment.
Identifying and overcoming barriers: a project with Omsk
In 1998, SUNY Empire State College engaged in a double degree project with Omsk State University, a large nationally accredited institution located in Siberia (Chukhlomin, 2010a, 2010b). To earn a SUNY bachelor‘s degree in business, Omsk students were allowed to transfer up to 96 credits towards the degree while obtaining remaining 32 credits through international distance learning (IDL). Despite substantial organizational efforts undertaken by the Omsk office, this initial program design was found not feasible. Omsk students were facing significant and sometimes insurmountable barriers to IDL that included: 1) organizational barriers; 2) communication barriers associated with language, culture, differences in academic systems; 3) insufficient subject matter knowledge and skills; 4) unfamiliarity with distance learning. In addition, the ESC learning
environment that had been designed primarily with American adult learners in mind was not perceived as ―friendly‖ by traditional age Russian students.
To alleviate the barriers, the initial program design had to be significantly changed. In particular, the following changes were implemented: 1) instead of advanced level courses, only lower level ―American‖ courses were offered through IDL; 2) in addition to purely online classes, a blended learning approach was employed where SUNY Broome Community College faculties annually travelled to Russia to conduct face-to-face classes; 3) advanced level ESC courses were conducted on-site only, through an ESC unit located in Prague, Czech Republic, where Omsk students were required to travel to complete the degree; 4) additional courses taught in English by expatriate faculties were added to the Omsk curriculum. In this largely redesigned form, the Omsk program has worked successfully since 2004, producing each year 10-12 graduates at the bachelor‘s level and 15-20 graduates at the associate‘s level.
Re-inventing international distance learning: a project with Tomsk
In 2007, ESC engaged in a new project with a Russian university. TUSUR, a polytechnic university located in Tomsk, Siberia, was interested in learning about how to effectively use virtual learning environments to develop a wholly online double degree program, without the need either for students, or professors to travel internationally. For this project, TUSUR received funding from the Russian government. On the ESC side, the IDL group was interested in learning about a possibility to rejuvenate the design of its previous, IDL-based Russian project, this time in a Web 2.0 powered learning environment.
The joint project began with two small scale pilots where Tomsk students were placed in CDL online courses as non-matriculates. In the first (―longitudinal‖) case, a student was repeatedly placed into several consecutive online courses. In the second (―cross-sectional‖) case, two small groups of Tomsk students (5-6 students in each group) were placed into different sections of ―Marketing Management‖, a regular CDL course with 20-24 students in each section. All participated Tomsk students were volunteers, traditional age (19-20 years old), male and female college students, enrolled in IT and engineering degree programs at the home institution, all native Russian speakers with a good command of English (TOEFL 550 and higher). Prior to the project, none of the Tomsk students had studied abroad either face-to-face, or online. The pilots were observed by TUSUR, and the results were shared with the IDL group (Chukhlomin, 2009).
It was discovered that, similarly to the Omsk case, the Tomsk students: 1) found it difficult to study without a face-to-face contact with the teacher; 2) were used to a teacher-centered pedagogy; 3) were largely not familiar with the concepts and terminology used in advanced level CDL courses; 4) were lacking some critically important skills, including English academic writing, communication skills, teamwork, and time management skills. Also, they were found to be: 5) not familiar with the American online classroom, for example, reluctant to participate and inexperienced in debating things; 7) reluctant to communicate with CDL technical personnel and student services; 8) not used to using the information provided for students by the ESC student portal; 9) not familiar with the contextual and background information built by American course developers and instructional designers into the design of CDL courses that had been developed with primarily domestic students and adult learners in mind. It was also noticed that the Tomsk students very quickly learned how to use LMS ―Angel‖, synchronous video tools and other learning technologies.
Importantly, in both pilot cases the Tomsk office that was closely observing the project requested a blended learning intervention and considered it as ―critically needed‖. In the first case, the students weren‘t able to figure out on their own how to effectively participate in discussions and how to write assignments ―in the American way‖. In the second case, discussions between participating in the course Russian and American students fell apart; the Russian students felt lost and insufficiently instructed; the examples provided in the text and the topics suggested for discussions were perceived by them as ―too foreign‖. The Tomsk office and the IDL team were able to arrange a blended learning intervention that was made by bilingual and bicultural faculties who physically traveled to Tomsk and conducted brief face-to-face ―crash‖ courses aimed at explaining to the Russian students: 1) how American education works; 2) what expected learning behaviors are; 3) how to write assignments, participate in discussions, conduct research in virtual libraries and present results. In both cases, the results of intervention were very positive. In the longitudinal case, the student eventually successfully completed the required coursework for the bachelor‘s degree. In the cross-sectional case, all participating Russian students were able to successfully complete the course.
Adjusting learning style: a breakthrough approach
Based on the results of the pilot projects, a course of actions for both partner institutions was suggested, including curricular adjustments (for TUSUR) and faculty training in cross-cultural delivery (for ESC). It was also suggested that, in accordance with the literature on acculturation (Peelo & Luxon, 2007), prior to taking regular CDL courses, Tomsk students should learn about American education and adjust their learning style by engaging in a breakthrough learning activity. Examples of such breakthrough learning activities may include: 1) a study abroad experience in the U.S. or other English-speaking country; 2) a blended learning intervention; 3) a bridging online course. In the last example, it was hypothesized that learning about American education and learning style adjustment could also be achieved by means of remote education and training conducted by bilingual and bicultural faculties, with the use of Web 2.0 tools (―virtual acculturation‖). This approach is referred to as the ―3B Framework‖ where 3B is an abbreviation for Bridging Bilingual and Bicultural (courses).
The 3B framework in the context of a mentoring institution
As a mentoring institution, SUNY Empire State College requires that all undergraduate students take at least 4 semester credits of educational planning. 2-credit educational planning courses, such as ‗Planning and Finalizing the Degree‘, ‗Assessing Learning‘, ‗Effective Writing‘, ‗Independent Study Guide‘, etc. help adult learners customize their individual degree programs in accordance with their unique circumstances and the College guidelines. Courses in educational planning are coordinated by each center‘s Committee on Mentoring and Learning. Usually, students are required to take ‗Planning and Finalizing the Degree‘ and an optional educational planning course, in consultation with their faculty mentor (advisor).
For international distance learners, a new educational planning study has been developed under the title ‗International eLearning Skills for Russian Programs‘. This study is intended to serve as a bridging online course aimed at providing remotely located, Russian-speaking students with a smooth way to transition into the American virtual learning environment. This study is to address the most pertinent knowledge/skill gaps that novice students were found to typically have, including but not limited to: 1) understanding American culture and American educational system; 2) navigating the College systems and virtual learning environments; 3) recognizing and solving typical problems; 4) learning about best practices and survival techniques. The course includes original materials written by Russian-speaking bilingual and bicultural faculties. It is designed for either blended learning, or completely online delivery. In addition, it can be supplemented by on-site tutorials conducted by local or/and expatriate faculties.
Introducing International eLearning Skills for Russian Programs
In 2008, a group of 8 Russian students sponsored by TUSUR took a pilot version of course, and since then the course has been regularly offered by ESC for its March and November terms. In 2008-09, TUSUR sponsored a group of 10 professors to take the course as a faculty development initiative. As a result, TUSUR was able to later develop a similar course of its own designed as a prerequisite study for students intended to enroll into ESC courses. In 2009 and 2010, the course template was used by SUNY Research Foundation to conduct professional development sessions for groups of Russian-speaking educators sponsored by the Open Society Institute. In 2010-11, a group of students and a faculty member from another Siberian university, located in Novosibirsk, completed the course.
An official catalog description of the course can be found in the appendix. The length of the course is 8 weeks. The course is designed in LMS ‗ANGEL‘ that supports the use of Cyrillic fonts. In the beginning of the course, all announcements, bulletin board news, and most of the content guides are provided in Russian, including an introductory video lecture captured with the use of ‗Accordent‘. It is prescribed that, in the opening 3 weeks of the course, an instructor who teaches the course should establish rapport with the students by following a traditional Russian teaching style as if the course were taught in their home university. In other words, the instructor is obligated to tell the students what exactly they should do, very much like it is normally done in Russian universities. During that time, students should learn about how to use LMS ‗ANGEL‘, the College website, virtual library, ‗Elluminate‘. Also, they will read about American education, classroom structure, the differences in learning and teaching styles between Russia and the U.S., and expected behaviors in
an ―American‖ online setting. Then, in the middle of the course, the instructor is required to switch his/her communications with the students to mostly English using Russian as a means of clarification if and when needed. When communicating in English, the students are required to practice learning behaviors ―as in the US‖. During that time, the instructor‘s role is to explain how online courses are taught in the US, to demonstrate examples and encourage students to practice, and to provide feedback. When providing feedback, the instructor will use an interactive media like ―Elluminate‖ and context-rich video presentations. By the end of the course, students should learn how to: 1) independently register for online courses; 2) make necessary arrangements for transferring credits and ordering textbooks; 3) use appropriate technology and helpdesk; 4) use virtual library and style guides; 5) access the ESC-owned island in ‗Second Life‘; 6) master ESC-specific tools like ‗Degree Planner‘; 7) develop the first draft of their individual degree plan and write a Rationale Essay; 8) use ‗Smarthinking‘ and peer tutoring support; 9) use wikis and e-portfolios. In addition, students will be introduced to academic writing and virtual career planning resources. Even more importantly, they should be able to develop (or, at least, create awareness of) critically important skills, such as communication skills, time management, self-guidance.
First results and future work
While participating students reported that they achieved ―a better understanding of the American system‖, the ultimate outcome of the course could only be seen in their future online studies. Some students suggested that the course should be made accessible for them at a later stage when they ―would really need it‖. It was also noted that taking this course at the same time as taking face-to-face courses in a traditional Russian university environment created some challenges. This is perhaps because, in a high-context culture like Russian culture, a remotely located professor is not perceived as ‗a real person‖, or ―someone of authority‖. That‘s why having a well-trained local co-teacher can be critically important. In the future, the IDL group is considering developing a train-the-trainer initiative with interested Russian universities.
Appendix: Course Description
INTERNATIONAL E-LEARNING SKILLS: EDUCATIONAL PLANNING WORKSHOP FOR RUSSIAN SPECIAL PROGRAMS (EDU-232182) 2 credits, lower level
This educational planning workshop will allow Russian-speaking international distance learning students to integrate successfully into the American college environment and to develop necessary global competencies, including expected academic skills, learning management skills, cross-cultural and e-learning skills. For successful transition, students will use bilingual guidelines prepared by Russian-speaking professors. Students will learn how to make efficient use of the vast electronic information resources, online databases and other information technology services of the College; they will learn how to participate in international virtual teams, discussions and projects. Working with their mentor, students may individualize investigations that support transferring credits from their home institution and planning their American degree. They may further individualize the course as appropriate to their educational planning needs and interests. Note: this course is open to non-matriculated Russian-speaking international distance learning students only.
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