Learning in a new culture and in an intercultural environment

1. Learning in a new culture and in an intercultural environment Lars Peter Jensen and Xiangyun Du Department of Control Engineering Department of Education, Learning and Philosophy

2. Overview • Confronting culture • Intercultural issues in teaching and learning • Intercultural group discussion • Presentation

3. What are the things confronting when entering a new country?

4. Things that have been taken for granted in one culture might be unknown in another • Parents

5. Meeting cultures – Cultural shock Please write 3 words: What were your most impressive observations on arrival of AAU/DK?

6. Intercultural communication- values and meanings A Danish kindergarten teacher worked at a kindergarten in Greenland. A real story she experienced: One day a boy’s mother was picking up him from kindergarten. He did not want to go home with her and behaved very badly. The mother pretended to leave kindergarten without him. She might expected the boy to go after her, however, he picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at his mother and hit her on the back of her head. Surprisingly, the mother turned round and cried ‘oh, how clever you are that you can throw stone so far and so precisely. Come on, we must hurry home to tell Dad. He will be very proud of you.’ Rasmussen & Bank-Mikkelsen 2000: 8)

7. East vs. West - Cultural Differences comparison of Western and Asian culture in the eyes of a Chinese raised in Germany. http://www.socialhallucinations.com/2008/11/east-vs-west---cultural-differences-in-pictures.html

8. ME

9. WAYS OF LIFE

10. PARTY

11. TRENDS

12. STREET AT WEEKEND

13. SHOWER TIME

14. QUEUING

16. Intercultural communication- non-verbal language Symbolism Manners and body language – eye contact, distance, etc. Rasmussen & Bank-Mikkelsen 2000: 8)

17. ‘The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.’ (Peter F. Drucker American Educator, b.1909) Solution (Herlitz 1989:60) Intercultural communication- cultural understanding

18. Intercultural communication- cultural understanding How would you read this ad of pills? (Herlitz 1989:38)

19. Intercultural communication- Power of language Please work in pairs, talking to different people using the script which follows… The script: A: ‘Hello’. B: ‘Hello’. A: ‘You are late’. B: ‘I know’. Try to do it completely differently each time.

20. Intercultural communication in teaching and learning Why is culture an issue? • Development of intercultural competencies for future engineers • Establishment of international program

21. Globalized context Effective communication Interdisciplinary knowledge Designing and conducting experiments Identity and solve applied science problems Application of mathematics and science knowledge Analytical skills Lifelong learning Project management Team work Social, environmental, and ethical concerns Intercultural competencies Developing intercultural competencies for future engineers Diverse capabilities • National Academy of Engineering, The Engineer of 2020, 2004 • EUR-ACE (Accreditation of European Engineering Programmes and Graduates,http://www.feani.org/EUR_ACE/EUR_ACE_Main_Page.htm • - ABET: http://www.abet.org/

22. Intercultural environment in PBL

23. Challenges and identified problems 1 • Miscommunication arises due to • Use of second language (English) as a means of communication • Learning and working styles • Personality

24. Opinions? Answers Knowledge Challenges and identified problems 2Different beliefs on/ways of learning – different expectations Educational background

25. Challenges and identified problems 2Different beliefs on/ ways of learning • Nobody knows the exact answers until the project is finished • Students are responsible for managing their own learning • Learners are creating new knowledge Studying in a PBL environment, Denmark

26. Challenges and identified problems 3Can group work be an efficient way of learning? Will they believe me because I am a girl?? NO, I can’t get up anyway YES, we can meet at 8 tomorrow morning It is my turn to talk? If we don’t follow the supervisor’s suggestion, will he allow us to pass? Listen to me, I am very experienced He complains of my garlic, but he has coffee and carrots all the time!!! They don’t understand even such easy things!!

27. Challenges and identified problems 5New student life Housing? Shopping? Cooking? New Life in Denmark Transportation?

28. Brainstorm Presentation Doing project in groups Group meeting Life Report writing Exam Subgroup work Compromise Discussion Disagreement

29. I don’t understand the lecturer What on earth the supervisor wanted me to do? I am Depressed! So difficult to do a project in group work! Xiangyun was a new student like you 9years ago…

30. ’There is still one more seat in the wall’ Study environment in some countries…Big class, little room for individual ideas http://www.cnsphoto.com/

31. (Karl Smith, UMN) Same materials year after year…

32. Memory is more important than application skills for high scores…

33. Transferred knowledge will be returned after exams

34. Room for creativity?

35. Xiangyun’sstory: being a student in China 6:30 Get upin dorm 6:30-7:00 Morning Exercise

36. 7:00 Breakfast in Canteen 7:30 – 8:00 Morning Reading

37. 8:00 – 9:50Morning Lectures 10:10 – 12:00 Morning Lectures

38. 14:00-16:00 Afternoon Activities Lectures Supervision Library Laboratory

39. 16:00-18:00 Leisure time

40. Evening Activities – study individually

41. Exams Written form Hard tasks Scores matter Textbook knowledge based

42. Good Good Study, Day Day Up! Study hard - high marks - diploma - good student

43. Student’s reflection `I have never worked in a group in my educational life… In group work, I preferred to listen when some students discussed intensely, because I could not understand why it was a question to discuss. Sometimes I could not follow their ideas or thinking. I need to change and actively work in the group.´(Chinese female master student)

44. Muslim Is ethnicity the only reason that makes us different? Young girl Philosopher Animal doctor butcher farmer artist wolf

45. Engineering culture – engineer study

46. Engineering culture – engineer study

47. (Jensen 2005:18) Is culture something we are born with? ’I got culture from mom’s breast breeding’

48. You are so big. You can not stay here! Come back when you become smaller! (Jensen 2005:72) Learning from each other vs. cultural integration Self vs. others Acceptance vs. adaptation

49. Cultural reflections A new culture to be established PBL in International programs, AAU, Denmark Different backgrounds in educational culture Doing PBL in ‘the right’ way! Root of PBL in DK - Tradition of group work in Denmark - Critical thinking - Emphasis on - Collaboration and participation - Lower power gap - Close link between industry and university

50. What can we benefit from international programs? • Group exercise • Discussion in intercultural groups • Products presented in posters • Poster presentation around walls