Higher education institutions across the United States have developed global learning initiatives to support student achievement of global awareness and global perspective, but assessment options for these outcomes are extremely limited. A review of research for a global learning initiative at a large, Hispanic-serving, urban, public, research university in South Florida found a lack of instruments designed to measure global awareness and global perspective in the context of an authentic performance assessment. This quasi-experimental study explored the development of two rubrics for the global learning initiative and the extent to which evidence supported the rubrics’ validity and reliability. One holistic rubric was developed to measure students’ global awareness and the second to measure their global perspective. The study utilized a pretest/posttest nonequivalent group design. Multiple linear regression was used to ascertain the rubrics’ ability to discern and compare average learning gains of undergraduate students enrolled in two global learning courses and students enrolled in two non-global learning courses. Parallel pretest/posttest forms of the performance task required students to respond to two open-ended questions, aligned with the learning outcomes, concerning a complex case narrative. Trained faculty raters read responses and used the rubrics to measure students’ global awareness and perspective. Reliability was tested by calculating the rates of agreement among raters. Evidence supported the finding that the global awareness and global perspective rubrics yielded scores that were highly reliable measures of students’ development of these learning outcomes. Chi-square tests of frequency found significant rates of inter-rater agreement exceeding the study’s .80 minimum requirement. Evidence also supported the finding that the rubrics yielded scores that were valid measures of students’ global awareness and global perspective. Regression analyses found little evidence of main effects; however, post hoc analyses revealed a significant interaction between global awareness pretest scores and the treatment, the global learning course. Significant interaction was also found between global perspective pretest scores and the treatment. These crossover interactions supported the finding that the global awareness and global perspective rubrics could be used to detect learning differences between the treatment and control groups as well as differences within the treatment group.

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure high school students’ perceptions of global awareness and attitudes towards global issues. The research questions that guided this study were: (a) Can acceptable validity and reliability estimates be established for an instrument developed to measure high schools students' global awareness? (b) Can acceptable validity and reliability estimates be established for an instrument developed to measure high schools students' attitudes towards global issues? (c) What is the relationship between high school students’ GPA, race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, parents’ education, reading and listening habits, the number of classes taken in the social sciences, whether they speak a second language, and have experienced living in or visiting other countries, and their perception of global awareness and attitudes toward global issues? An ex post facto research design was used and the data were collected using a 4-point Likert-type survey. It was administered in 14 schools in the Miami-Dade County area to 704 students. A factor analysis with an orthogonal varimax rotation was used to identify the underlying constructs that were being measured by the instrument – global education, global citizenship, and global workforce. This was done to estimate construct validity. However, the findings indicated two different factors that included the content of the three constructs but had to be labeled differently. They were: factor 1 – self- perception of global awareness and factor 2 – attitudes towards global social issues. Cronbach’s alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the instrument. These findings helped answer the first two research questions. A hierarchical multiple regression was also used. The findings helped determine the relationship of the two factors to the demographics. The overall model indicated that the demographic variables accounted for significant amounts of variance of each of the factor constructs identified. Among the findings, the independent variables, ethnicity and parents’ education were statistically significant for self-perception of global awareness (factor 1). Gender and SES were statistically significant for attitude toward global social issues (factor 2).

The diploma thesis is focused on the global thinking of university students. The aim of the diploma thesis is to find out the level of global thinking of university students and the factors that influence this level. By finding answers to research questions, we get the answer to the goal of the work. The research questions are: What levels of global thinking university students achieve in each segment of global thinking? Are there differences in the thinking of university students in a global context by gender and age? Does the personal experience of a visit to a foreign country affect the level of global thinking and attitudes of the university student? Does the interest in what is happening abroad influence the level of global thinking of university students? How differ the level of global thinking of Czech high school pupils and university students? Following the main goal of the work, is describes the connection between global thinking with globalization and education. The basic source of data is a global thinking questionnaire disseminated among university students across fields of study and universities. The result of the work are factors that statistically significantly affect the achieved level of global thinking of university students and the comparison of the results of the work with the...

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The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of principals from around the world regarding the perceived skill set necessary for success before, during, and after the coronavirus pandemic. While many school facilities closed during the public health crisis, the learning continued. During the pandemic, educational leaders were tasked with creating environments that allowed students to thrive academically, behaviorally, and emotionally from beyond the classroom walls. By identifying the perceived skill set required to lead an effective school building before and then during the pandemic, a greater understanding of the future of education can be ascertained. The study involved interviewing fourteen school leaders from around the world (seven from the United States and seven internationally). The interview questions probed the perceived necessary skills for the functioning of successful school buildings prior to, during, and then after the coronavirus pandemic. The outcome of the study provides opportunities for school leaders and human resource personnel to identify characteristics essential for success in a world changed by the global pandemic. By analyzing the perceptions of necessary skills to lead successful schools during the coronavirus crisis through a comparative approach, a dedication of resources for improving the quality of the leadership within school buildings moving forward can be adapted. / Doctor of Education / The global coronavirus health crisis greatly impacted schools, learning, and leadership. Through a comparative approach, we have an opportunity to learn from each other and make crucial changes moving forward to garner more success. The influence of comparative education on school leadership preparation was identified in the review of literature. American and international school leaders who were impacted by the coronavirus was the specific area the researcher focused on for this study. This qualitative study focused on the perceptions of school leaders on the skills necessary for success before, during, and then after the health crisis. Data was collected through the interviews of fourteen school leaders (seven from the United States and seven from around the world). Through this study, the researcher identified seven findings and four implications. One limitation for this study was the small sample size. A suggestion for future research would be to investigate how important the vision of a school building is to the overall leadership attributes by interviewing the leadership teams and then the teachers they serve to discover if there is alignment by triangulating student assessment data, staff climate surveys, and student climate surveys.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of eight high school principals regarding world-mindedness. Classrooms filled with students of various heritages present a three-fold challenge to principals: a) to welcome and educate students of all heritages; b) to teach students to respect and accept people who are different from themselves; and c) to graduate students prepared to live and work in a global economy. The study involved interviewing principals from eight high schools in central and northern Virginia: a) three public high schools with relatively high percentages of LEP students; b) three public schools with much lower percentages of LEP students; and c) two private international schools. The interview questions probed not only how the principals felt about world-mindedness but also about their roles in building world-minded schools and how they would recognize world-mindedness. The findings were as follows: a) all participants agreed on the importance of world-mindedness in education; b) world-minded practices were absent from some schools; c) offering the International Baccalaureate Program did not necessarily make a school highly world-minded; d) participants did not need extensive experiences outside the United States to be highly world-minded; e) demands from outside forces encouraged participants to be world-minded; f) community demographics affected participants' perceptions of schools' levels of world-mindedness; g) participants in schools with diverse student bodies seemed to be more world-minded; h) highly world-minded participants used conversations to raise and maintain world-mindedness; i) highly world-minded participants used websites to promote world-mindedness; j) highly world-minded schools possessed tangible and intangible elements of world-mindedness; and k) some participants confused world-mindedness with anti-racism. Implications were that principals should a) seek professional development opportunities; b) include world-mindedness in communications; c) start with tangible elements to build intangible elements of world-mindedness; and d) have frequent conversations about world-mindedness with stakeholders. The recommendations for further research included a) creating world-mindedness continuums; b) building world-mindedness in homogeneous student bodies; c) using international schools as world-mindedness models; and d) distinguishing world-mindedness from anti-racism efforts. In conclusion, the growing diversity in U.S. classrooms presents principals with a mandate to work toward high levels of world-mindedness and, thus, become diversity change agents. / Ed. D.

As engineering work becomes more globalized, it is important to prepare students to succeed in a global engineering workforce. Prior research has explored different factors important to the design of global programs generally, but less is known about the experiences and learning outcomes of engineering students while abroad. Because this population has historically been underrepresented in global programs, few research-based practices have been identified to support the intentional design of global experiences for engineering students. This dissertation seeks to provide such insights through three studies that address the following components of global engineering program design: 1) the assessment of Global Engineering Competency (GEC) through use of a series of scenarios based in the Chinese context; 2) the relationship between program destination and students’ experiences and reported learning outcomes; and 3) the experiences that engineering students identify as most significant during their time abroad. I used a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods to explore students’ learning and experiences in global engineering programs. The results of these studies revealed that engineering students have a wide variety of learning outcomes and experiences as a result of global programs, that great care should be exercised in choosing and interpreting assessment methods for global programs, and that the design of global engineering programs should be informed by characteristics of both the student participants and the program destination. Overall, the results of this dissertation highlight the importance of intentionality when designing global engineering programs to better prepare students for success in a global work environment. / Doctor of Philosophy / As engineering work becomes more globalized, it is important to prepare students to succeed in a global engineering workforce. Prior research has explored different factors important to the design of global programs generally, but less is known about the experiences and learning outcomes of engineering students while abroad. Because this population has historically been underrepresented in global programs, few research-based practices have been identified to support the intentional design of global experiences for engineering students. This dissertation seeks to provide such insights through three studies that address the following components of global engineering program design: 1) the assessment of Global Engineering Competency (GEC) through use of a series of scenarios based in the Chinese context; 2) the relationship between program destination and students’ experiences and reported learning outcomes; and 3) the experiences that engineering students identify as most significant during their time abroad. I used a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed research methods to explore students’ learning and experiences in global engineering programs. The results of these studies revealed that engineering students have a wide variety of learning outcomes and experiences as a result of global programs, that great care should be exercised in choosing and interpreting assessment methods for global programs, and that the design of global engineering programs should be informed by characteristics of both the student participants and the program destination. Overall, the results of this dissertation highlight the importance of intentionality when designing global engineering programs to better prepare students for success in a global work environment.