Using Video Podcasts to Enhance International Student Collaboration in Biosystems Engineering

Abstract Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), University College Dublin (UCD), Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (UPM) and University of Bari (UNIBA) are part of a Trans-Atlantic Biosystems Engineering Network (TABE.NET), that has been established with the overall goal to advance internationalization of Biosystems Engineering (BSEN) curricula and develop a global awareness within the discipline. A project working group analyzed the idea of the development of an international collabora-tive design project for undergraduate students in the participating institutions. Aims of this action were to get a change in the students’ outlook to utilize in their remaining years within the university and a more internationalized resume before they finish. Further outcomes de-sired by the team were a second or third language acquisition and an appropriate peer as-sessment across cultures. The working group activity culminated in a workshop at Virginia Tech in July 2013, and in-volved a review of existing modules that could include international collaboration and the potential of a new class/module/course. The group highlighted many different possibilities for the class including semester/year-long exchanges, short courses, webinars, industry/global specific problems and student-designed videos. Many challenges were acknowledged such as varying semester dates, language, resources, cost of implementation, differing program structures, matching classes/modules/courses and opportunity cost for faculty/academic staff.