Transcending Shallow Internationalization: Best Practices for Attaining Excellence in International Higher Education

Author:

Fry Gerald W.1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Abstract

The context for this study is the volatile, turbulent, and disruptive environment that affects higher education everywhere. A plethora of key problems facing higher education are identified. Among these are escalating costs and declining public support for higher education. This means that international education must compete with other possible priorities, such as strengthening disciplines or making campuses more attractive to prospective students. The basic aim of this paper is to develop a set of best practices to promote excellence and rigor in international higher education. In that sense, this could be called action research. This could also be considered the story of how to develop excellence and rigor in international higher education. The major methodology for this study is multiple case studies research and mixed methods research. Another method is reflective participant experience based on the author’s seven decades of engagement with the internationalization of higher education. Both value premises and positionality, which might influence the research are openly shared. In terms of theoretical foundations, key genres of internationalization are identified and described, such as critical, comparative, and comprehensive internationalization. Then, in terms of results, in the next quantitative section of the paper, eight statistical tables are shared that show the current status of international higher education, primarily in the U.S., while also including a table showing the most international universities in the world. Then, in the next qualitative part of the study, 11 exemplary cases are presented, such as CAMPUS Asia, Volunteers in Asia (VIA), and the International Cooperative Learning Project. These projects involve a total of about 20 countries. The criteria for selection were factors such as depth, sustainability, and impactful, transformative learning. The paper concludes with an articulation of the best practices to achieve excellence in international education and the principle that true liberal education is inherently international and intercultural.

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference131 articles.

1. Lee, T.B. (Vox, 2017). William Baumol, whose Fundamental Economic Theory Explains the Modern World, Has Died, Vox.

2. Bok, D. (2003). Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education, Princeton University Press.

3. Sokal, A. (2010). Beyond the Hoax: Science, Philosophy, and Culture, Oxford University Press.

4. Sokal, A. (2000). The Sokal Hoax: The Sham That Shook the Academy, University of Nebraska Press.

5. Sokal, A., and Bricmont, J. (1998). Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science, Picador.

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3