Teams of students from Abington and Germany compete to develop the best solution to a problem posed by a company in the Philadelphia region within 48-hours.
The Penn State Abington students - a dozen native English speakers and 12 new international undergraduates - were clearly apprehensive about being paired up for the mandatory assignment. A palpable sense of "otherness," an unseen divide, permeated the classroom at the first group meeting of the International Conversation Partners Project, according to Roxanna Senyshyn.
But six weeks made a world of difference. At their final group meeting, the boundaries had dissolved. The sounds of easy conversation permeated the classroom as the students traded stories about celebrating first Halloweens, experiencing Superstorm Sandy and discovering the pleasures of frozen yogurt.
"The students initially saw lots of differences among themselves, but now they see the similarities," said Senyshyn, senior lecturer in ESL (English as a Second Language)/English, and Communication Arts and Sciences, said.
The journal entries below are excerpts from two different students involved in the International Conversation Partners Project at Penn State Abington. The project is a requirement for Teaching English to English Language Learners (CI280), a required course for Childhood and Early Adolescent Education majors.
Penn State Abington students will have the opportunity to incorporate the benefits of international education into their coursework this spring through four courses with short-term travel components. The curriculum will require students to travel to Nicaragua for an examination of the Sandinista Revolution, to Italy for robotics and to England for criminal justice and religious studies.
Penn State Abington, the home to a growing population of international and immigrant students, is joining educational institutions, embassies and community organizations worldwide to mark International Education Week (IEW), running through Friday, Nov. 16.
Cherry blossom trees, an icon of the friendship between Japan and the United States, also are a fitting symbol for a relationship that bloomed decades ago and whose roots grow stronger each year between Penn State Abington and Seinan Gakuin University in Japan. This friendship culminated in an English immersion course that recently brought 12 Seinan students halfway around the world to Abington for two weeks of learning and international exchange.
You could almost hear the opening trumpet notes of the Rocky theme emanating from eight German college students who visited Philadelphia last week. It could have been related to the "title fight" they were about to wage in the Penn State Abington International Business Case Competition, but more likely it was connected to the item at the top of their bucket list, scaling the iconic steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Penn State Abington is celebrating the 10th annual International Education Week (IEW) on campus, Monday, Nov. 9 through Friday, Nov. 13. IEW is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education highlighting the benefits of international education and exchange. The theme for IEW 2009 is "Creating a Vision for a Better Tomorrow."
