Fostering International Student Academic Success at UAB – CTL Building Block

Presented by Melissa Hawkins, PhD

Description: Because of cross-cultural differences in educational systems around the world, many of our international students enter a very different academic context when they arrive at UAB. Additionally, many of us have not had the chance to experience that our own educational practices are not the norm everywhere. In this half-day workshop, guided by input from UAB faculty and students from global backgrounds, you will learn about many of these significant differences. Then, you’ll explore how you can negotiate these differences to help our international students thrive. Join us for this three-week Building Block from the CTL Global Awareness series to learn specific strategies for managing group work, incorporating writing assignments, presenting comprehensible lectures, promoting participation, and encouraging student initiative throughout your courses.

• Monday, November 2, 1:30-3:00 pm - Helping International Students Avoid Unintentional Plagiarism (Notions of textual borrowing and sharing intellectual ideas are different across cultures. In addition, paraphrasing is a rather complicated skill to master for any novice writer. With all the difficulties intrinsic in accurately using sources, writing with an authoritative voice, and understanding how AI can or cannot be used, academic writing becomes difficult indeed. Explore practical ways to help all your students navigate academic honesty in the American academic environment.)
• Monday, November 9, 1:30-3:00 pm - Tweaking Lectures for Optimal Comprehensibility - (Acquiring advanced listening skills in another language is challenging. Learn what makes English, in particular, a difficult language to comprehend orally, and apply this information in specific ways to help make your spoken English more comprehensible to multilingual speakers of English. In addition, discover and prioritize strategic steps you can take to help your lectures be more effective in communicating course content to all students.)
• Monday, November 16, 1:30-3:00 pm - Please Talk! Promoting Class Participation International students from certain educational backgrounds are naturally reticent to speak out in class, simply due to cultural differences, and many American students are as well. Review ideas you can use to help students understand why our educational culture values classroom discussion and how to participate effectively and appropriately. Learn ways to spur on involvement spontaneously during class.

Please Note: This workshop is designed for current UAB teaching faculty, instructors of record, academic advisors, and other student-facing staff members. Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars are invited to attend the CTL LIFT series workshops instead.

Total CTL Point Value: 10,000 pts./workshop attended.