Faculty Perceptions of the Importance of Internationalizing the General Education Curriculum in the Florida College System

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of community college general education faculty members regarding their perceptions of the importance of internationalizing the general education curriculum and to what extent those perceptions are related to their attitudes toward globalization. The study further examined the degree to which faculty members perceive that they are incorporating the teaching of global competencies into their courses. Finally, the study looked at faculty members\u27 perceptions of administrative support - both from the perspective of what they felt their college should be doing to support internationalization and what their college was actually doing to support internationalization efforts. No studies were found that examined the importance of internationalizing the general education curriculum in Florida community colleges. Quantitative data were collected using an online survey instrument sent to full-time and part-time general education faculty members teaching at community colleges in the State of Florida. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression tables and descriptive statistics were also reported. Results showed that respondents generally believed that globalization and internationalization are important; however, respondents were not incorporating international instructional strategies at a level that correlated with their attitudes toward globalization and internationalization. Among those faculty members who were incorporating international instructional strategies, results indicated that the more years\u27 experience in higher education a respondent had, the more likely they were to be incorporating these strategies in the classroom. Respondents also indicated that they would like more support from administration to internationalize the curriculum than they believe they are receiving. Release time, and professional development and training experiences are strategies colleges could use to help improve instruction in international education. Providing opportunities for faculty members to travel to conferences and meetings with a global/international scope would also help faculty to have a better understanding of international issues