Page 329 - Igor Ž. Žagar in Ana Mlekuž, ur. Raziskovanje v vzgoji in izobraževanju: mednarodni vidiki vzgoje in izobraževanja. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut, 2020. Digitalna knjižnica, Dissertationes 38
P. 329
internationalisation of the curriculum: a case study from hungary
main topics which are discussed during the lectures also give the basis for
individual homework and reflection papers. According to the syllabus, the
students’ final grade consists of the quality of classroom participation, in-
dividual assignments on course topics, and of the final individual or group
assignment. Based on the experiences of past semesters, the lecturers creat-
ed a clear syllabus and framework for students that consist of expectations,
requirements and continuous evaluation.
Teaching methods and transformational learning
Apart from the teaching content which revolves around diversity and cul-
ture, the heterogeneity of participating students coming from different
countries was also in favour for creating global and intercultural dimen-
sions within the class. This fact also helped in shaping the teaching methods
towards interactive classroom activities that encouraged students to engage
with others from diverse cultural and educational background and to create
working relationships through group projects. Lecturing was minimalized
to introduce key concepts and definitions in order to make students under-
stand the basic concepts and give background knowledge for discussion.
Teaching methods involved playful activities (for example, reading Horace
Miner‘s article on the ‘Nacirema’ culture to understand Cultural Anthro-
pology narratives only to find out that the story is about American culture)
whereas students’ creative task was to create a similar riddle of a nation-
al custom from an outsider’s perspective. Personalization of the teaching
content also played an important role in planning out the activities: for ex-
ample, in grasping the meanings of culture and identity, students’ task was
to bring an object to class that represents their identity. Another teaching
method in favour of transformational learning aimed at aligning the class-
room topics with non-formal activities, such as role-play and games that
served to grasp the idea of diversity and among others, the differences be-
tween prejudice and discrimination. Practical application of the topics hap-
pened by organizing field trip to the local library and introducing the activ-
ity: Judge a book by its cover! - where the students have to apply their ideas
about visual representation of discrimination and stereotypes.
Student evaluation survey - Findings
The first questions of the evaluation survey concerned the knowledge
gained after the course about the classroom topics and the local, Hungarian
329
main topics which are discussed during the lectures also give the basis for
individual homework and reflection papers. According to the syllabus, the
students’ final grade consists of the quality of classroom participation, in-
dividual assignments on course topics, and of the final individual or group
assignment. Based on the experiences of past semesters, the lecturers creat-
ed a clear syllabus and framework for students that consist of expectations,
requirements and continuous evaluation.
Teaching methods and transformational learning
Apart from the teaching content which revolves around diversity and cul-
ture, the heterogeneity of participating students coming from different
countries was also in favour for creating global and intercultural dimen-
sions within the class. This fact also helped in shaping the teaching methods
towards interactive classroom activities that encouraged students to engage
with others from diverse cultural and educational background and to create
working relationships through group projects. Lecturing was minimalized
to introduce key concepts and definitions in order to make students under-
stand the basic concepts and give background knowledge for discussion.
Teaching methods involved playful activities (for example, reading Horace
Miner‘s article on the ‘Nacirema’ culture to understand Cultural Anthro-
pology narratives only to find out that the story is about American culture)
whereas students’ creative task was to create a similar riddle of a nation-
al custom from an outsider’s perspective. Personalization of the teaching
content also played an important role in planning out the activities: for ex-
ample, in grasping the meanings of culture and identity, students’ task was
to bring an object to class that represents their identity. Another teaching
method in favour of transformational learning aimed at aligning the class-
room topics with non-formal activities, such as role-play and games that
served to grasp the idea of diversity and among others, the differences be-
tween prejudice and discrimination. Practical application of the topics hap-
pened by organizing field trip to the local library and introducing the activ-
ity: Judge a book by its cover! - where the students have to apply their ideas
about visual representation of discrimination and stereotypes.
Student evaluation survey - Findings
The first questions of the evaluation survey concerned the knowledge
gained after the course about the classroom topics and the local, Hungarian
329
