The study was conducted to investigate the impact of pre-departure initiatives and study abroad programs in helping the students to develop intercultural competence. The participants of the study were undergraduate-level pharmacy students. A total of 27 students participated in the study from 2018 to 2020. Out of 27 students, 18 students completed the Post-IDI assessment. All the students completed Pre-IDI. The students were imparted pre-departure training for 12 weeks. In the next phase, all the students attended an 8-week study abroad program, and upon arrival to the US after four weeks, they were asked to take the Post-IDI assessment. The study's results indicated that before the departure, the DO score for the group was 91.7, and PO was 120.9. The post-IDI results demonstrated an overall statistically significant increase in the DO score of the students, and the increase in the PO score was not significant. Further, students' reflections were analyzed, and the following themes emerged: knowledge of the healthcare system, cross-cultural communication skills, self-awareness, appreciation of culture, and appreciation of experience. The overall study indicated that participating in the study abroad and pre-departure training helped the pharmacy students to develop Intercultural skills.

The study intended to understand the impact of the Virtual Exchange program on students enrolled in Speech, Audiology, and Language courses. The Virtual exchange was done between NISH India and students from Purdue University. The curriculum was developed to help students develop IC competence and their subject knowledge. The student was paired with a buddy from another culture to understand the country's culture. A pre-post IDI was conducted. The paired t-test demonstrated that the DO scores of students increased significantly from pre to post-test. Further analysis of the reflection paper helped to understand the positive experiences of students concerning 1) the course format, (2) cultural learning, (3) transfer to clinical skills, and (4) lifelong learning. Overall, students found the experience very valuable.

The study focused on students enrolled in a teacher education program. The objective was to understand the impact of study abroad and re-entry work/reflections in helping students develop intercultural competence. The study investigated three groups of students studying abroad in three different countries. 2017-2018: Cape town (n=11), 2018-2019: Cusco (n=8), London (n=14). All the students participated in the pre-post IDI. The combined results of the IDI for all 33 students demonstrated a significant increase in the DO scores of the students from pre-post IDI. The teacher education program also required the students to participate in re-entry work. The students were asked to complete various reflections and participate in discussions based on their study abroad experience. Based on the initial thematic analysis results of the early-re-entry program, students demonstrated a more mono-cultural mindset. Further interventions were created, and students were asked to read books and indulge in intercultural programs to broaden their thought processes about other cultures. Students were asked to write reflections, and reflections were analyzed qualitatively after the intervention. The analysis of the reflection suggested that students were bridging the gap and progressing from a monocultural mindset to an intercultural mindset.

The study was conducted in Iran, and the study showcases how integrating intercultural concepts and experiential learning helped the teachers to develop intercultural competence. The study used pre and post-IDI assessments to assess the intercultural competence of the student teachers. The student teachers were required to conduct the ethnographic interview as a part of the course, and it had eight phases: 1) writing up one’s own cultural story, 2) selecting a target group from a different culture from yours, 3) conducting research or reading to understand about the identified other culture, 4) build a rapport by sharing pictures, stories from your own culture, 5) make the participant comfortable by engaging in some friendly conversation, 6) write a reflection based on the interaction experiences, 7) conduct an informal in-depth interview with the participant from other culture, 8) write a final reflection report. A total of 62 students participated in the study, the pre-IDI was conducted prior to the ethnographic interview project, and post-IDI was conducted after students completed the project. The results of the IDI assessment revealed that students demonstrated a significant increase in their DO and PO scores in their post-IDI. Further thematic analysis of the final reflections was conducted, and some of the key elements that were highlighted were 1) students found it motivating and valuable to interact with people from diverse backgrounds such as English, German, Turkish, Chinese, etc. the interaction helped them to learn about other cultures, 2) students developed a good understanding of their own culture, 3) students were able to identify the cultural differences, 4) students developed good communication skills. Overall study demonstrated that IDI is an effective instrument to measure intercultural competence even in non-English speaking countries, and it also confirmed that a well-structured curriculum integration can lead to intercultural learning.

The study evaluated the impact of the Audiology and SLP program in helping students to develop intercultural competence without participating in a study abroad. The study used a mixed method approach to conduct the analysis. A module focused on intercultural competence was included in the introductory level audiology and hearing sciences course. Participants were recruited from all levels and all disciplines for the study. Students were divided into intervention (n=34) and control groups (n=41). Only the students in the intervention group were allowed to enroll in the course. The students in the intervention groups took a pre-post IDI assessment, participated in the course, completed a MOOC related to the course, and wrote reflections. Whereas the control group just took the pre and post-IDI, they did not participate in the course. The results of the study demonstrated that there was a statistically significant increase in the post-DO scores for the intervention group. Paired sample t-test revealed that there was a significant increase in the post-DO scores of the intervention group than pre-DO scores. Whereas no significant difference was observed for the control group. Further, the reflections of the students were analyzed using ACC&U rubrics. Results demonstrated that students in the intervention group developed cultural self-awareness, emotional responses, openness, and curiosity through the curriculum.