Portable Intercultural Modules (PIM) in Brightspace

What are PIM?

CILMAR offers Portable Intercultural Modules (PIM) through Brightspace. Each module addresses Purdue's Embedded Learning Outcome 3 and is designed as an autonomous learning experience that non-expert instructors, co-curricular facilitators, and student groups can adopt.

Each PIM...

can be completed in 60-90 minutes (with a few exceptions).
engages learners with a range of activities, e.g., videos, surveys, quizzes, information gathering, interviews, reflections, etc.
includes optional discussion questions that connect learning outcomes to the course or co-curricular experience and to the learner’s future. Some PIM include additional options for instructor-led activities.
addresses and assesses learning outcomes drawn from the theoretical frameworks of the AACU Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric, the AACU Global Learning VALUE Rubric, and the Champlain College Competency rubric for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
targets learners regardless of national origin, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, gender, sexuality, first language, and ability (with one exception). Although designed for young adult undergraduates, many PIM are also appropriate for adult learners.
includes a capstone that is run through Qualtrics for purposes of research by CILMAR.

Additional information for faculty and staff

How can Purdue-West Lafayette users access PIM?

Purdue West Lafayette users with Brightspace courses will be enrolled as instructors in the Brightspace course where all PIM are housed and can copy or import individual modules into their own courses. Contact cilmar@purdue.edu.

How can users from outside PWL and PWL without Brightspace courses access PIM?

Please contact cilmar@purdue.edu for more information.

How can faculty and staff best use PIM as a professional opportunity for their students?

For all modules, your decision of which one/s to use depends on your audience, setting, topic, and goals. Although all modules are designed for undergraduate learners, some modules fit well in TA training and are also recommended for graduate students, faculty, and staff. Consult the descriptions below (also found in Brightspace), or contact cilmar@purdue.edu to set up a brief consultation and discuss recommendations for your learning group.

Foundations PIM are particularly aimed at undergraduate students early in their college career. They are also excellent in pre-departure programming for study abroad/away. Although each module stands on its own, the group of five form a sequenced whole. If you assign all five, CILMAR and its partners can offer a pre/post cultural intelligence survey, badges, and a report with easy-to-incorporate resume language that communicates the learner’s intercultural growth and cultural intelligence to employers. Contact cilmar@purdue.edu.

Foundations Modules

Years 2023-2024
#	Module	Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
F1	Motivation for Intercultural Growth	Empathy	Uses videos and a short research activity based on professional interests to introduce the learning zone, elements of intercultural competence, and why intercultural competence is important for personal and professional satisfaction.	Foundations Module. Available to all.
F2	Learning About Your Own Cultural Self	Self-Awareness	Asks students to identify their own social and cultural categories and differences and reflect on how these affect their comfort level so that they understand themselves as beings shaped by culture.	Foundations Module. PWL users only.
F3	Talking with People Across Cultural Differences	Openness	Teaches students about cultural differences and how cultural misunderstandings occur by asking them to interview people with dissimilar backgrounds.	Foundations Module. PWL users only.
F4	Honing Intercultural Curiosity	Curiosity	Introduces the idea and practice of curiosity and asks students to choose either a new food or event experience and to watch and reflect on a movie. Because this includes watching a movie, the time to completion is 2.5-4 hours	Foundations Module. PWL users only.
F5	Cultural Comparisons	Communication Worldview Frameworks	Introduces cultural dimensions and different communication styles and asks students to apply their learning with short research projects in which they compare several cultural groups, including their own.	Foundations Module. PWL users only.

More Modules

Module 1: Understanding Accents Different from Your Own

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Communication Openness	Helps learners understand why accents are different, take ownership for understanding accents in English that are different from their own, and practice their skills with these accents. Designed for anyone who operates in oral English, regardless of first language or mother tongue.	Prepares people from around the world to understand each other’s spoken English. Parts of this module that focus on listening skills will not serve deaf learners. PWL users only.

Module 2: Digging Deeper with Critical Reflection

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Self-Awareness	Students are introduced to the “What? So What? Now what?” model of critical reflection and practice articulating the meaning of their experiences by writing a critical reflection and rating it on a rubric.	This module is used in the first-year Learn-to-be seminar in College of Science. It addresses all three Embedded Learning Outcomes. PWL users only.

Module 3: Intercultural Collaboration

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Empathy	Through the introduction of key cultural dimensions and differences in time orientation, helps students recognize that people approach the same issue with different perspectives and behaviors and consider how they accommodate these differences in a team setting.	This module is used in the first-year Learn-to-be seminar in College of Science. PWL users only.

Module 4: Teaming I: Communication

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Communication Self-Awareness	Presents communication pacing styles and direct and indirect modes and asks students to identify their own patterns and consider strategies for supporting effective communication when patterns differ.	First of 3-part series but can stand alone. PWL users only.

Module 5: Teaming II: Self and Other Awareness

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Self-Awareness Communication	Presents differences that often emerge on teams – personal agenda, time orientation, and concepts of self and authority. Students identify their own preferences and how they may affect teamwork and present these in a poem or video.	Second of 3-part series but can stand alone. PWL users only.

Module 6: Teaming III: Productive Conflict

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Cultural Diversity Responds to Conflict	Introduces issues that often arise in teamwork, including differences in conflict style, and offers strategies for addressing these and for bridging differences. Students apply and practice what they have learned through a case study.	Last of 3-part series. Includes choice of case study – health care, management, lab setting, web design. PWL users only.

Module 7: "Why "Lazy Susan"? Connecting through Languages & Foods

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Communication Self-Awareness	Short videos and playful activities in which learners engage with peers to enhance awareness of own and others’ language, food, and holidays.	Especially good for first-year college students. Available to all.

Module 8: What’s in a Name?: On Naming and Intercultural Curiosity

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Curiosity Worldview Frameworks	Provides choice of videos and student recordings for learning about naming practices and how people make meaning of their names. Engages students in exploring their own name/s and naming traditions.	Offers optional activity for instructor or facilitator to lead with learners. Could serve as early semester icebreaker preparation. Available to all.

Module 9: Psychological Safety in Global Virtual Teams

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Communication Empathy	Videos, an EQ survey, and article summaries take learners from an introduction to psychological safety to strategies for creating psychological safety on global virtual teams.	This is a more advanced module that requires some reading. Although focused on global virtual teams, it teaches concepts and strategies that are applicable in any teaming situation. Available to all.

Module 10: Plan for Your Leadership Development

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Self-Awareness Ownership	Using videos, quizzes, and assignments, introduces the concept of transformational leadership and guides students through a scaffolded development of their own unique plan for leadership development.	Applicable for all levels of learners in both curricular and co-curricular spaces. Available to all.

Module 11: Tricky Communication: Intent vs. Impact

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Communication Actions/Responses	Addressing oral, non-verbal, and written communication, sensitizes learners to biases that can lead to unintended negative impacts of communication and teaches strategies for addressing challenges whether one is on the giving or receiving end of the communication.	Applicable in both curricular and co-curricular spaces and may be appreciated by young adult and adult learners alike. Includes video on microaggressions. Available to all.

Module 12: A Deep Dive into Empathy

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Empathy Self-Awareness	Defines and critiques empathy using abilities examples (e.g., “inspiration porn), videos, and clips from popular movies. Supports learners to identify effective empathy-related approaches and to reflect on their own empathic strengths and challenges.	Available to all.

Module 13: Acting with Empathic Concern

Key Learning Outcomes, Description and Notes for each PIM
Key Learning Outcomes	Description	Notes
Empathy Self Awareness	More advanced	PWL users only.

Updated August 15, 2023