enabling your students to develop their global outlook · making graduate attributes work: enabling...

ENABLING YOUR STUDENTS

TO DEVELOP THEIR

GLOBAL OUTLOOK

November 2017

LEEDS BECKETT UNIVERSITY

www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Centre for Learning & Teaching November 2017 (3rd edition)

The global attribute is defined as “Enabling effective and

responsible engagement in a multicultural and globalising world.”

Making Graduate Attributes Work: Enabling your students to develop their Global Outlook

Centre for Learning and Teaching Page 1 of 26 November 2017 3rd Edition

Enabling your students to develop their Global Outlook

Contents

Section One - Introduction ................................................................................................. 2

Graduate Attributes for our University: an Overview .......................................................... 2

Learning Outcomes ........................................................................................................... 3

Constructive Alignment ...................................................................................................... 4

Ideas on Enhancing Employability ..................................................................................... 5

Section Two - Enabling students to recognise, experience and develop a global

outlook through their learning and assessment experiences ......................................... 6

The Global Outlook Attribute ............................................................................................. 6

A Global Outlook at Different Levels of Study. ................................................................... 7

Learning Outcomes ........................................................................................................... 8

Your Course Documentation ............................................................................................. 9

Your Course Induction & Introductions to Modules .......................................................... 12

Your Learning Resources ................................................................................................ 12

Your Learning Activities ................................................................................................... 14

Your Assessments........................................................................................................... 15

Your Feedback ................................................................................................................ 17

References ...................................................................................................................... 17

Links to additional resources related to a global outlook. ................................................. 18

Collated suggestions for embedding a global outlook ...................................................... 19



Section One - Introduction

Graduate Attributes for our University: an overview

Our University has three interlinking graduate attributes, which have been embedded

throughout the undergraduate curriculum as part of a major curriculum redesign activity:

these are being enterprising, having a global outlook and being digitally literate.

Collectively, these attributes

define the distinctiveness of a

Leeds Beckett graduate, and

were selected for their alignment

with our institutional identity and

strengths, and their relevance to

our students as they go on to

make their way in a rapidly

changing, globalising world.

Key skills and personal skills have featured in our course design, delivery, and assessment

for many years. Our Graduate Attributes, collectively, encompass these and give them

specific areas of focus and clear objectives with regard to their application.

Our students’ futures are likely to be increasingly shaped by global employment markets,

interconnectivity, border-crossing, sustainability priorities and shifting geo-political activities.

The global outlook attribute enables our students to identify how their lives inter-relate to

those of diverse others in local and global contexts, and to frame their own actions and

responsibilities in the light of this; embedding matters of global social justice and

environmental sustainability within all areas of study. The attribute also relates strongly to

the world of work, where employers have identified a lack of global thinking as a significant

weakness in graduating students (British Council/DEA 2011).

Likewise, the breadth of all enterprising skills (not just pure business skills) are essential to

prepare students for a world where they will need to plan, be future focussed, and seek

opportunities for personal growth, education and employment. Enterprise, in its broadest

sense, involves creative thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication and

entrepreneurial skills. In addition, being enterprising includes understanding the

responsibilities for seeking to work in ways which safeguard environmental, social and

economic wellbeing for both present and future generations (QAA, 2014). By highlighting

these competencies in the delivery of your curriculum then students can be equipped to

prepare for life and work.

The Government’s ‘Networked Nation’ manifesto (Warman, 2010) aims to get every working

person in the UK online by 2015 and showed that more than 90% of all new jobs require

internet skills. The changing nature of workplace means that growing numbers of our

graduates are employed in digital industries or professions that require them to be digitally



literate. Often, digital literacy skills are subject- and employer-specific but have been

summarised by the European Commission as being “the confident and critical use of ICT for

work, leisure, learning and communication”.

All our students should be aware of how our graduate attributes are shaped through their

course, and need to be able to reflect upon and articulate to others, including prospective

employers, how these attributes add value to their degree and to themselves as citizens of a

complex, contested and globally-connected world. They should note the activities related to

the attributes in their portfolios, in my Hub, and in associated notes they make for their CPD

modules.

Our original guidelines document (Killick, 2011) on embedding our global outlook graduate

attribute focussed primarily on aspects of course design during our undergraduate

curriculum refocus exercise. This second document seeks to support course and module

teams in implementing the development of the global outlook attribute, in line with their

refocused course and module learning outcomes.

Different courses and modules in different contexts will find a range of ways to engage with

the questions raised here, but we hope the explanations, examples and suggested areas for

reflection will be helpful in furthering the student experience of all the attributes, and that this

will help our students recognise and articulate this dimension to their personal, disciplinary

and professional development. CLT will be happy to respond to requests for support in

developing this work.

Learning Outcomes

In our Guidelines Documents (Killick, 2011, Smith, 2011, Thomson, 2011) for embedding our

graduate attributes in course design, significant attention was given to providing examples of

learning outcomes which embedded each attribute. Several examples were given which

demonstrated how small modifications to existing learning outcomes could retain the subject

focus while introducing aspects of the attributes.

Where learning outcomes have successfully, and progressively, embedded an attribute, the

next step, and the main focus of this document, is ensuring that students are supported in

developing the appropriate aspects of each attribute through their learning experience, and

are appropriately assessed on that development.

Suggestion for reminding yourselves how each graduate attribute features in course design: Before thinking about the delivery and assessment of the graduate attributes, course and/or module teams might find it helpful to remind themselves how each attribute is represented in learning outcomes across the course, and to discuss how students might experience learning and assessment activities related to those outcomes.

https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/partners/files/UG_Embedding_Global_Outlook.pdf



Constructive Alignment

The process of constructive alignment - through which assessment tasks and learning

activities should reflect and enable students to develop and demonstrate their capabilities to

perform the learning outcomes - bring the module learning outcomes alive in assessment

tasks and related assessment criteria, and in learning activities. Therefore, where a graduate

attribute is embedded within a learning outcome, it should be visible, and traceable,

through the student experience, and should become something which students can identify

with and relate to within the contexts of their studies.

This is explored in depth in your course design as learning outcomes develop over the levels

of study. (This can be further expanded by making reference to Bloom’s (1956) and

Anderson & Krathwohl’s revised (2001) taxonomies, the Biggs and Collins (1982) SOLO

taxonomy, or the Leeds Beckett taxonomy of assessment domains). For example,

developing students’ abilities from being able to identify, then evaluate and later critically

analyse as they progress through levels of study.

This development also needs, therefore, to be reflected in all aspects of the learning

experience, including course and module documentation, induction activities, subject

resources, learning activities, and in assessment tasks and criteria which relate to the global

outlook dimension of any learning outcomes. Each of these is considered briefly below, with

some suggested questions for course and module team discussions and developments.

This extract from the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD)

demonstrates how constructive alignment is achieved in course design:

‘A model of course design can be described in the following three stages:

Stage 1: Decide on the intended learning outcomes. What should the students be able to do

on completion of the course, and what underpinning knowledge and understanding will they

need in order to do it, that they could not do when they started? (This obviously poses the

questions: what have they done before and what prior ability and knowledge can you

expect?) These learning outcomes should each be described in terms of what the student

will be able to do, using behavioural verbs, and described as specifically as possible. (Verbs

like 'know' and 'understand' are not helpful because they are so general. Ask yourself, "What

could the student do to show me that they know or understand?") You may find it useful to

group your outcomes under the following four headings: skills (disciplinary), skills (general),

values and attitudes, underpinning knowledge and understanding.

Stage 2: Devise the assessment task/s. If you have written precise learning outcomes this

should be easy because the assessment should be whether or not they can satisfactorily

demonstrate achievement of the outcomes.

Stage 3: Devise the learning activities necessary (including formative assessment tasks) to

enable the students to satisfactorily undertake the assessment task/s. These stages should

be conducted iteratively, thereby informing each stage by the others and ensuring

coherence.’

(http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/assessment/purposes.html)

https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/partners/files/Taxonomy_of_assessment_domains.pdf

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/assessment.html

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/assessment/purposes.html



Ideas on Enhancing Employability

Employers might reasonably expect a student to be able to articulate the attributes we claim

they have.

Suggestions for utilising our graduate attributes to enhance employability:

1. For ALL the attributes: If your course includes a specific CPD module or

employability-associated learning outcomes, check how all the attributes are made

explicit there and if the assessments specifically ask students to articulate their

activities, skills and thinking for the identified attribute.

2. Invite inspiring speakers (who can articulate the graduate attributes and how they

are applied in the workplace) to contribute to your course.

3. Encourage work related learning experience and work placements as part of your

course. Use real world projects co-devised and co-assessed by local employers to

keep your students up to date with issues they will face in the work place.

Specifically:

4. Global Outlook: Contact your School Employability Group or your Careers

Advisors with regard to how they might support you and/or your students to relate

their global outlook to employer expectations, within their job applications.

5. If your course includes a specific CPD module or employability-associated learning

outcomes, how is the global outlook attribute made explicit there?

6. The global outlook attribute is closely linked to the equality and diversity agenda.

How do the policies and resources available on the University’s Equality and

Diversity webpage feature in your module/course?

7. Having a global outlook includes understanding the responsibilities for seeking to

work in ways which safeguard ‘environmental, social and economic wellbeing, both

in present and for future generations’ (QAA, 2014: 5). Specific industry and

professional links can provide rich case studies of contextualised issues and

potential solutions.

https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/staff/equality-diversity.htm




Section Two - Enabling students to recognise, experience and develop a

global outlook through their learning and assessment experiences

The Global Outlook Attribute

The objective of the global outlook attribute is defined as: “Enabling effective and

responsible engagement in a multicultural and globalising world”.

In our first guide on embedding a global outlook in the curriculum, we identified two

dimensions to the attribute, inclusivity and global relevance.

Inclusivity is about affording others equal respect, which implies recognising that providing

equality of academic opportunity for different people may require us to engage with them

differently. At University, specifically, individuals may be, in various ways, differentially

placed in terms of their capabilities to engage in some learning activities, in the power they

hold in particular academic contexts, in their confidence and competence in peer

interactions, and so forth. This brings responsibilities, and learning opportunities, to the

institution and academics, but also to our students. These extend into the lives our students

lead as they move forward professionally and personally beyond the University. Supporting

them, and requiring them to develop and exhibit inclusive attitudes and behaviours across

cultures and other dimensions of diversity should therefore be part of their learning and

assessment experience. With respect to a global outlook, this includes, for example:

● understanding something of how we might appear to others;

● being willing to see our own values and behaviours as cultural habits which may be

as strange to others as theirs are to us;

● being able to modify our language and/or behaviour to help the flow of

communication with others;

● listening, reflecting, enquiring, and so forth before judging another’s ideas or

behaviours;

● being willing to accept the value others ascribe to their behaviours and ideas, even

where we may not agree with them.

Global Relevance is about how the student identifies and is able to develop subject

knowledge, skills, and values within a globally connected world in which different socio-

cultural practices and attitudes might impact on knowledge, skills, behaviours and values.

Exactly how a global relevance is framed for different students will very much reflect the

specific expertise and areas of interest of their discipline, but some of the questions you

might expect a graduate in your subject area to be able to reflect on or respond to would be:

● knowing how a specific practice is approached in other socio-cultural or geo-political

contexts;

● being aware that/how the application of some practices impacts upon people

(landscapes, industries, health and wellbeing, etc) elsewhere;

● being aware that/how the application of some practices are impacted upon by people

(landscapes, industries, health and wellbeing, etc) elsewhere;



● appreciating ways in which someone with a different belief system would see some

issues differently;

● being able and willing to present/explain an issue to someone with a different belief

system;

● being able to communicate effectively with people for whom English is a foreign

language;

● being aware of how a particular issue/practice might appear differently to somebody

living outside the industrialised world;

● being able to compare and contrast how a specific issue/practice might look

differently if it had been developed with global rather than local consequences in

mind, or local rather than global consequences in mind;

● approaching disciplinary and professional issues and practices from sustainability

perspectives such as environmental stewardship, their global and future-facing

consequences, and global social justice, ethics and wellbeing (see, QAA 2014).

Reviewing these against course and module aspirations and requirements, and in the

context of higher education more generally shows clear synergies with values such as

effective and appropriate communication, respect for diverse opinions and perspectives,

comparative thinking, critical thinking, self-reflection, responsible engagement, etc. It is

important to recognise, then, that developing the global outlook attribute should be fully

commensurate with the broad values and capabilities of any higher education discipline.

A Global Outlook at Different Levels of Study

Some disciplines may place greater emphasis on particular learning outcomes at certain

points. These outcomes would therefore receive greater weight than others at certain levels.

However, by the end of their course, all undergraduate students are expected to be able to

demonstrate how they have developed capabilities and critical understandings with regard to

the global relevance and the inclusivity dimensions of the global outlook attribute. However,

not all students will demonstrate all dimensions of this attribute to the same depth or at the

same time within their programme of study. This will depend on the subject being studied

and the type and level of programme students are undertaking.

There is not therefore a ‘one size fits all’ standard linear approach to developing the attribute

of a global outlook during the course of a programme of study. If you have not already made

level outcomes for a global outlook explicit within your course documentation, these are just

some examples, extracted from the original guidelines document, which you might want to

modify for your own course:

At Level 4 students will be able to discuss:

• their individual socio-cultural values and practices

• the role of their discipline in diverse cultural and global contexts

• the impact of diverse cultural and global contexts on their discipline.



At Level 5 students will be able to evaluate:

• their individual attitudes, values and skill set for diverse cultural and global

contexts

• the social and environmental impact of diverse cultural and global contexts upon aspects of their discipline

• the social and environmental impact of aspects of their discipline within diverse cultural and global contexts.

At Level 6 students will be able to apply their subject, work-based and generic life

skills:

• in multicultural and global environments • in ways which seek to contribute to global sustainable futures • within a personal ethic which is informed by a critical awareness of inclusive, diverse, multi-cultural and global contexts.

Learning Outcomes

In our guidelines document for embedding a global outlook in course design, significant

attention was given to providing examples of learning outcomes which embedded the

attribute. Several examples were given which demonstrated how small modifications to

existing learning outcomes could retain the subject focus while introducing aspects of

inclusivity and/or global relevance.

By way of illustration of how a global outlook was successfully embedded through the course

refocus process, these learning outcomes are extracted from course and module

documentation in a variety of subject areas:

Level Subject area Learning outcome Students will be able to:

Course Sport, Physical Activity and Health

study, analyse and critically evaluate local, national and international intervention strategies for the promotion of physical activity for health across a diverse range of populations

Course Economics for Business

evaluate global and ethical issues facing organisations when formulating and implementing strategies involving economic methods

Course Criminology reflect on their own values and background and in so doing develop a critical awareness of their wider social world

Course English Literature

evaluate the range and diversity of English as a global literature

6 Managing International Hospitality

critically reflect on how understanding culture and diversity can affect how human resource managers work in multicultural and international contexts

https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/partners/files/UG_Embedding_Global_Outlook.pdf



6 Mental Health Nursing

critically appraise the World Health Organisation’s health priorities in both a national and international context of healthcare policy and practice, evaluating the role of nursing and other healthcare professionals within a globalised context

5 Primary Education

develop and evaluate inclusive approaches to teaching and learning, including strengthening global and local dimensions in the taught curriculum

5 Animation explain the cultural, historical and political contexts of national animation styles and schools

4 Music Production evaluate the cross-cultural context of a variety of music genres

4 Landscape Architecture

use a combination of secondary sources and field survey to analyse the natural and cultural processes that contribute to, and influence, landscape

Where learning outcomes have successfully, and progressively embedded the global outlook

attribute, the next step, and the main focus of this document, is ensuring that students are

supported in developing the appropriate aspect of a global outlook through their learning

experience, and are appropriately assessed on that development.

Suggestion for reminding yourselves how a global outlook features in course design: Before thinking about the delivery and assessment of a global outlook, course and/or module teams might find it helpful to remind themselves how the global outlook attribute is represented in learning outcomes across the course, and to discuss how students might experience learning and assessment activities related to those outcomes.

Your Course Documentation

In the guidance on embedding a global outlook in course design, it was suggested that a

statement on each attribute might appear in Course Handbooks. The following generic

statement was provided as an example for a global outlook:

The world in which we all live and work is (increasingly) culturally diverse and globally

interconnected. Gaining a global outlook will help you to navigate this world by, for example:

● Developing your employability skills to fit multicultural and global employment

environments;

● Helping you locate your own values, skills, attitudes within international and

multicultural contexts;

● Enabling you to work and live effectively with peoples of different cultures, locally and

globally;



● Enabling you to recognise sustainability issues in your chosen field of work, and to

contribute to solutions which are future-facing and informed by an understanding of

global wellbeing;

● Helping you respond to global events in ethical, confident, and informed ways;

● Enabling you to access and evaluate information and activities from a variety of

sources and perspectives; and

● Equipping you with valued capabilities when competing for jobs.

All Course Specifications contain graduate attribute statements for the course which might

be adopted or adapted to form part of course level documentation.

Suggestion for making a global outlook visible at course level: Course leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students within course-level documentation, including pre-application and pre-arrival information such as the prospectus, course-finder, and any open day materials, as well as the Course Handbook.

A course statement can then be used as the basis for statements in each Module

Handbook which show the part they play in developing (and assessing where appropriate)

the attribute - linking in to the learning outcomes. Based on the generic example above, a

module might talk about a global outlook like this, for example:

The course sets out to help you develop your global outlook by enabling you to

access and evaluate information and activities from a variety of sources and

perspectives. In this module you will examine how [subject matter, e.g. the use of

locally sourced building materials] influences the [development of community social

space] in three contrasting geographical regions.

You will [critically review UK community space development] informed by these

alternative global practices as part of the module assessment.

Your future career may include working overseas, consultancy work for projects

overseas, and/or being able to draw upon established practices in other contexts to

bring innovation to the UK. Your future lives may include living and working with

friends, family and colleagues from diverse cultures and/or global contexts.

Understanding how you and your chosen subject can contribute to sustainable

futures across global contexts is essential for your own and future wellbeing. The

global outlook you develop through this course will significantly enhance your abilities

to form positive relationships and work effectively and sustainably with diverse

peoples, perspectives and contexts.



Suggestion for making a global outlook explicit in modules: Module leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students within module-level documentation, including Module Handbooks, your MyBeckett module, and any other generic module guidance.



Your Course Induction & Introductions to Modules

A significant function of student induction is to establish and communicate a sense of course

identity, and what it means to be a student on this course at this University. This is an

important time to help students understand how a global outlook features as part of course

identity, and how it adds value to their capabilities as a graduate.

Suggestions for helping students recognise the global outlook in their course:

Course leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students

at course inductions.

Course leaders might also ask where else do your students find their graduate identities

reinforced:

● What other mechanisms reinforce their identity as students of course x or y?

● Do your students see themselves as members of a global discipline?

The introduction to each module needs to make clear how (if) a global outlook features

within the module learning outcomes, assessments, and learning activities. Exploring the

module global outlook attribute statement during the module review and evaluation stages,

and getting students to discuss and elaborate upon what it may mean to them would be a

valuable addition to the process of enabling students to recognise and articulate how they

are developing the global outlook attribute.

Suggestion for raising awareness of a global outlook at modular level: Module leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students

whenever the module itself is being discussed. How does the content of the module lend

itself to being more inclusive? Do you have diverse reading lists? How do you organise

your group work? How do you offer opportunities in module sessions to expose the

students to awareness of diversity and encourage respect of individual differences? How

do you actively encourage your students to draw on their past experience and discuss it in

the classroom (physical or virtual).

Your Learning Resources

The selection of and the ways in which students engage with course-related learning

resources can have a significant impact upon how they frame the local/global nature of their

discipline and of themselves as emerging experts/practitioners of that discipline.



Suggestions for selecting learning resources to embed a global outlook: In selecting learning resources and framing how students are to engage with those

resources, some things to consider would be:

● Do the sources for reading lists, the development of case studies, and exemplars

of good practice (etc.) reflect more than a mono-cultural or UK-centric knowledge

community?

● To what extent/how do ways of engaging with course resources, (for example

through case studies, problem-based learning, or critical incident analysis), lead to

changes in perspectives arising out of coming into contact with others and their

perspectives?

● To what extent/in what ways do course resources require or enable students to

engage with ethical, environmental, or future-facing sustainability issues

surrounding disciplinary practice or impact? For a global outlook, these may be

global in geographical terms and/or more locally focussed concerns about valuing

difference - e.g. if/how/why there are different national/cultural perspectives and

practices concerning the use of drugs in sport, or if/how global sport impacts upon

carbon emissions.

● Do you encourage/enable students to see how a common theoretical base might

be applied differently in different cultural/political/economic contexts? What can this

teach them about how they might need to change broader practice, social contexts,

etc.?

● How are discipline-specific terms applied and interpreted differently, what different

terms exist to refer to key concepts and the contexts of their application, e.g. in the

USA it is common to refer to ‘mental retardation’, which is generally considered to

be offensive in the UK?

● To what extent/in what ways do you seek to draw upon students with different

socio-cultural/biographical background as informants (avoid, though, assumptions

about students from x knowing about, believing, thinking y).

● To what extent/in what ways do you seek to use colleagues with different

biographical, cultural, linguistics experiences, skills, and perspectives to bring

these into the student experience, course design, assessment criteria, etc.

Rizvi & Lingard (2006: 6-7) argue for content which develops a student’s global imagination.

As you read the quote, you might reflect upon how module content you are familiar with

would stand up to evaluation against these criteria:

“...curriculum content should not arise out of a singular cultural base but

should engage critically with the global plurality of the sources of knowledge.

It should not only respond to the needs of the local community but should



seek to give students knowledge and skills that assist their global

engagement. It should encourage students to explore how knowledge is now

produced, distributed and utilised globally. It should help them develop an

understanding of the global nature of economic, political and cultural

exchange. In short, it should assist them in the development of, not only

global understanding, but also global imagination.”

Your Learning Activities

On many courses and modules there are opportunities for cross-cultural interactions to

take place between students. Engaging in (successful) cross-cultural interactions offers a

positive learning experience which can enhance students’ confidence and willingness to

participate in future opportunities to meet, talk and share with, and learn from diverse others.

Even if your cohorts do not have any/many international students, you will likely find other

diversity in terms of students’ socio-cultural identities, and even moving students out of

friendship groups can offer more diverse perspectives. However, such interactions can pose

difficulties for unprepared students, and need to be carefully set up if they are not to risk

having an adverse effect. Issues and potential solutions are discussed at further length in

Killick (2012), an OER available in the Leeds Beckett repository. Some key points there can

be summarised as:

● successful cross-cultural group work requires equality, common goals, task co-

operation, authority support (based on Allport’s Contact Theory, Allport 1979/1954);

● cross-cultural group work situates home students/first language speakers of English

and international students/speakers of English as a second language differentially

and requires positive interventions in task design and process to achieve academic

equity;

● inexperience of meaningful interactions with cultural others is the norm for a great

number of our students, and therefore such contact is anxiety provoking and likely to

create defensiveness and a reluctance to engage.

Suggestions for embedding a global outlook in learning activities: (Extracted from Killick, 2012)

● Explicitly refer to intercultural group work as learning activities in course

documentation and inductions – setting student expectations at the outset;

● Start off as you mean to go on by establishing some cross-cultural working as the

norm right from day one;

● Raise awareness of the potential misunderstandings and misattributions which can

arise from different cultural practices such as non-verbal communication;

● Build benefit into intercultural group work by incorporating objectives which can be

more easily/better achieved by culturally mixed groups;

● Manage group membership yourself – at least at the start of a course/module; i.e.

pre-allocate the groups to maximise integration and sharing of cross-cultural ideas



● Scaffold students towards greater levels of cross-cultural group work by building up

from smaller tasks (one technique might be to start with a ten-minute task with a

self-chosen peer group, the output from which is then shared by regrouping with at

least two members of the original group present, and so forth);

● Make positive reference in feedback and in given exemplars to group outputs

which demonstrate multiple perspectives or wider world knowledge;

● Deconstruct experiences after group work tasks - helping students to see and to

articulate the learning they derived, and the challenges they faced and overcame

or continue to struggle with.

Focussing on process in these ways is a very worthwhile use of time if cross-cultural

interactions can become normal and enjoyable for your students as this can form the basis

for a considerable amount of global outlook development.

Suggestions for embedding a global outlook in learning activities for cohorts with limited diversity:

● Seek ways to link your students with students on a different course - for example,

by project work/small scale research activities which require cross-cultural and

interdisciplinary perspectives.

● Seek to set up links with an international partner institution and engage students in

exploring online a common issue from their respective national/cultural contexts.

● Create a problem based learning scenario or set up a survey for students to

conduct which requires them to interact with a diverse range of students on our

campuses.

Your Assessments

Assessment tasks need to reflect learning outcomes, and where the global outlook

attribute is embedded in the outcome, it needs also to be embedded in the

assessment task - and feature explicitly in the marking schemes/assessment criteria.

In some cases, a critical evaluation of assessment tasks and associated marking criteria

may reveal the extent to which they can be passed with little more than the reproduction of

information, rather than the more complex capabilities expressed within the learning

outcomes.

Criteria for communicating appropriately in a piece of assessment can be written to reward

students who communicate with an informed understanding of their audience - e.g. present

something in a language which is accessible to an audience which includes non-native

speakers of English and those with different cultural reference points. Similarly, other

aspects of a global outlook, as appropriate to the module learning outcomes, can be given

greater prominence and made more clearly explicit to students if they feature as a

component/components within the assessment criteria.



Mark schemes - mark schemes or rubrics can be devised which accommodate (or even

reward) work which has been based on research conducted in/published in other cultural

contexts. This might be simply with regard to variations in the terminology applied, but could

also be more paradigmatic or theoretical. They may also make specific reference to

demonstrating comparative or critical thinking which takes into account diverse cultural or

geo-political perspectives or application (for example).There is more detailed information on

being more inclusive and globally aware in your approach to assessment in the guide

Inclusive Assessment: guidance for Academic staff 1

Suggestions for reviewing how a global outlook features in assessment criteria: Module teams could undertake a critical analysis of any marking criteria/rubrics which

have been developed alongside the learning outcomes and assessment tasks for the

module:

● To what degree is the global outlook attribute dimension(s) of a learning outcome

made explicit within the assessment criteria?

● To what degree do the assessment task and associated criteria require students to

evidence the global outlook dimension of the learning outcome in order to pass or

achieve a good grade in the assessment task?

In addition to ensuring marking criteria and rubrics/mark schemes clearly articulate the

global outlook attribute, we can help out students identify, reflect upon, and articulate how

they are developing a global outlook by making these documents available to students.

This is considered to be good practice in general, since it enables self-assessment, critical

review of their work, and helps them to be able to articulate not only their graduate attributes,

but also how they are developing their subject knowledge and competencies.

Suggestions for utilising assessment criteria to help students engage with the global outlook attribute: Module teams could consider how students are enabled to engage with, reflect upon, and

apply assessment criteria and rubrics/mark schemes to further their understanding of their

learning:

● Do students receive copies of assessment criteria and any rubrics/mark schemes

you use well in advance of submission?

● Are the assessments written in a jargon free way that is easily understandable to

all students?

1 https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staffsite/-/media/files/staff-site/quality-assurance/key-information/validation/inclusive-assessment-guide-final.pdf

https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staffsite/-/media/files/staff-site/quality-assurance/key-information/validation/inclusive-assessment-guide-final.pdf



● Are students encouraged/scheduled to engage in any self or peer-assessment

utilising the assessment criteria and rubrics in advance of submission?

● For further information you should refer specifically to the Inclusive Assessment:

guidance for academic staff1

Your Feedback

Being seen to value student experiences and perspectives is an important motivational tool

generally.

Suggestions for showing how you value a global outlook through feedback: Within your module(s), do you/could you:

● Specifically elicit feedback, and reward multiple perspectives to demonstrate that

we value the things we are expecting our students to also value?

● Make positive reference in both formal and informal feedback to students and in

any given exemplars to individual and/or group outputs which demonstrate multiple

perspectives or wider world knowledge?

● Evidence that you expect and recognise when a student’s written work,

contributions to class, or group discussions, etc., are respectful and value diverse

perspectives on a topic.

References

Allport, G. (1979/1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books.

Anderson, L.W., and Krathwohl, D.R., eds. 2001. A taxonomy for learning, teaching,

and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New

York: Longman.

Biggs, J., and Collins, K.F. (1982). Evaluating the Quality of Learning: The SOLO

Taxonomy. New York, NY: New York Academic Press.

Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook I: The cognitive

domain. New York, NY: David McKay.

British Council/DEA (2011). The Global Skills Gap: Preparing young people for the

new global economy. London: British Council.

Killick, D. (2011). Embedding a Global Outlook as a Graduate Attribute at Leeds

Beckett University. Leeds: Leeds Beckett University. Available at:

https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staff/files/UG_Embedding_Global_Outlook.pdf (Dec

2012).



https://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/staff/files/UG_Embedding_Global_Outlook.pdf



Killick, D. (2012). "Connections – Developing a Global Outlook Bringing together

diverse students through the learning experience (staff resource)." Leeds: Leeds

Beckett University. Available at:

http://repository.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/main/view_record.php?identifier=6965&SearchGr

oup=Open+Educational+Resources (Dec 2012).

QAA. (2014). Education for sustainable development: Guidance for UK higher

education providers. Gloucester: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher

Education. Available at: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Education-

sustainable-development-Guidance-June-14.pdf

Smith, S. (2011). Embedding Enterprise as a Graduate Attribute at Leeds Beckett

University. Leeds: Leeds Beckett University. Available at:

http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/partners/files/UG_Embedding_Enterprise.pdf

Thomson, S. (2011). Embedding Digital Literacy as a Graduate Attribute at Leeds

Beckett University. Leeds: Leeds Beckett University. Available at:

http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/partners/files/UG_Embedding_Digital_Literacy.pdf

Rizvi, F., and Lingard, B. (2006). "Globalization and the Changing Nature of the

OECD's Educational Work." In Education, Globalization and Social Change, eds.

Lauder, H., Brown, P., Dillabough, J.-A. and Halsey, A.H. Oxford: Oxford University

Press. 247-260.

Links to additional resources related to a global outlook.

Ideas and materials from the Peace Corps for generic group work tasks to explore

intercultural issues http://wws.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications/bridges/

Ideas on enhancing interaction between domestic and international students from Australia

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/teaching-international-students

An ‘educator’s handbook’ on global citizenship with principles, short examples from a range

of disciplines and reflective exercises from University of British Columbia and UNICEF

http://ctlt.ubc.ca/files/2011/05/rgctoolbook.pdf

A series of guidelines for intercultural learning, working, collaborating, etc. produced by

Warwick University’s Global People team

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/globalpeople/resourcebank/gppublications/

A short student guide for working with peers across cultures produced at Leeds Beckett

http://studentconnectionsstage.ntistudio.co.uk/

Extensive resources in the HEA Teaching International Students project


http://repository.leedsmet.ac.uk/main/view_record.php?identifier=6965&SearchGroup=Open+Educational+Resources

http://repository.leedsmet.ac.uk/main/view_record.php?identifier=6965&SearchGroup=Open+Educational+Resources

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Education-sustainable-development-Guidance-June-14.pdf

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Education-sustainable-development-Guidance-June-14.pdf

http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/partners/files/UG_Embedding_Enterprise.pdf

http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/partners/files/UG_Embedding_Digital_Literacy.pdf

http://wws.peacecorps.gov/wws/publications/bridges/


http://ctlt.ubc.ca/files/2011/05/rgctoolbook.pdf

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/globalpeople/resourcebank/gppublications/

http://studentconnectionsstage.ntistudio.co.uk/




UK National Occupational Standards for Intercultural working - might be helpful in identifying

skill set associated with a global outlook

http://www.cilt.org.uk/home/standards_and_qualifications/uk_occupational_standards/intercu

ltural_skills.aspx

Case studies from the DEA on global perspectives in UK HE curricula http://think-

global.org.uk/resources/item/892

Conceptual and practical ideas on intercultural competencies within and beyond education

from UNESCO http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002197/219768e.pdf

Good practice principles and quick guides on learning and teaching across cultures from the

International Education Association of Australia http://www.ieaa.org.au/resources/learning-

teaching-across-cultures

Collated suggestions for embedding a global outlook

Suggestion for reminding yourselves how each graduate attribute features in course design: Before thinking about the delivery and assessment of the graduate attributes, course and/or module teams might find it helpful to remind themselves how each attribute is represented in learning outcomes across the course, and to discuss how students might experience learning and assessment activities related to those outcomes.

Suggestions for utilising our graduate attributes to enhance employability:

1. For ALL the attributes: If your course includes a specific CPD module or

employability-associated learning outcomes, check how all the attributes are made

explicit there and if the assessments specifically ask students to articulate their

activities, skills and thinking for the identified attribute.

2. Invite inspiring speakers (who can articulate the graduate attributes and how they

are applied in the workplace) to contribute to your course.

3. Encourage work related learning experience and work placements as part of your

course. Use real world projects co-devised and co-assessed by local employers to

keep your students up to date with issues they will face in the work place.

Specifically:

4. Global Outlook: Contact your School Employability Group or your Careers

Advisors with regard to how they might support you and/or your students to relate

their global outlook to employer expectations, within their job applications

5. If your course includes a specific CPD module or employability-associated learning

outcomes, how is the global outlook attribute made explicit there?

http://www.cilt.org.uk/home/standards_and_qualifications/uk_occupational_standards/intercultural_skills.aspx

http://www.cilt.org.uk/home/standards_and_qualifications/uk_occupational_standards/intercultural_skills.aspx

http://think-global.org.uk/resources/item/892

http://think-global.org.uk/resources/item/892

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002197/219768e.pdf

http://www.ieaa.org.au/resources/learning-teaching-across-cultures

http://www.ieaa.org.au/resources/learning-teaching-across-cultures



6. The global outlook attribute is closely linked to the equality and diversity agenda.

How do the policies and resources available on the University’s Equality and

Diversity webpage feature in your module/course?

7. Having a global outlook includes understanding the responsibilities for seeking to

work in ways which safeguard ‘environmental, social and economic wellbeing, both

in present and for future generations’ (QAA, 2014: 5). Specific industry and

professional links can provide rich case studies of contextualised issues and

potential solutions.

Suggestion for reminding yourselves how a global outlook features in course design: Before thinking about the delivery and assessment of a global outlook, course and/or module teams might find it helpful to remind themselves how the global outlook attribute is represented in learning outcomes across the course, and to discuss how students might experience learning and assessment activities related to those outcomes.

Suggestion for making a global outlook visible at course level: Course leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students within course-level documentation, including pre-application and pre-arrival information such as the prospectus, course-finder, and any open day materials, as well as the Course Handbook.

Suggestion for making a global outlook explicit in modules: Module leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students within module-level documentation, including Module Handbooks, your MyBeckett module, and any other generic module guidance.

Suggestions for helping students recognise the global outlook in their course:

Course leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students

at course inductions.

Course leaders might also ask where else do your students find their graduate identities

reinforced:

1. What other mechanisms reinforce their identity as students of course x or y?





2. Do your students see themselves as members of a global discipline?

Suggestion for raising awareness of a global outlook at modular level: Module leaders could review how the global outlook attribute is made explicit to students

whenever the module itself is being discussed. How does the content of the module lend

itself to being more inclusive? Do you have diverse reading lists? How do you organise

your group work? How do you offer opportunities in module sessions to expose the

students to awareness of diversity and encourage respect of individual differences? How

do you actively encourage your students to draw on their past experience and discuss it in

the classroom (physical or virtual).



Suggestions for selecting learning resources to embed a global outlook: In selecting learning resources and framing how students are to engage with those

resources, some things to consider would be:

1. Do the sources for reading lists, the development of case studies, and exemplars

of good practice (etc.) reflect more than a mono-cultural or UK-centric knowledge

community?

1. To what extent/how do ways of engaging with course resources, (for example

through case studies, problem-based learning, or critical incident analysis), lead to

changes in perspectives arising out of coming into contact with others and their

perspectives?

1. To what extent/in what ways do course resources require or enable students to

engage with ethical, environmental, or future-facing sustainability issues

surrounding disciplinary practice or impact? For a global outlook, these may be

global in geographical terms and/or more locally focussed concerns about valuing

difference - e.g. if/how/why there are different national/cultural perspectives and

practices concerning the use of drugs in sport, or if/how global sport impacts upon

carbon emissions.

1. Do you encourage/enable students to see how a common theoretical base might

be applied differently in different cultural/political/economic contexts? What can this

teach them about how they might need to change broader practice, social contexts,

etc.?

1. How are discipline-specific terms applied and interpreted differently, what different

terms exist to refer to key concepts and the contexts of their application? e.g. in the

USA it is common to refer to ‘mental retardation’, which is generally considered to

be offensive in the UK.

1. To what extent/in what ways do you seek to draw upon students with different

socio-cultural/biographical background as informants (avoid though assumptions

about students from x knowing about, believing, thinking y).

2. To what extent/in what ways do you seek to use colleagues with different

biographical, cultural, linguistics experiences, skills, and perspectives to bring

these into the student experience, course design, assessment criteria, etc.

Suggestions for embedding a global outlook in learning activities: (Extracted from Killick, 2012)

1. Explicitly refer to intercultural group work as learning activities in course

documentation and inductions – setting student expectations at the outset;



2. Start off as you mean to go on by establishing some cross-cultural working as the

norm right from day one;

3. Raise awareness of the potential misunderstandings and misattributions which can

arise from different cultural practices such as non-verbal communication;

4. Build benefit into intercultural group work by incorporating objectives which can be

more easily/better achieved by culturally mixed groups;

5. Manage group membership yourself – at least at the start of a course/module; i.e.

pre-allocate the groups to maximise integration and sharing of cross-cultural ideas;

6. Scaffold students towards greater levels of cross-cultural group work by building up

from smaller tasks (one technique might be to start with a ten-minute task with a

self-chosen peer group, the output from which is then shared by regrouping with at

least two members of the original group present, and so forth);

7. Make positive reference in feedback and in given exemplars to group outputs

which demonstrate multiple perspectives or wider world knowledge;

8. Deconstruct experiences after group work tasks – helping students to see and to

articulate the learning they derived, and the challenges they faced and overcame

or continue to struggle with.

Suggestions for embedding a global outlook in learning activities for cohorts with limited diversity:

1. Seek ways to link your students with students on a different course - for example

by project work/small scale research activities which require cross-cultural and

interdisciplinary perspectives.

2. Seek to set up links with an international partner institution and engage students in

exploring online a common issue from their respective national/cultural contexts.

3. Create a problem based learning scenario or set up a survey for students to

conduct which requires them to interact with a diverse range of students on our

campuses.

Suggestions for reviewing how a global outlook features in assessment criteria: Module teams could undertake a critical analysis of any marking criteria/rubrics which

have been developed alongside the learning outcomes and assessment tasks for the

module:

1. To what degree is the global outlook attribute dimension(s) of a learning outcome

made explicit within the assessment criteria?

2. To what degree do the assessment task and associated criteria require students to

evidence the global outlook dimension of the learning outcome in order to pass or

achieve a good grade in the assessment task?





learning:

1. Do students receive copies of assessment criteria and any rubrics/mark schemes


2. Are the assessments written in a jargon free way that is easily understandable to

all students?

3. Are students encouraged/scheduled to engage in any self or peer-assessment


4. For further information you should refer specifically to the Inclusive Assessment:




learning:

● Do students receive copies of assessment criteria and any rubrics/mark schemes


● Are the assessments written in a jargon free way that is easily understandable to

all students?

● Are students encouraged/scheduled to engage in any self or peer-assessment


● For further information you should refer specifically to the Inclusive Assessment:


Suggestions for showing how you value a global outlook through feedback: Within your module(s), do you/could you:

● Specifically elicit, feedback, and reward multiple perspectives to demonstrate that

we value the things we are expecting our students to also value?

● Make positive reference in both formal and informal feedback to students and in

any given exemplars to individual and/or group outputs which demonstrate multiple

perspectives or wider world knowledge?







● Evidence that you expect and recognise when a student’s written work,

contributions to class or group discussions, etc., is respectful and values diverse

perspectives on a topic.



Contributors

David Killick (Editor)

Sue Smith

Simon Thomson

Belinda Cooke

Steph Jameson

Jane Welbourn

Published by the Centre for Learning and Teaching

Leeds Beckett University

November 2017 (3RD Edition)

http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/partners/graduate-attributes.htm

http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/partners/graduate-attributes.htm