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A Virtual Educational Exchange: A North–South Virtually Shared Class On Sustainable Development, Augusta Abrahamse, Mathew Johnson, Nanette Levinson, Larry Medsker, Joshua M. Pearce, Carla Quiroga, Ruth Scipione

Joshua M. Pearce

Increasingly international competence is considered and important skill to be acquired from an undergraduate education. Because international exchange presents a challenge to many students, there is a need to develop and implement alternative means for incorporating international and cross-cultural experiences into the undergraduate classroom. We report on the implementation of a semester-long, virtually-shared course offering between a U.S. and a Bolivian university. Since STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors tend to be under-represented in study abroad programs, this class sought to provide a multidisciplinary experience that could be relevant to both hard and social science majors. Furthermore, the relevance …