A University of Texas at Dallas researcher will embark next fall on an intercontinental collaboration via a fast-growing instructional medium that uses technology to bring the world to the classroom.
Dr. Chandramallika Basak, associate professor of psychology in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, is teaming up with faculty in Norway and Japan via a Virtual Exchange (VE) program sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).
Basak will teach a class titled Adult Development and Aging in tandem with educators teaching related courses at the University of Oslo and Kansai University. AAC&U experts will provide nine months of faculty and administrative training online and in person.
Her course is part of the Norwegian Panorama VE/Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Partnerships Initiative, sponsored by the Norwegian government to foster international cooperation in research and higher education. Basak’s initiative includes videoconferencing and an in-person workshop in Bergen, Norway, in June.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity to broaden our students’ horizons,” said Basak, who is also the director of the Lifespan Neuroscience and Cognition Lab at UTD’s Center for Vital Longevity. “I want the students to see that, despite cultural differences, humans are not very different from each other.”
VE, including one of its most comprehensive forms, COIL, links students in classrooms around the world through online coursework. Basak’s course joins 33 previous VE offerings that have been coordinated by UTD’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) since 2020.
UT Dallas is one of seven U.S. universities participating in the partnerships, each of which is composed of a Norwegian university and one or more Japanese or U.S. institutions.
Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham, CTL assistant director and assistant dean for outreach and engagement in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences (EPPS), said she learned about VE/COIL in fall 2019 while teaching abroad in Switzerland. When the pandemic hit, she did her first COIL project with the University of Bordeaux and then began recruiting faculty to expand similar opportunities at UT Dallas.
“This program allows professors and students to engage with peers around the globe,” Lanham said. “Within multiple courses taught by professors in different countries, students exchange experiences and ideas, working together to complete projects.”
Lanham, who is also a professor of instruction in sociology in EPPS, teaches Contemporary Social Issues in Paris as part of the UT Dallas study abroad program French Society: Sociological and Political Perspectives. Students participate in a VE program with counterparts at Gustave Eiffel University and later meet with them at their Paris campus.
“VE programs can be an excellent supplement to a faculty-led study abroad program,” Lanham said. “By assigning a predeparture module, UT Dallas students can get to know one another before traveling abroad and also have the opportunity to get to know students in the country where they will be studying.”
“I’m very excited about this opportunity to broaden our students’ horizons. I want the students to see that, despite cultural differences, humans are not very different from each other.”
Dr. Chandramallika Basak, associate professor of psychology in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Basak began pedagogical VE training in March alongside Dr. Jennifer Hilton Montero, director for international initiatives for the International Center, and Dr. Darren Crone, assistant provost for Educational Technology Services. Basak said the fall 2023 course will blend elements of neuroscience, biology and sociology within the context of the demographic and cultural differences of the three nations. The health concerns Basak covers — heart health, diabetes and fitness, as well as depression, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease — are all global issues.
“For instance, we will talk about the population pyramid, where Japan has an extreme case of widening the pyramid at the top compared to say the United States — many more old people than average, fewer children than average and very low immigration,” she said. “We will bring to the Japanese class the cognition and neuroscience aspects — how older adults deal with issues, and how cognitive reserve enables them to adapt. We will benefit from their discussion on gender dynamics and sociology, as gender differences and similarities are important to aging in place.
“VE programs can be an excellent supplement to a faculty-led study abroad program. … UT Dallas students can get to know one another before traveling abroad and also have the opportunity to get to know students in the country where they will be studying.”
Dr. Carol Cirulli Lanham, assistant director of UTD’s Center for Teaching and Learning
“The Norwegian course is on biological aging in animals. There, we hope to draw parallels between what we can document in animals and humans from a cross-species perspective, especially regarding the biomarkers of successful aging.”
Dr. Kate York, a master teacher in the Department of Science and Mathematics Education in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, has a decade of experience with the approach, both as a teacher and in her previous doctoral studies.
“Even though UT Dallas is a wonderfully diverse, international community, for many of our students, VE offers a first opportunity to engage in meaningful academic collaboration with individuals across the globe, while strengthening and developing cultural awareness and empathy for those in different environments,” said York, who also is affiliated with UTeach Dallas. “Studying abroad can be challenging for a variety of reasons for many students. VE provides a classroom-based avenue to interact with course content with peers around the world, learning both synchronously and asynchronously.”
York said that both students and instructors have grown from reaching across geographic boundaries.
“While so many students have praised the benefits of engaging with global partners during VE experiences, I believe that I, as a professor, have learned as much, if not more, than my students,” she said. “I know VE has helped me grow to be a better teacher, researcher and global citizen.”