Assessing changes in intercultural sensitivity in students exposed to intercultural experiences supported by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University using the intercultural development inventory

Oklahoma State University, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (OSU-CASNR), understands the importance of educating students to become inter-culturally competent. As such, they have designed a variety of activities to encourage students to explore various cultures. These activities include International courses ("I" courses) and faculty-led short study abroad programs to America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in intercultural sensitivity among students who participated in "I" International courses and faculty-led short study abroad programs supported by CASNR compared to a comparison group from the same population. This study used Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) as the theoretical framework (Bennett, 1986; Bennett, 1993b). A nonequivalent groups design -pretest, posttest, with comparison group was employed for data collection and analysis. Three hundred and twenty four Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) instruments were completed by 162 students using a pretest, posttest design clustered into five groups. The information provided by the students was analyzed used descriptive and inferential statistical, and theme analysis. The analysis of the study participants' IDI scores indicated the all the groups studied were in the Ethnocentric Phase of the Developmental Continuum for the -pre- and posttest. The comparison group (no intervention) and the faculty-led short study abroad program to Europe -pre- and post test were in the Defense/Reversal cluster of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and in the Denial/Defense or Reversal cluster of the Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer, 2008; Hammer, et al., 2003). The "I" International courses and faculty-led short study abroad programs to America and Asia/Oceania groups -pre- and posttest were situated in the Defense/Reversal Dimension of the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and in the Minimization Scale of the Intercultural Development Inventory. The results showed no statistically significant differences among groups from the pretest to the posttest in the IDI Profile, Overall Developmental and Overall Perceived Intercultural Sensitivity, and Worldview Scales of Denial/Defense and Reversal. This study showed a statistically significant difference between the pretest and the posttest in the IDI Worldview Minimization Scale, the comparison group was different from the "I" (International) course group. (p<.05). The comparison group decreased in the Minimization scale from 2.51 to 2.26. The "I" courses group increased in the Minimization scale from 2.78 to 2.86. The changes in the Worldview Minimization for the other groups studied were not statistically significant. Eta squared for practical significance was also calculated for the demographic information and change in intercultural sensitivity