10.14601/TUTOR-15829
Questo articolo riguarda l’esperienza acquisita con l’attivazione di un processo d’internazionalizzazione del corso del Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni Sanitarie (Presidente Prof. Daniele Rodriguez, Università di Padova). Si è cercato d’identificare, secondo quanto riporta la letteratura internazionale, quali sono le principali motivazioni che spingono le Accademie ad intraprendere processi d’internazionalizzazione. Sono inoltre esposte le motivazioni intrinseche del Corso di Laurea Magistrale che hanno portato all’attivazione di tale processo e gli obiettivi a medio e lungo termine che il Consiglio di Corso si è posto. È riportata anche la narrazione dell’esperienza di un docente che ha tenuto il suo corso in lingua inglese e la valutazione dell’esperienza da parte degli studenti coinvolti. Questa parte di articolo fornisce suggerimenti per i docenti che volessero tenere il loro corso in lingua veicolare Inglese, utilizzando anche il metodo didattico conosciuto come apprendimento cooperativo. Sono state inoltre descritte altre iniziative sorte conseguentemente nel Corso di Laurea in Fisioterapia, relativamente all’esperienza di un tutor accademico e di un progetto per la formazione e dei Mentor Clinici. Nelle conclusioni sono considerate le future prospettive del processo d’internazionalizzazione del Corso e la responsabilità di Docenti e Tutor nel preparare gli studenti non solo come professionisti ma anche come cittadini del mondo.
application/pdf
1971-8551
4843
1
it
Eleonora Raimondi
Tutor
lingua franca
A contribution to higher education internationalization process. Some teaching experiences at <em>Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni Sanitarie</em>, University of Padova
Text.Serial.Journal
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2015-03-12
2019-07-30
2015-03-12
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1
Eleonora Raimondi
2015/03/12
10.14601/TUTOR-15829
13
1971-8551
1
lingua franca
24
A contribution to higher education internationalization process. Some teaching experiences at <em>Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni Sanitarie</em>, University of Padova
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tutor                                                                                                         Vol. 15, N. 1, 2015: 13-24
                                                                                                            DOI: 10.14601/Tutor-15829



           A contribution to higher education
           internationalization process.
           Some teaching experiences at
           Corso di Laurea Magistrale in
           Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni
           Sanitarie, University of Padova
                   Antonio Quinci1, Chiara Salin2, Gabriella Marini3, Anna Pilat4, Eleonora Raimondi5
                   1
                     Adjunct professor and Didactic Activities Director, Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle
                   Professioni Sanitarie – University of Padova - Azienda Ospedaliera of Padova, Italy. E-mail: antonio.quinci@unipd.it
                   2
                     Tutor Junior, School of Medicine, University of Padova, Italy
                   3
                     Adjunct professor and Tutor, Corso di Laurea in Fisioterapia, University of Padova, Azienda Ospedaliera of Padova,
                   Italy
                   4
                     Adjunct professor and Tutor, Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni Sanitarie, University
                   of Padova, Azienda Ulss 16 Padova, Italy
                   5
                     Adjunct professor and Tutor, Corso di Laurea in Educazione professionale, University of Padova, Italy

        ABSTRACT
        This article regards the experience gained in the Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle Profes-
        sioni Sanitarie (President Prof. Daniele Rodriguez, Padova University) on the activation of an international-
        ization process of the course.
        Firstly it sought to identified the main motivations of university courses that can lead to the activation of an
        internationalization process, according to the international literature.
        Secondly, the intrinsic motivations of the Corso di Laurea Magistrale, are discussed. Medium and long term
        goals that the degree has been placed about are exposed.
        It was also narrated the experience of a lecturer that has taken its course in English language and the assess-
        ment carried out by students involved. This part of article addresses suggestions for lecturers who wish to
        hold their course in English, using cooperative learning didactic method as well.
        Moreover, there are also drawn other consequential initiatives arising from the Physiotherapy Degree about
        the same topic and regarding the experience of an academic tutor and a project for training and supporting
        clinic mentors.
        Finally, in the conclusions are considered ways that internationalization perspectives might be introduced,
        or activities ‘scaled up’ and the responsibility that we, as educators, have to prepare our students as world
        citizens.

        Key words: higher education, internationalization process, teaching, English, lingua franca, medium
        instruction.



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           © Firenze University Press       ISSN (print) 1971-7296
           http://www.fupress.com/tutor    ISSN (online) 1971-8551
  tutor Volume 15, Numero 1, aprile 2015

                   RIASSUNTO
Lavori originali




                   Questo articolo riguarda l’esperienza acquisita con l’attivazione di un processo d’internazionalizzazione del
                   corso del Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni Sanitarie (Presidente Prof.
                   Daniele Rodriguez, Università di Padova).
                   Si è cercato d’identificare, secondo quanto riporta la letteratura internazionale, quali sono le prin-
                   cipali motivazioni che spingono le Accademie ad intraprendere processi d’internazionalizzazione.
                   Sono inoltre esposte le motivazioni intrinseche del Corso di Laurea Magistrale che hanno portato all’at-
                   tivazione di tale processo e gli obiettivi a medio e lungo termine che il Consiglio di Corso si è posto.
                   È riportata anche la narrazione dell’esperienza di un docente che ha tenuto il suo corso in lingua inglese e la
                   valutazione dell’esperienza da parte degli studenti coinvolti. Questa parte di articolo fornisce suggerimenti
                   per i docenti che volessero tenere il loro corso in lingua veicolare Inglese, utilizzando anche il metodo di-
                   dattico conosciuto come apprendimento cooperativo.
                   Sono state inoltre descritte altre iniziative sorte conseguentemente nel Corso di Laurea in Fisioterapia,
                   relativamente all’esperienza di un tutor accademico e di un progetto per la formazione e dei Mentor Clinici.
                   Nelle conclusioni sono considerate le future prospettive del processo d’internazionalizzazione del Corso e
                   la responsabilità di Docenti e Tutor nel preparare gli studenti non solo come professionisti ma anche come
                   cittadini del mondo.

                   Parole chiave: istruzione universitaria, processo di internazionalizzazione, insegnamento, inglese, lingua
                   franca.




                   INTRODUCTION                                                 research and any other service functions of an insti-
                   The activation of an internationalization process in         tution” [1]. However, this definition carries several
                   a graduate program creates opportunities for cul-            key aspects that include:
                   tural growth and knowledge as well.                          • the idea of internalization as a dynamic process
                   The authors involved in this article draft are lec-              and not a set of isolated activities;
                   turers and/or academic tutors working in different           • the concept of integration or infusion which
                   degree courses at University of Padova, sharing the              contributes to the sustainability of the interna-
                   desire to undertake an international route between               tional dimension;
                   cultures.                                                    • the primary and universal functions of an insti-
                   The reported experience namely refers to the di-                 tution of higher education, namely teaching, re-
                   dactic activity at the Corso di Laurea Magistrale in             search and service to society.
                   Scienze Riabilitative delle Professioni Sanitarie of Pado-   Jowi (2009) attempted to include in the definition
                   va University.                                               any systematic sustained efforts aimed to make
                   We believe that what is reported in this article             higher education responsive to the requirements
                   may be useful to those who want to begin a similar           and challenges related to the globalization of soci-
                   experience.                                                  eties, economy and labor markets [2].
                                                                                The internationalization of higher education is a dy-
                                                                                namic process, continuously shaped and reshaped
                   EUROPEAN HIGHER EDUCATION                                    by the international context in which it occurs.
                   AREA’S INTERNATIONALIZATION                                  As this context changes, so do the purpose, goals,
                   Knight (1993) described the internationalization of          meanings, and strategies of internationalization.
                   higher education as “the process of integrating an           The goals of internationalization are continuous-
                   international/intercultural dimension into teaching,         ly evolving, ranging from educating global citizens,



                     14
                                                         A contribution to higher education internationalization



building capacity for research, generating income          for life as active citizens in democratic societies,
from international student tuition fees and the            and support their personal development;
quest to enhance institutional prestige. New forms       • offer broad access to high-quality higher edu-
of internationalization such as branch campuses            cation, based on democratic principles and aca-
abroad, distance learning programs with a global           demic freedom.
reach, international educational hubs and networks
now complement traditional initiatives such as stu-
dent and staff mobility, curriculum change and in-       WHAT WE ARE DOING FOR THE
ternational institutional linkages for teaching and      INTERNATIONALIZATION PROCESS
research.                                                Over the years, the Senato Accademico of Padova
Institutions, countries and regions in different parts   University has provided a lot of services [4] [5]
of the world and at different times pursue a variety     aimed to promote the internationalizion process as
of goals and participate in diverse ways in the higher   the following services to students:
education internationalization process.                  • establishment of the International Relations
In the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)                 Service;
the concept of internationalization is a relative-       • establishment of Foreign Service Door Greeter
ly new concept. In the last twenty years with the            (SAOS);
institution of Bologna Process [3] it has broadened      • establishment of the Housing Service (SASSA
its meaning beyond the student mobility to cov-              for a total of 16 residences);
er teacher mobility, joint ventures, cross-nation-       • establishment of Ateneo Language Centre
al campuses, joint curriculum development, joint             (CLA);
courses in face-to-face meetings or in systems of        • establishment of Tutors Buddy;
distant learning and field courses abroad. The Bolo-     • twenty-three projects Erasmus Mundus, start-
gna Process is named after the Bologna Declaration,          ing from 2004
which was signed in the Italian city of Bologna on       • establishment of seven Master of Science Pro-
the 19th June 1999 by ministers in charge of higher          grammes / Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree
education from 29 European countries. Today, the             with the participation of the University of Pado-
Process unites 47 countries, all party to the Euro-          va (second cycle programs);
pean Cultural Convention and committed to the            • establishment of two PhDs Erasmus Mun-
goals of the European Higher Education Area. An              dus with the participation of the University of
important characteristic of the Bologna Process,             Padova.
and key to its success, is that it also involves Eu-     We think that now it’s time that every course put
ropean Commission, Council of Europe and UN-             in act short term targets aimed to achieve an in-
ESCO-CEPES, as well as representatives of higher         ternational status. To activate this process in high-
education institutions, students, staff, employers       er education we have asked ourselves three main
and quality assurance agencies.                          questions:
The overarching aim of the Bologna Process is to         • What are the real reasons?
create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA)           • How to get started?
based on international cooperation and academic          • Which short-term goals?
exchange that is attractive to European students         We believe that the answers to these questions are
and staff as well as to students and staff from other    fundamental to our daily-basis work life.
parts of the world.
The aims of the envisaged European Higher Educa-
tion Area are to:                                        What are the real reasons that have driven us to
• facilitate mobility of students, graduates and         begin an internationalization process?
    higher education staff;                              There are many contributions to this research top-
• prepare students for their future careers and          ic that we found available in literature. For instance,



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  tutor Volume 15, Numero 1, aprile 2015
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                   Figure 1. Motivations that normally lead to an           Figure 2. Course motivations that drive to an
                   internationalization process.                            internationalization process



                   according to Kreber (2007) [6], Jeptoo (2012) [7]        professionals but also people capable of interacting
                   an De Wit (2013) [8], we can group motivations           and cooperating in an international scenario. This
                   into four categories as represented in Figure 1.         would improve the quality of life of each compo-
                   Economic motivations lie in trying to increase the       nent of this great multicultural society that is grow-
                   higher education marketing of Universities. Politi-      ing fast.
                   cal motivations are instead directed to the pursuit
                   of an ideal peace, based on international under-
                   standing and international cooperation, and aimed        How to activate the process of
                   at solving problems related to the quality of people     internationalization?
                   life. The socio-cultural rational aims respecting        The first condition necessary to start a process
                   cultural diversity. Academic reasons are related         of internationalization is the competence to com-
                   to the mobility of students, teachers and support        municate with people of different mother tongue
                   staff, as well as to the dissemination of professional   languages and cultural backgrounds. To achieve this
                   and cultural knowledge, such as literature , meet-       competence, a shared vehicular language is needed.
                   ings, etc.                                               Almost all universities in the world use currently
                   These four motivational dimensions are not distinct      English as a ‘medium instruction’, or in other words
                   or exclusive, but can overlap in varying degrees.        as a lingua franca (Klassen R., 2008) [9], being a ba-
                   While the political, socio-cultural and academic         sic level of English linguistic competence easy and
                   motivations are based on ethical and cooperation         quick to learn so that to allow survival in interna-
                   principles, the economic rationale is based on com-      tional environments.
                   petition between academies.                              The use of English language is currently the major
                   As far as we are concerned, the real motivations         obstacle to the process of internationalization in
                   that drive us to undertake a path of international-      our contest for several reasons. The first reason is
                   ization can be redesigned as shown in Figure 2.          related to the lecturer’s reluctance to use English
                   Indeed, our motivation is based on ethical reasons.      during lessons. Often, lecturers do not have (or be-
                   We think that the aim of higher educational pro-         lieve not to have) adequate skills to perform fluently
                   cesses should be not only to prepare competent           and with confidence their teaching (oral and writing).



                     16
                                                            A contribution to higher education internationalization



Students have also complained difficulties in writing       • Activate a support course for lecturers avail-
and speaking in English, despite recent generations           able to keep their courses in English. Personal
are experiencing an education system more atten-              learning is a necessary condition for the use of
tive than ever in learning English. This is in line with      language. You learn mainly by reading, listen-
reports from Airey J. (2011) [10], as noted in our            ing to radio and television programs, by study-
‘reality’. Despite students yield proficiency by the          ing grammar and syntax with texts treated for
use of English in active teaching/learning activities,        self-learning. It’s possible to provide an open con-
lecturers require tutorials to obtain a language cer-         versation English course where the English teach-
tificate at least to a level B2-C1 (for description of        er is the linguistic supervisor, who will indicate
language proficiency levels, see the Common Euro-             which areas of proficiency are lacking and how
pean Framework of Reference (C.E.F.R.) [11].                  you can improve them;
Secondly, the promotion of the course of study              • Provide the website of the Corso di Laurea Ma-
needs the use of an interface understandable to               gistrale bilingual;
the rest of the world. Certainly, a bilingual ver-          • Require an English translation of thesis titles and
sion of the official website of the degree courses            abstracts;
is required.                                                • Encourage the production of master’s thesis in
The third condition regards the outcome of litera-            English and publish them to the website of the
ture resulting by the didactic activity of the course.        course;
We namely refer to thesis and derivate articles or          • Identify strategies aimed to transform the
technical reports that will be written in English.            Course in an international one;
Furthermore, the transformation from a local to an          • Promote the exchange of students and teachers
international course will involve a change of culture         as well, with other international Universities.
across the whole Faculty. It is necessary to identify
strategies aimed to achieve this target.
Last, but certainly not least, the training and aware-      A COURSE HELD IN ENGLISH
ness to the change of academic and clinic mentors
will play a significant role within the activation of the   The experience of a teacher (the feeling of
internationalization process in higher education.           Antonio Quinci)
Currently, the initiatives pursued by the Corso di          The experience gained over the years along with
Laurea Magistrale to activate a process of interna-         teachers and Erasmus students brought me to be-
tionalization are listed below:                             lieve in the processes of internationalization of uni-
• two disciplines are now taught entirely in En-            versities for the reasons previously described. The
     glish: English and Professional Practice Methodolo-    process involves a cultural shift and the acquisition
     gy in Rehabilitation. This entails not only the use    of new skills by lecturers. It will require several
     of English as medium instruction, but also the         years to stand out from international competition
     opportunity for students to express themselves         with accredited and high quality degree courses.
     in English during workshops, plenary meetings,         This transformation process is definitely experi-
     presentations and final exams.                         enced by students positively, as indicated by their
• the institutional website of the course is partly         following reviews. It is also appreciated by some
     bilingual, Italian and English.                        lecturers, as well as by the President of Corso di
• the course is ready to accept worldwide stu-              Laurea Magistrale.
     dents who wish to attend the Course.                   It was time to get involved personally in the inter-
                                                            nationalization process. Therefore, I decided to
                                                            hold my teaching at the Corso di Laurea Magistrale
Short-term goals                                            in English. Overall one of the target of my course –
The targets that can be achieved in the short term          Professional practice methodology in rehabilitation – is
are:                                                        to achieve competence in the methodological pro-



                                                                                                               17
  tutor Volume 15, Numero 1, aprile 2015

                   cess and methods necessary to managing, research-       thought in Italian. As a result, I enriched my vo-
Lavori originali




                   ing and teaching in the rehabilitation field. This      cabulary by researching expressions and terms in
                   represents certainly one of the core competence         English that do not have an analogue in Italian.
                   that the course aims to deliver as an educational       Consequently, I re-prepared the slides of my les-
                   target. In addition, another important goal of the      sons in English. I found more appropriate not to
                   internationalization process of our degree course       translate literally the old ones, but thinking and
                   concerns students’ acquisition of skills necessary      writing them directly in English.
                   to cope with any interactions with international        I searched terms that I did not know and checked
                   professionals.                                          their pronunciation accurately by using free sources
                   The contents of the course regard the history and       in the Internet, such as the online Cambridge Dic-
                   methodology of working organizations, Science,          tionary [13].
                   and the history of Pedagogy and methodology of          I practiced every slide on my own, in order to im-
                   teaching.                                               prove my confidence and overcame any potential
                   The didactic method is based on the socio-cultural      language difficulties that I could have met during my
                   constructivism, according to the theory and School      presentations.
                   of L.S. Vygotskij [12].                                 I tried to suppose questions that students might
                   The course was attended by sixteen students. Lec-       have asked and to formulate responses, being Q&A
                   tures were arranged in five seminars and each sem-      the heart of what teachers do (DeZure, 1996) [14].
                   inar were organized in three main phases which are      As a result of persisting practice, I integrated my
                   described as following:                                 technical linguistic knowledge with an extended En-
                   • an historical and cultural introduction, followed     glish-based vocabulary.
                       by the assignments for the next phase;              During the first lesson I organized three working
                   • a workshop in small groups (i.e. three groups         groups of students.
                       of five students), where all students were in-      In order to organize well balanced groups of study, I
                       volved directly. The workshop consisted in          handed a self-evaluation test based on that students
                       solving problems which were raised during the       could check their English competence according to
                       introductions;                                      the Common European Framework of Reference
                   • Final in-depth discussions on the works pro-          (C.E.F.R.). Then, I had a little conversation with
                       duced by each group.                                each student where they could introduce them-
                   Throughout the course, teacher and students had         selves and discuss about their professional and ed-
                   to respect two important rules:                         ucational experiences. In addition, they explained
                   1. enter in a cognitive international dimension,        the reasons that brought them to enroll in the Cor-
                       adopting a contextual point of view which would     so di Laurea Magistrale. Finally, I identified three stu-
                       consider the University of Padova as an interna-    dents who have demonstrated good linguistic com-
                       tional center where knowledge is shared among       petences. These three students were responsible
                       students and teachers around the world;             to co-ordinate and lead their group of study, as well
                   2. During the seminars we had to communicate            as to act as clinic mentors with students in difficulty
                       strictly in English. Students were provided of      with English language. Together we determined the
                       bibliographical material in English and the final   following operating rules:
                       oral exam consisted in an interview with the        • All members of each group should contribute
                       teacher in English, about an article written in         actively to the works, expressing themselves
                       English chosen by the student on a topic related        verbally and produce written in English;
                       to the course.                                      • Each group’s component is bound to produce a
                   To prepare my lessons, I updated my knowledge on            report during the plenary meetings at the end
                   the teaching discipline through literature written in       of the lesson.
                   English and searched the English translations of any    In the workshop, groups had to solve a problematic
                   terms and sources that I used in previous lessons       aspect related to the course contents. In this way,



                     18
                                                           A contribution to higher education internationalization



students had the possibility to build their meth-          At the end of the course, the lecturer asked the
odological and method competences which were               students to complete a questionnaire consisting of
related to professional activities that postgradu-         four open-ended questions:
ate students can meet in their future professional         1. Evaluation of skills achieved during the course;
practices.                                                 2. Evaluation of the teacher’s clarity and ability in
During the workshop, I jointed all groups one at               delivering teaching material;
a time, with the purpose of supervising the group          3. Opinion on the conduction of the course in
dynamics and facilitating learning of knowledge and            English;
expertise.                                                 4. Opinion about the internationalization aspects
Every workshop was concluded by a critical discus-             of the course.
sion of works produced in a plenary session.               The evaluation of the experience was carried out
My personal experience as a lecturer relates to var-       through the collection and analysis of the respons-
ious aspects. With regards to the preparation of           es of the students involved. The opinions given by
teaching material, I cannot deny several challenges        students were coded in order to collect, organize
that I had to overcome in order to achieve appro-          and manage data into categories and then to iden-
priate and sufficient linguistic skills and to reset the   tify recurring thematic units. Later, the evaluation
teaching. Sometimes it was necessary versatility in        process continued with the analysis of the semantic
the use of English to cope with unexpected edu-            content of the corpus of answers in its individual
cational situations. Obviously, to achieve such a          classification units (words, strings of words and
language fluency, it was necessary to invest a con-        verbs with the same semantic meaning). This al-
siderable amount of time to study and practice.            lowed to highlight the presence of thematic units
However, these efforts have been rewarded by ex-           [15] [16]. Results as following.
cellent students’ feedbacks throughout the courses.
Note that the use of English during my presentations       Evaluation of skills achieved during the course
has led me to greater simplicity and clarity which         Most students believed to have achieved useful
was also detected by the students. This is due to          skills in two areas:
the intrinsic often ‘straightforward’ and ‘technical’      • Organization, planning and acquisition of a
nature of the language itself. As a result, sometimes          working method (62.5%);
I felt positively rewarded and more motivated to           • Improvement of English language (37.5% ).
further improve my communication skills.                   Students claimed to have learned a transverse mode
My evaluation on the achievement of the learn-             of organization which is applicable not only to their
ing targets by students has been the same as for           work but also to their personal life. The topics cov-
the teaching held in Italian. I decided to add a new       ered during the course allowed the graduates to
learning target, concerning the improvement of             acquire an insight which would be useful in their
communication skills by students.                          future role as managers. Moreover, this new skills
About my learning experience, I personally have            and expertise will allow them to better understand
enhanced my English proficiency. The acquisition           different aspects related to the organization of
of this skill was later useful in another institutional    their work in a more international and open-mind-
activity promoted within the University; for exam-         ed approach. In addition the course has promot-
ple the international accreditation process of the         ed reflections on group dynamics and leadership
Master in Manual Therapy and Musculoskeletal               skills, considering leadership as a management and
Rehabilitation.                                            organizational ability. These were possible thanks
                                                           to the work of the groups carried out during each
                                                           lesson. Furthermore the group activities have en-
Student’s experiences and evaluations                      hanced the professionals experiences exchanges
Students’ experience of the Course was evaluated           and teamwork skills. The experience is described
by sixteen students.                                       as an opportunity for professional and personal



                                                                                                             19
  tutor Volume 15, Numero 1, aprile 2015

                   growth. Someone has expressed the desire to live         Opinion on the conduction of the course in English
Lavori originali




                   other similar learning opportunities. Finally, We        The importance of holding the didactic activity in
                   would headlight that the 19% of students expressed       English was recognized by all students who consid-
                   the need for a longer duration of the course for a       ered “this experience valuable for their current and
                   greater deepening of topics.                             future work.”
                                                                            Nowadays, communicating by a fluent English has
                   Evaluation of the teacher’s clarity and ability in de-   become a competence which allow the student and
                   livering teaching material                               lecturers to look at the present and future with a
                   Recurring topics resulting from the analysis of stu-     more open-minded approach. The course allowed
                   dent’s responses are:                                    the 56% of participants to “update the language,
                   • teacher’s clarity and effectiveness during the         learn a new vocabulary, test the ability to commu-
                       presentation of issues;                              nicate, read and hear”. However, some students
                   • pertinence between the official program and            (12%) stressed out the need to have a basic level of
                       course development;                                  English for both students and teachers. In addition,
                   • effectiveness and suitability of the material de-      the 31% of the students think that this first step
                       livered and teaching strategies employed;            represents an opportunity to transform the course
                   • students’ involvement and participation on             in an international one and to attend other abroad
                       teaching activities.                                 University courses. Furthermore it could enhance
                   According to the 44% of the students who attend-         Faculty’s international visibility and prestige.
                   ed the evaluation test, the teacher was able to deal
                   with and carry out lessons in English; and the 31%       Opinion about the internationalization aspects of
                   claimed that he was able to express the contents         the course
                   with clarity, simplicity and accuracy. Nevertheless,     Students believe that an internationalization open-
                   the 12% of students expressed to have experienced        ing is a difficult goal to achieve. It may depend on
                   difficulties in following the themes and this was due    the assumption that this kind of higher education
                   to their lack of language knowledge.                     policy isn’t worth for Italian higher education.
                   The didactic method was appreciated by the 56%           “The internationalization process of our courses,
                   of the students that felt to be active part of the       lessons, workshops and internships is currently
                   lesson. The organization of the lesson in two            utopian and unattainable”, even though, students
                   parts, respectively a theoretical introduction and       believe that the internationalization process should
                   a group work, allowed a more interactive, inter-         be partly adopted in every Italian academic career
                   esting and pleasant activity. In order to this co-       to allow more visibility in international networks.
                   operative-learning teaching method, the students         Therefore it is very important to acquire a basic
                   were divided in small groups and this facilitated        level of knowledge of the English language at least.
                   the achievement of common goals. The group               It is a matter of fact that Italian students have less
                   reports were then presented to the rest of stu-          working opportunity due to their lack of knowl-
                   dents. In this way it was possible to create an          edge of English, even compared with European col-
                   interactive context. This method fostered great          leagues. This international opening offers the pos-
                   motivation and permitted a positive and effective        sibility to extend employability of Italian graduates
                   learning. The teacher was a facilitator of learning      abroad.
                   providing support in case of impasse, and calls for      Some students, to facilitate this process, suggest:
                   help, rather than providing categorical or absolute      • “Enhancing attractiveness from abroad” (19%);
                   judgments. From the analysis of the student’s eval-      • “Improving the official websites of each course
                   uation we could point out that the teacher has                and translate them into international languag-
                   demonstrated both technical and soft skills, such             es (e.g., English, French, German and Spanish)”
                   as self-confidence, commitment, experience, and               (12.5%);
                   ability to plan.



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                                                         A contribution to higher education internationalization



• “Getting the double title of graduation” (6%)          to reflect on the base of experiences. This activ-
    through a joint educational program between          ity aims to develop the core competences of the
    Italian and foreign universities.                    health professionals student: intellectual, behavior-
In a nutshell, the internationalization process needs    al and relational [19].
a “culture of internationalization” shared by all par-   The tutorial meetings are made up of small groups
ticipants to the Higher Educational System .”It is       of students (10-16) led by an academic tutor, ac-
essential for being European citizens, and citizens      cording to a program, in a highly dialogical dimen-
of the world as well.”                                   sion. Students and tutors have themes, cases, ex-
                                                         ercises, tools to analyze and discuss after a deep
                                                         reflection.
EXPERIENCES CONSEQUENTLY BORN                            In the effort to develop the internationalization
IN OTHER RELATED COURSES                                 process, we offered the following services in the
                                                         training experience and tutorials:
The academic tutor experience                            • student Erasmus sustained by an English speak-
A professional training is scheduled in the Physio-          ing clinic mentor;
therapy degree at the end of the first and third year.   • translation of the tutorial program and teaching
It is organized in two parts: a clinical experience          materials in English;
and weekly meetings of tutorial activities provided      • foreign student assisted by an Italian student
in a theoretical-practical way.                              during the clinical placement;
The internship experience allows students to deal        • possibility to use English during the tutorial ac-
with unique and complex situations. The learner              tivity to interact with the group by arguing con-
can reflect upon those experiences and find a rea-           structively or questioning;
sonable meaning arose from uncertain or unique           • possibility to present clinical reports in English;
situations [17].                                         • set up educational material in English with the
The training course permits the students not only            help of Master’s students.
to learn what to do but also to think about the          Whereas the assumption that the language is not
reasoning of their acting. In this way the student get   a barrier, as well as good findings of tutorial work-
close to clinical problems and can question himself      ing groups, where the presence of a foreign student
about the meanings of his experience [18].               strove the exchange of knowledge, other proposals
The objectives of the training course and tutorial       came up:
activities are defined in five key areas:                • reading in English reports drawn up by Italian
• therapeutic approach;                                      students;
• reasoning;                                             • discussion of clinical cases in English;
• responsibility;                                        • scientific research in English.
• report;                                                Therefore it has been argued that foreign students
• research.                                              encounters difficulties such as:
The achievements of the learning targets are as-         • during placement students meet Italian patients.
sessed by many dimensions, in particular:                    If the foreign student does not know Italian lan-
• evaluation of student behavior during training             guage he could not enter into relationship with
    and tutorial activities;                                 the patient. The dialog has an increasingly signif-
• evaluation of clinical case reports drafted by the         icant importance in rehabilitation. It is the pri-
    student;                                                 mary medium between the patient and his body;
• evaluation of research outcomes achieved by            • using a vehicular language can be difficult for the
    working groups.                                          peculiarity of educational tutorial process. The
The teacher most favorite methods during tutori-             thematic dealt during the meetings are different
als are active teaching and workshops. During the            and complex. The reflection on experiences with
training courses the teacher addresses students              patients, with their disease and on rehabilitation



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  tutor Volume 15, Numero 1, aprile 2015

                     provides a deep debate that leaves no room for         This allowed the participants to reflect and try to
Lavori originali




                     a superficial language. The partial knowledge of       find innovative solutions aimed to create solid and
                     English language can make these dialogues much         well established bridges between clinic mentors and
                     too simple and therefore superficial. Students         students. Classroom meetings were an opportunity
                     and tutors can express nuances that make the           for everyone to learn and to establish new ways of
                     difference only using the native language;             cooperation between the academic world and clinic
                   • the tutors often have a limited knowledge of the       mentors. Moreover it permitted to reprogram the
                     English language, despite a deep professional and      tutorial didactic activities and the training for for-
                     didactic competence. University should provide         eign students.
                     courses for teachers and tutors aimed to put in        Furthermore, clinic mentors’ reports about their
                     practice their English.                                experience with foreign students have been useful
                                                                            as they have highlighted not only critical points but
                                                                            also new opportunities for a process of cultural and
                   The clinic mentors training and                          professional exchanges, nowadays unstoppable.
                   supporting                                               The project was completed in November 2013,
                   The clinic mentors training and supporting project       with further meetings arranged to highlight the
                   aims to improve the organizational and relational        efforts and changes occurred in the last months.
                   system, as well as teaching and training skills.         Some teachers for example tried to modify their
                   The project stems from the need to meet the uni-         slides by writing them in English, others lecturers
                   versity educational system and the clinical experi-      have carried out their lessons in English. Further-
                   ence of students during their placements. The 2013       more some clinic mentors were able to involve
                   project had an additional requirement: to deal with      Italian students in a collaboration aimed to commu-
                   the challenges of internationalization process ad-       nicate with foreign students during lessons, place-
                   opted by University of Padua. The Physiotherapy          ments and outwork time.
                   degree has welcomed foreign students, communi-           There is no doubt that the first step to begin a
                   ty and extra-community, for several years and for        internationalization process is to share the same
                   long-term projects, such as Erasmus and Erasmus          language. Some clinic mentors and academic tu-
                   Mundi, and foreign students who attend regularly         tors no longer young, requested to undertake an
                   the degree course.                                       English course organized by the University to learn
                   The project was also born from the demand and            or improve English, even after work time. Another
                   at the same time the necessity of academic tutors        requirement was to create a web-site where infor-
                   and clinic mentors. The problem was not only to          mation is written in English, for foreign incoming
                   face formal aspects of welcome and internship            students. It could be also a place to get more infor-
                   placements (orthopedic, neurological, geriatric, vis-    mation regarding training and course regulations.
                   ceral, developmental age), but also to understand        In a nutshell, it is important to underline not only
                   the deep meaning of these migratory flows. This          that there is a wide range of ideas and hypothesis
                   aspect enhances the understanding of different cul-      of solutions but also the strong willingness of men-
                   tures and individualities. Another aspect regards        tors, tutors and teachers to respond immediately
                   the therapeutic relationship with the patient which      and efficiently. The major difficult regards the lack
                   must be based on an appropriate integration.             of resources aimed to face to this increasingly ur-
                   In order to succeed these aspects, it has been nec-      gent and unstoppable process.
                   essary to plan some meetings involving external
                   experts of internationalization, like social psycholo-
                   gists and anthropologists.                               CONCLUSIONS
                   Thanks to their aid, a variety of topics like stereo-    Internationalization is an ongoing transformative
                   types, prejudices, ability to acceptance, codes ver-     process generated and sustained by the behaviors
                   bal and not verbal communication were discussed.         and beliefs of university members.



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                                                           A contribution to higher education internationalization



It is hoped that the variety of points of view pre-        That energy lies in the person’s own self-belief and
sented in this publication will serve as a springboard     sense of purpose.
to consider ways that internationalization perspec-        Hopefully, this publication will stimulate further de-
tives might be introduced, or activities ‘scaled up’. It   velopments across the sector. The challenge may
certainly suggests a range of possibilities to inspire     be ‘huge’ but with time, ensuring that the curricu-
change. Achieving change on a grand scale is bound         lum incorporates a global perspective will become
to take time, but what seems critically important          commonplace.
is that, rather than seeing this as an overwhelming
agenda, individual academics and curriculum devel-
opers reflect on:                                          REFERENCES
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• What areas that they could influence, to ensure                 9, pp 6, 21-22.
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                                                                  in Africa: Developments, Emerging Trends, Issues and Po-
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                                                                  licy Implications. African Network for Internationaliza-
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                                                                  ternationalization. Vita e Pensiero, Università Cattolica
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“As educators we have a unique opportunity and a                  mework_en.pdf (last visit 31.07.2014)
                                                           [12]   Wertsch JV (1985). Vygotsky and the Social Formation of
clear responsibility to help prepare our students to
                                                                  Mind, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. and
be responsible citizens of the future” [20].
                                                                  London.
However, while “global perspectives are import-            [13]   http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (last visit 31.07.2014)
ant and relevant to Higher Education ... integrating       [14]   De Zure D (1996), Asking and Answering Questions.
them across disciplines, departments and institu-                 Whys and Ways of Teaching. Faculty Center for in-
tions is a huge challenge” [21].                                  structional excellence, Michigan University, Septem-
Responsiveness lies not only in identifying appro-                ber 1996.
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energy to embark on a process of transformation.                  co Angeli, Milano.




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  tutor Volume 15, Numero 1, aprile 2015
                   [16] Silverman D (2004), Come fare ricerca qualitativa, Ca-             professioni sanitarie, Carrocci Faber Ed.
Lavori originali




                        rocci, Roma.                                                  [20] Slater (2003), Preface to global perspectives in Higher
                   [17] Zannini L (2005) La tutorship nella formazione degli adul-         Education, in McKenzie et al., DEA Global Perspectives
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                        ni O (2009) Apprendimento clinico, riflessività e tutorato,   [21] Lunn J. (2006), Global Perspectives in Higher Education.
                        EdiSES.                                                            The Royal Geographical Society with IBG research
                   [19] Sasso L, Lotti A, Gamberoni L (2003) Il tutor per le               project report for DFID.




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