A comparative assessment of the effectiveness of international/intercultural education in the general education program at American University

The purpose of this study was to determine if a semester of classroom teaching in international/intercultural courses of American University's General Education Program influences global-mindedness in entering freshmen. A modification of the "Global-Mindedness Scale" (GMS) was administered at the beginning of the fall 1995 and spring 1996 semesters. The GMS measures five dimensions: responsibility for people in all parts of the world, appreciation of cultural pluralism, belief in individual efficacy, globalcentric thinking, and awareness and appreciation of the interconnectedness of peoples and nations. Pre-test to post-test scores declined slightly but consistently, and in some cases statistically significantly, for both the experimental group, which took at least one Curricular Area 3 course (N = 162), and the control group, which did not (N = 146). However, the global-mindedness of the experimental group declined in some cases less than those of the control group, depending on the course taken. The only variable which seemed to have an influence was political viewpoint, with the more conservative students becoming less global-minded. Correlations between the characteristics of the students and their global-mindedness were similar to other studies. The more global-minded included those who participated in more activities focusing on another culture or country, those having more cross-cultural friends, those who were more liberal politically, and women. The results obtained could be attributed to several reasons. The circumstances under which the pre-test and post-test were administered were somewhat different and may have had an impact. In addition, there may have been other influences on the study population. The "Republican revolution" focusing on conservative issues at the time of the study also may have had a dampening effect. Finally, one semester is a short time period in which to determine the effects of education intended to influence attitude. It was recommended that the General Education Program examine the courses in its international/intercultural area to determine if they meet the stated goals of the program.