Internationalising the curriculum
Michaela Borg

Introduction
There are many definitions of what internationalising the curriculum means but one of the most commonly cited is by Knight (2004):

"The process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions [teaching / learning, research, services] or delivery of post-secondary education."

The way and the extent to which this is done would include, at a basic level, course content is made more international through the use of case studies, reference to disciplinary literature by non-UK writers or opportunities for overseas fieldwork. A more holistic transformation of the curriculum would entail a culturally inclusive approach in which all students, regardless of cultural background, are able to participate and to be successful. This latter approach may include critical examination of the appropriateness of UK or western approaches to disciplinary thinking and practices in a global or international context (De Vita, 2007; Jones & Killick, 2007 citing Ryan and Louie 2005).

While the literature on internationalisation and internationalising the curriculum is substantial, including many case studies of module, programme transformations, etc., a major part of the challenge for colleagues of internationalising the curriculum is that is context-specific, as this quotation from Viv Caruana (2010, p.30) makes clear:

"…internationalisation is not a clearly defined, absolute set of best practices but rather a nuanced construct which is highly context specific. In other words, internationalisation will be manifest in different ways depending upon disciplinary perspectives, whether it is viewed from an academic or administrative stance, from an institutional, faculty or department vantage point or from staff, student, employer and other stakeholder perspective."

The NTU Strategic Plan (Platform Seven) outlines plans for internationalisation at NTU. It focuses on the areas of student recruitment, research collaboration and internationalisation of the curriculum. This web resource will focus on internationalisation of the curriculum, significant because all NTU students will graduate into a globalised world, and because approximately 2,533 non-UK students (951 at undergraduate level and 1109 studying at postgraduate level) attend the university from abroad. This represents around 10% of the total student body at Nottingham Trent University.

The section of this webpage entitled ‘How to…’ has links to resources which provide some ideas for internationalising course content, assessment and learning and teaching activities.

Section references
DE VITA, G., 2007. Taking stock: an appraisal of the literature on internationalising HE learning. In: E. JONES and S. BROWN, eds., Internationalising higher education. London: Routledge, 2007, pp. 154-7.
CARUANA, V., 2010. The relevance of the internationalised curriculum to graduate capability: the role of new lecturers’ attitudes in shaping the ‘student voice’. In: E. JONES, ed., Internationalisation and the student voice. London: Routledge, 2010, pp. 30-43.
JONES, E., and KILLICK, D. 2007. Internationalisation of the curriculum. In: E. JONES, and S. BROWN, eds., Internationalising higher education. London: Routledge, 2007, 109-119.
KNIGHT, J., 2004. Internationalisation remodeled: definition, approaches and rationales. Journal of Studies in International Education, 8(1), 5-31.

Key texts and resources

• In 2010 Viv Caruana was commissioned to produce an annotated bibliography on internationalising the curriculum. The bibliography has sections on a range of relevant topics including: an internationalised curriculum, global perspectives and global citizenship, multicultural groupwork and designing transformative overseas experiences.
• The annotated bibliography lists a large number of publications. Several of the main book are listed below and are available in NTU Libraries and Learning Resources.
  J. CARROLL and J. RYAN, eds., 2005. Teaching international students: improving learning for all. London: Routledge.
  E. JONES and S. BROWN, eds., 2007. Internationalising higher education. London: Routledge.
  E. JONES, ed., 2010. Internationalisation and the student voice. London: Routledge.
• Internationalisation Symposium: Wider Potentials and Possibilities was held at NTU in May 2010. This web resource includes presentations by Viv Caruana (Leeds Metropolitan University) and NTU speakers
• The proceedings of the NTU Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2008 are available online and several papers talked to the theme of Internationalisation. Videos and slides are available online, including a video of the keynote speaker Jude Carroll.

How to
There are lots of websites which give practical tips and case studies of internationalising the curriculum. Two of the most comprehensive are the Internationalising the curriculum resource kit and the Teaching international students project.

• Oxford Brookes have an excellent set of pages which comprise a resource kit. It includes an overview and definitions and, perhaps most usefully tips and ideas for ‘internationalisation at module level’, which focuses on course content, learning and teaching activities, assessment and online content.
• The Higher Education Academy have a Resource bank which is organised around the International student lifecycle, eg pre-arrival support, induction, etc. The materials focus on teaching international students rather than internationalising the curriculum. It is currently in development and new resources are being added all the time. At the moment they have a range of topics around teaching and learning in the classroom.
• The HEA Subject Centres also have resources on internationalising the curriculum and supporting international students, for example: The Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE); ESCALATE, Education; Psychology Network; Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism; Social Policy and Social Work; Engineering; and PALATINE, Performing Arts.
• Leeds Metropolitan University have a resource on cross-cultural capability and global perspectives which includes a series of questions to support curriculum review and examples which can provide ideas.
• The Quality Assurance Agency has produced guidance (not policy) for universities on supporting internationals and managing their experience.  The guidance covers areas such as marketing and recruitment, academic induction and employability.  The document is entitled 'International students studying in the UK - Guidance for UK higher education providers'

Case studies
Below is a case study from colleagues at NTU. We hope to add more over the coming months.

• The use of wikimaps to support overseas placements

NTU Regulations and Guidance

•  NTU Strategic Plan : There are a number of references to internationalisation, particularly in Strategic Platform 1 ‘A student experience that inspires and enables students'ambitions) which includes the NTU Graduate Attributes and in Strategic Platform Seven (An integrated international strategy).
• NTU Learning and Teaching Enhancement Strategy: There is a discussion of internationalisation, particularly in relation to the graduate attributes, global knowledge commons and the diversity of the NTU student body.

You might also be interested in...

• The Lifelong Learning pages have information about Erasmus funding for NTU staff to visit partner universities, attend conferences, etc. and information about funding for student study or work
• The CADQ resource on sustainability in the curriculum.