DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE THROUGH BLENDED LEARNING: THE ROLE OF PEER INTERACTION By MARY E. RISNER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Mary E. Risner 2 To my mother and grandmother for all their support throughout my educational endeavors 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I express my appreciation to my committee for the contributions each of them made throughout this research project. I thank Cathy Cavanaugh with whom I took my first online course, which introduced me to the benefits and value of well- designed online learning. I appreciate the insight from Orlando Kelm, a valued mentor and colleague, with whom I have collaborated on many projects over the years. I thank Swapna Kumar, a new mentor and friend, who has supported me throughout the capstone process and Bart Weitz for agreeing to participate in the pilot module implementation and for sharing his retailing expertise. Finally, I thank my colleagues Julia Fuller and Minnie Ogburn for their encouragement during the entire Ed.D. program. And I thank the Center for International Business Education and Research and the Miller Retailing Center for the opportunity to be a part of the International Retailing Education and Training project. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 8 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 9 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12 Professional Niche and Project Relevance ............................................................. 12 The Need for Intercultural Competence in US Students ......................................... 13 Initiatives Promoting Intercultural Competence ................................................ 15 Educational Technology ................................................................................... 19 Interdisciplinary Connections/Authentic Learning ............................................. 20 Rationale for the Study ........................................................................................... 20 Proposed Project Outputs ....................................................................................... 23 Blended Module ............................................................................................... 23 Evaluation ......................................................................................................... 23 Faculty Reference Guide .................................................................................. 24 Project Significance ................................................................................................ 24 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 30 Types of Learner Interaction ................................................................................... 31 Why Integrate Online Activities? ............................................................................. 32 Instructional Design and Learning Theory .............................................................. 34 Constructivist Learning Theory ......................................................................... 34 Cognitive Learning Theory ............................................................................... 35 Authentic Learning ........................................................................................... 35 Learner-to-Learner Interaction in Online Course Design ........................................ 37 Intercultural Competence ........................................................................................ 41 Defining Intercultural Competence ................................................................... 41 Developing Intercultural Competence .............................................................. 43 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 50 Context of the Study ............................................................................................... 50 The Blended China Retailing Module ..................................................................... 51 Analysis ............................................................................................................ 51 Design .............................................................................................................. 53 Development .................................................................................................... 54 Implementation ................................................................................................. 55 Description of module classes/online sessions .......................................... 56 Final consulting project .............................................................................. 57 5 Evaluation ......................................................................................................... 57 Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 58 Study Instruments ................................................................................................... 60 Intercultural Sensitivity Scale: Pre- and Post-Module ...................................... 60 Studies Using the Chen and Starosta ISS ........................................................ 62 China Retailing Quiz: Pre- and Post-Module ................................................... 64 Demographic/Background Questions: Pre-Module ......................................... 65 Course Feedback Questions: Post-Module ...................................................... 66 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 67 Limitations in Methodology ..................................................................................... 68 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................... 75 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................... 75 Participant Demographics ................................................................................ 75 Study Participation ........................................................................................... 76 Research Question 1-Intercultural Sensitivity ANCOVA Results ...................... 78 Descriptive Statistics: Intercultural Sensitivity Level ........................................ 79 Research Question 2-China Retailing Quiz ANCOVA Results ......................... 80 Descriptive Statistics - China Retailing Quiz ..................................................... 81 Research Question 3 - Student Perception of Value of Intercultural Awareness .................................................................................................... 81 Student Feedback on the Online Activities ............................................................. 85 5 DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS ....................................................................... 96 Summary ................................................................................................................ 96 Findings .................................................................................................................. 97 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 98 Intercultural Sensitivity Development ............................................................... 98 Factual Knowledge Acquisition - Retailing Expertise in China ........................ 100 Perception of Value of Intercultural Awareness .............................................. 101 Instructional Design and Constructivism ........................................................ 102 Instructional Design and Online Interaction .................................................... 105 Blended Module Design Recommendations ......................................................... 107 Course Overview and Introduction ................................................................. 108 Technology, Interaction, and Learner Support ............................................... 110 Materials and Learning Objectives ................................................................. 113 General Recommendations ............................................................................ 116 Faculty Reference Guide ................................................................................ 117 Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................... 118 Business School and Faculty Implementation/Dissemination ......................... 118 Faculty Professional Development ................................................................. 119 Improve Authenticity/Visual Elements of Activities