Rationale
The Fulbright English for Graduate Studies is a four-week intensive preparatory program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). It aims at familiarizing the students with the American classroom culture, campus life, and general social norms in the United States, before moving to their host universities. This pre-academic training program was launched three years ago and has since been welcoming Fulbright students coming from different countries, including 34 students in the last session in July, 2012.
The program consists of the following components:
1. Public Speaking for Academic Purposes (developing presentation skills in academic settings).
2. Graduate Writing for Scientific Purposes (help students become competent writers in their fields).
3. Finding Our Voice (a course aims at introducing the students to the American classroom protocol).
4. Guest Lecture Series (to practice turn-taking, note-taking, expressing opinions, etc..).
5. Community Excursions (interaction opportunities with the local community).
6. Library Research and Digital Media Workshop (including library tours and an exploration of digital tools).
7. Graduate Life Skills Workshops (important information regarding housing, health, finance, campus life, etc..).
According to our overwhelmingly positive data, which we collected through interviews with the program directors and instructors; a project survey; and a review of previous evaluations, we noticed that the program in general is strongly effective. However, a deeper analysis of students’ responses shows that some of them wanted to either add or eliminate particular cultural and digital content. Therefore, we limited our focus on the last two components (Digital Media and Graduate Life Skills) to target students’ concerns and create a better learning opportunity.
Before moving to the details of our needs assessment process, we thought it would be important to discuss why we chose to work on this project. Our decision to design curriculum for the Fulbright English program at MIIS is strongly tied to our personal experiences and interests. There are three international students, including two Fulbrighters, and one domestic student in our group. Three of us were enrolled in orientations and training sessions similar to the one at MIIS prior to our graduate programs, either in our countries or in the United States. Although we thought that we were fully prepared to pursue our degrees in the States, there were still some minor issues that the programs failed to cover, such as finding housing. For example, our team member, Olena, shared the story of her pre-academic program in New York City. She described how great the training was but had difficulty with finding housing in Monterey when she was placed here. She explains that her training program did not include instructions on the process of finding housing or cell-phone plans at all. She was left to her own resources and asked advice from previous students or people she met to determine how to go about completing each of those things. Many students, though, are not as resourceful as Olena and had greater difficulties in their moves. In addition to our personal experiences, our other team member, Deborah, has her unique reason. She has traveled a lot and knows how difficult it can be to be in an unfamiliar country and encounter various cultural differences. A close connection to these students is felt by all members of our team as we all empathize with them in one way or another.
As we progress in our design, we hope to achieve a stronger and more comprehensive program that meets the needs of all the students. We aspire to mitigate any cultural shocks by introducing the students to a variety of social norms in different regions in the US. Moreover, we will work hard to ensure that all of the field-relevant digital tools are presented. As this project is very personal to all of us, we will strive to ensure that the Fulbright students are as prepared as possible for life at their placement university.
The program consists of the following components:
1. Public Speaking for Academic Purposes (developing presentation skills in academic settings).
2. Graduate Writing for Scientific Purposes (help students become competent writers in their fields).
3. Finding Our Voice (a course aims at introducing the students to the American classroom protocol).
4. Guest Lecture Series (to practice turn-taking, note-taking, expressing opinions, etc..).
5. Community Excursions (interaction opportunities with the local community).
6. Library Research and Digital Media Workshop (including library tours and an exploration of digital tools).
7. Graduate Life Skills Workshops (important information regarding housing, health, finance, campus life, etc..).
According to our overwhelmingly positive data, which we collected through interviews with the program directors and instructors; a project survey; and a review of previous evaluations, we noticed that the program in general is strongly effective. However, a deeper analysis of students’ responses shows that some of them wanted to either add or eliminate particular cultural and digital content. Therefore, we limited our focus on the last two components (Digital Media and Graduate Life Skills) to target students’ concerns and create a better learning opportunity.
Before moving to the details of our needs assessment process, we thought it would be important to discuss why we chose to work on this project. Our decision to design curriculum for the Fulbright English program at MIIS is strongly tied to our personal experiences and interests. There are three international students, including two Fulbrighters, and one domestic student in our group. Three of us were enrolled in orientations and training sessions similar to the one at MIIS prior to our graduate programs, either in our countries or in the United States. Although we thought that we were fully prepared to pursue our degrees in the States, there were still some minor issues that the programs failed to cover, such as finding housing. For example, our team member, Olena, shared the story of her pre-academic program in New York City. She described how great the training was but had difficulty with finding housing in Monterey when she was placed here. She explains that her training program did not include instructions on the process of finding housing or cell-phone plans at all. She was left to her own resources and asked advice from previous students or people she met to determine how to go about completing each of those things. Many students, though, are not as resourceful as Olena and had greater difficulties in their moves. In addition to our personal experiences, our other team member, Deborah, has her unique reason. She has traveled a lot and knows how difficult it can be to be in an unfamiliar country and encounter various cultural differences. A close connection to these students is felt by all members of our team as we all empathize with them in one way or another.
As we progress in our design, we hope to achieve a stronger and more comprehensive program that meets the needs of all the students. We aspire to mitigate any cultural shocks by introducing the students to a variety of social norms in different regions in the US. Moreover, we will work hard to ensure that all of the field-relevant digital tools are presented. As this project is very personal to all of us, we will strive to ensure that the Fulbright students are as prepared as possible for life at their placement university.