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Adapt the content and

structure of courses and

programmes to clarify the

academic value of student

exchange

• Internationalise intended learning outcomes.
• Formulate specific objectives for exchange periods.
• Identify mobility windows that clarify opportunities
for exchange.
• Identify courses/course packages at each partner university
that the student can study during an exchange.

Internationalise intended learning outcomes

Internationalisation affects all students, but how is this reflected in the intended
learning outcomes for courses and programmes? To achieve a higher level of
internationalisation, it may be necessary for HEIs to review the intended learn-
ing outcomes for courses and programmes. Developing or clarifying international
and intercultural aspects of intended learning outcomes makes it clearer for the
HEI’s students and staff that internationalisation is something that is relevant to
all students. These objectives also make clearer for students and guidance coun-
sellors how a student exchange can contribute to achieving the intended learning
outcomes. The academic value of the exchange can be clarified when it is placed
in relation to the course or programme’s contents and objectives.

Recently, the significance of internationalising the intended learning outcomes
has also come into increasing focus vis-à-vis the internationalisation of higher
education, which the Internationalisation Inquiry indicates in its interim report,
published in January 2018. 15

Discussions about student exchanges tend to deal with where the student should
travel rather than why the student should study abroad. In a guidance meeting,
intended learning outcomes that include international and intercultural aspects
may provide the right conditions for a discussion about the purpose of student
exchanges; they can be used as a starting point for a discussion about the aca-
demic value of an exchange. International or intercultural intended learning
outcomes can be formulated in all three outcome areas defined in the Higher
Education Ordinance: knowledge and understanding, competence and skills, and
judgement and approach.

15 SOU 2018:3, En strategisk agenda för internationalisering – Delbetänkande om ökad
internationalisering av universitet och högskolor, 2018. Internationally, also Betty
Leask, Jos Beelen and others, plus http://ioc.global/

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