Assessment strategies for global learning: I theory

Abstract

Global Learning is best achieved through project-based or other active approaches to learning by teams of people living in countries with vastly different cultures. The definition of "global learning" used here is the combination of global reach, using modern communications technologies, with global perspectives, achieved through interaction of learners living in diverse geographic locations with different cultural backgrounds, to produce the global graduate. This graduate exhibits the requisite communication and team work skills for successfully achieving learning outcomes in a global context plus the attributes required by accreditation bodies in their chosen program. This paper discusses the implications of global learning for learning activities, outcomes and associated assessment strategies. Innovations for assessing both team and individual outcomes and the use of reflection for metacognitive development emerge from limited case studies of global learning.