Investigation of the Effectiveness of Global Competency-based Program Modules in Higher Education

Global competency-based modules are relatively new in higher education. As a way to measure global competency the USF Global Competency Test (GCT) modules objectively measure global competencies for individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of three global competency-based program modules and undergraduate student perceptions of the Unite Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the basis for the modules. This study addressed the questions: What are the change scores based on the Global Competency Test module pre/postassessment scores for students who participated in Operation: Global Action/Academic and Cultural Engagement program during Summer 2021? Are there differences in the assessment change scores based on the demographic variables of gender, race, and international status? What are the student perceptions of the most important UN SDGs? The overall reliability scores for all three modules were in the acceptable range. Overall, the results indicate there were no significant differences based on gender and international status. Although there was a difference in one of the three GCT modules (Values and Policy) based on race between Black African American and Others, Mixed Race, individual who identified themselves with more than one race, and Others, since the Other category included individuals who did not identify with any races, in effect, there was no difference based on race. The findings from this research include suggestions for educators, researchers, educational agencies, higher education policy makers, and the United Nations related to the Sustainable Development Goals. The results of this study could be useful to develop additional means which could include modules to present global competencies in a manner that meet the needs of the recipients. One of the recommendations for future research from this study is to develop a stronger research design in which students assigned to different modules randomly or a controlled condition can help to improve the measurement properties of the assessments