Citation: Tanoos, J. & Lyu, Y. (2022). Utilizing the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale as an Assessment Tool to Gauge Undergraduate Intercultural Competencies. Asian Journal of Social Science and Management Technology. 4, 1, January-February.

America’s comparative geographic isolation from the rest of the world has led many of its citizens to lack global intercultural capabilities, as exemplified by high rates of failure among expatriates working on international assignments for their organizations. In efforts to solve this dilemma, American institutions of higher education have increasingly been integrating study abroad programs and globalization curricula into their coursework. Related assessment tools, such as the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES), have been developed to help instructors to better evaluate students’ intercultural skillsets. These instruments allow academic practitioners to better understand and nurture global awareness and intercultural capabilities in order to plan curricula that best match students’ skill levels and areas of need related to intercultural competencies. This study utilized the IES pre- and post-surveys during an introductory globalization course to understand student capabilities and better predict overall student intercultural competencies.

Grant, J., Acheson, K., & Karcher, E. (2021). Using the BEVI to Assess Individual Experience to Enhance International Programming. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 33(1), 129-142. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v33i1.491

This case study (n=11) documents the implementation of intercultural learning activities throughout a semester long course and a 9-day trip to Vietnam. Researchers anticipated positive development in critical thinking, openness, and environmental concern measured by the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory.

Chang Alexander, K., Ingersoll, L. T., Calahan, C. A., Miller, M. L., Shields, C. G., Gipson, J. A., & Chang Alexander, S. (2021). Evaluating an Intensive Program to Increase Cultural Intelligence: A Quasi-Experimental Design . Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 33(1), 106-128. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v33i1.497

This study used a quasi-experimental design to compare the effects of an intercultural development program on students' Cultural Intelligence (CQ) compared with students in a summer research program who did not receive the intervention. 

Cartwright, C., Stevens, M., & Schneider, K. (2021). Constructing the Learning Outcomes with Intercultural Assessment: A 3-Year Study of a Graduate Study Abroad and Glocal Experience Programs . Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 33(1), 82-105. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v33i1.521

Learners were assessed using the Inter cultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) and the AAC&U VALUE Rubric on Intercultural Knowledge and Competency (IKAC). Results support the criticality of intentional instructional course design based on intercultural assessment data for improved intercultural competency development.

Yakar, H. K., & Alpar, S. E. (2018). Intercultural communication competence of nurses providing care for patients from different cultures. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 11(3), 1743-1755.

This study was performed with nurses who provide care for an intercultural population with the objective of determining intercultural communication competence of nurses who provide care for patients from different cultures. Data were collected from 204 nurses using a Nurse Identification Form, the Intercultural Awareness Scale, Intercultural Sensitivity Scale and Intercultural Effectiveness Scale.

Petrovskaya, I., & Shaposhnikov, S. (2020). Enhancing intercultural effectiveness in international virtual student teams: an exploratory study. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 19(3), 345-361.

The present study focused on the behavioural dimension of intercultural communication competence and investigated whether the short-term experience of working on a project assignment in a virtual multicultural team could produce an increase in students’ intercultural effectiveness. The study employed a single-group pre-test-post-test research design. The sample included 73 students representing 16 nationalities studying in Russian and Japanese universities majoring in business or economics. Students’ responses on the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (Portalla and Chen in Intercult Commun Stud 19(3):21–37, 2010) were collected before and after the project, and paired difference tests (t test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test) were used for data analysis.

Bates, A., & Rehal, D. A. (2017). Utilizing the Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) to Enhance International Student Travel. International Research and Review, 7(1), 44-53.

This paper highlights how one institution used the International Effectiveness Scale (IES) to support intercultural exploration and development for short-term undergraduate travel programs. Authors discuss utilization of the IES to explore students' intercultural development, how it can be applied to create an individualized action plan, and how it can identify intercultural goals during university-sponsored international travel opportunities. 

Caprice Lantz-Deaton (2017) Internationalisation and the development of students’ intercultural competence, Teaching in Higher Education, 22:5, 532-550, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2016.1273209

 The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) and a locally designed survey were used to assess students’ intercultural competence and to explore their intercultural experiences over seven months. Students began almost exclusively in lower (ethnocentric) stages of intercultural development and most showed little progress despite reporting relatively high levels of intercultural contact, friends from other cultures and positive experiences. 

Spenader, A., & Retka, P. (2015). The Role of Pedagogical Variables in Intercultural Development: a Study of Faculty-led Programs. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 25(1), 20-36. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v25i1.342

This study investigates the intercultural development in several semester-long study abroad programs at the undergraduate level, using the Intercultural Development Inventory, or IDI. The faculty-led cohort model utilizes a study abroad seminar incorporating an experiential learning project to provide pedagogical supports and cultural interventions to students during their sojourn. The study compares mean IDI scores of various cohorts across multiple personal, contextual and pedagogical variables. 

Terzuolo, E. R. (2018). Intercultural development in study abroad: Influence of student and program characteristics. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 65, 86-95.

This quantitative, longitudinal, quasi-experimental study assesses the impact of a semester abroad on students’ ways of understanding and approaching cultural difference, their “intercultural development.” It also examines whether certain demographic characteristics and background experiences of students, as well as characteristics of study abroad programs, influence outcomes.

Change over a semester in Developmental Orientation (DO) scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) v3 is the dependent variable. 

Kruse, J.A., Didion, J. & Perzynski, K. Utilizing the Intercultural Development Inventory® to develop intercultural competence. SpringerPlus 3, 334 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-3-334

The purpose of this study was to assess the cultural competency of students, faculty, and staff from a small Midwest-university college of nursing.

This study was part of a larger interventional study to enhance the cultural development of the College of Nursing faculty, staff, and students. The sample for this study included 314 participants (students, faculty, and staff) in phase one of the parent study. Phase one included the initial administration of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI®) over a two year period with analysis of the pre-test results. Phase two includes the implementation of cultural development interventions with a post-test IDI® survey and is currently in process.

Richards, C. A., & Doorenbos, A. Z. (2016). Intercultural competency development of health professions students during study abroad in India. Journal of nursing education and practice, 6(12), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v6n12p89

This was a mixed methods study, with a pretest-posttest, within-subjects design, and content analysis of student reflection journals. The curriculum was designed to increase students’ sensitivity to different cultural worldviews and support attitudes such as curiosity and openness that lead to relational abilities such as flexibility and adaptability. Students completed the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) and Intercultural Effectiveness Scale (IES) both 3 months prior to and immediately following the trip. 

As a standard part of the curriculum, students were given journals with activities and guided reflections. These were designed to address different competencies in the Association of American Colleges & Universities’ (AACU’s) Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric.

Gray, J. S.,  Connolly, J. P., & Brown, M. A. (2019). Measuring intercultural knowledge and competence in college essays: Does a performance-based rubric have construct validity? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 62, 142-148.

This study explored the construct validity and reliability of a performance-based rubric, the Intercultural Knowledge and Competence VALUE Rubric (Rhodes, 2010), the items of which are posited to measure elements of Social Responsibility (SR).