What do Geology and it have in Common? The Case of an International Collaboration through Experiential Learning

Abstract This chapter documents a study based on an international partnership between faculty members at SUNY Empire State College and Tecnologico de Monterrey-Chihuahua. The collaboration presented an excellent opportunity to integrate cultural issues into the geology course as well as interdisciplinary collaboration in the programming course. The objectives were to: (1) create and implement learning activities to help students understand that scientific and technological advances do not occur in isolation, and (2) to evaluate their effectiveness developing a multicultural perspective. We adapted and generalized the virtual team model of Hertel et al. (2005) to the design of group activities in an academic setting. A series of learning activities were developed, including an experiential learning group project aimed at helping with the first objective if the study. Overall, the collaboration was a success. We also discuss the challenges both we and the students faced.