Engaging Students Early by Internationalizing the Undergraduate Calculus Course

Authors

Chinenye Ofodile, Albany State University

Publication Date

3-15-2021

Keywords

Student engagement, internationalization, calculus, culture, research

Disciplines

Mathematics | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Science and Mathematics Education

Abstract

Today's world is global. However, despite increasing numbers and diversity of participants in Study Abroad programs, only 10% of U. S. college students get that experience. There is an ever-growing need for students to become aware of and experience other cultures, to understand why others think and act differently. Internationalization is the conscious effort, begun nearly 40 years ago, to integrate an international, intercultural, and global dimension into the purpose, functions, and delivery of post-secondary education.

Albany State University began a Global Program Initiative in the 1990s. In 2016, we extended into mathematics the curriculum innovations of this program. The result has engaged students in a serious way, both in mathematical modeling and in cultural research. We have introduced students to new skills of research and presentation. For the past few years we have offered one section of Calculus II in traditional mode and one in internationalized mode, and we have compared results. In this article, we give details of the process and highlight the success of the program. We end with more recent examples from Spring 2020.

Recommended Citation

Ofodile, Chinenye (2021) "Engaging Students Early by Internationalizing the Undergraduate Calculus Course," CODEE Journal: Vol. 14, Article 1.
Available at: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/codee/vol14/iss1/1

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License