X152: Making the Transition to IU: The Experience of the International Undergraduate

This 2 credit hour, full semester class was designed to help incoming international undergraduate students make a successful adjustment to Indiana University. We discuss study skills, cultural differences, issues of adjustment, and many other topics as they come up. Students write several short papers and reflections designed to help strengthen their writing skills. The readings were chosen to be of particular interest to students who are new to the IU Bloomington campus and the United States. They include several essays by students who have come to the United States to attend school, and who reflect in their essays on their transition and the many issues international students face. The students then write their own personal narrative about their own transition. They then make a brief presentation of their narrative to the class.

For a final project each student researches a topic of cultural comparison between this country and their own. They make a final presentation of their findings to the class in a 15 minute oral report and a 3-4 page paper. The class assignments are designed to build a learning community in the classroom, and to encourage students to see this as an opportunity to support each other in their transitions.

The class will be taught by one international and one American graduate student. We have found that it is important for the students to hear of the experiences of an international graduate instructor who has experienced a successful transition to IU. It is also important, though, for them to hear the experiences of an American graduate instructor who can help the students understand some of the cultural issues that are most confusing to them, and who can correct any cultural misunderstandings that might arise.