Edward's Portfolio

Employment BSU IEI > Iraq University Linkage Program Grant

Iraq University Linkage Program Grant

In the Fall of 2010, I and a fellow colleague (Dr. Jamilla Jones) were selected to participate in Ball State's Iraq University Linkage Program Grant representing the Ball State IEI. Our participation consisted of fulfilling a number of duties.

First, we assisted the IEI Director in determining where the English curriculum offered at Ball State was similar to and different than that exercised at Tikrit University in Iraq. We reviewed course outlines our Iraqi colleagues sent to us and collected and prepared documents and demonstration modules to present to these colleagues when we met in Amman, Jordan in January/February of 2011.

Second, together with colleagues from the Accounting and Computer Science departments at Ball State, we met with our Iraqi colleagues in Amman for approximately one week to discuss teaching strategies and demonstrate ways in which ESL was taught at the BSU IEI. We also listened a great deal to how our Iraqi colleagues performed their duties in Tikrit and tried to understand and assist them with some of the challenges they faced.

Third, as a critical part of the partnership, Dr. Jones and I would provide a videotaped record of how we taught one course at BSU upon our return from Amman. The course I was videotaped teaching was Grammar 122 in the second session of the Spring 2011 semester. A video of each meeting for this class was recorded and copies of those tapes were sent to colleagues Dr. Jones and I had been paired with in Amman. These videos were to be used by our Iraqi colleagues as models of how ESL instruction is carried out at the BSU IEI.
Unfortunately, due to unforeseeable delays with our Iraqi colleagues receiving these tapes, it was not until the last week or so of the project that we were able to discuss the tapes (via Skype) with our partners. However, though our discussions were limited, I was able to establish what I believe was a mutually beneficial interchange with Mr. Mahmood Abbas Dawood and we were able to learn a lot from each other through our discussions. While we could easily recognize the great differences between our situations, we were also able to recognize a core similarity in the way we approached English instruction and the way in which we meaningfully interacted with our students.

I was delighted to meet our Iraqi colleagues again at BSU in August of 2011and enjoyed discussing with them their perceptions of university life and teaching in the United States.

Below, I have cut and paste articles found online which explain the program more generally.

From: http://cap.aed.org/CAPnews.cfm (last accessed 10/29/11)
News Archive
Tuesday January 18, 2011
After laying the groundwork for their partnerships in 2010, institutions participating in the University Linkages Program are already well on their way to continue collaborating 2011 by organizing meetings in the US and overseas. Faculty and staff from Tikrit University and Ball State University will meet in Amman in January 2011 for workshops to finalize program activities. While in Amman, Ball State plans to disseminate new curricula, provide training on teaching methods and in the use of the Internet, finalize plans for DVC instruction from Ball State to Tikrit, and develop plans for a Tikrit University Career Center. Similarly, a delegation from Kufa University plans to visit the University of Kentucky in spring 2011 for workshops on curricula, pedagogy, instructional technology, ESL instruction, and evaluation and assessment, in addition to discussions of possible joint research projects.

From: http://cms.bsu.edu/Academics/CentersandInstitutes/Rinker/CenterforInternationalDevelopment/Grants/CurrentGrants/IraqUniversityLinkageProgramGrant.aspx (last accessed 10/29/11)
Iraq University Linkage Program Grant
Ball State is one of five U.S. universities which have received funding from the U.S. Department of State to partner with a university in Iraq under the University Linkage Program.
The goal of the partnership is to help Tikrit University open to the world after three decades of isolation under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Ball State is assisting Tikrit University to update its curriculum in Accounting, Computer Science and English, reform teaching methods, professionally develop its faculty, use technology to strengthen teaching and research, raise levels of English proficiency among students and establish a career center.
The effort and exchange of Ball State and Tikrit University faculty over the three years of the project is designed to promote mutual understanding between the peoples of Iraq and the United States.

From: http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1370,-1019-64377,00.html (last accessed 10/29/11)
Ball State nets $1 million for educational support to Iraqi university (6/18/2010)
Ball State University will receive $1 million from the U.S. Department of State to help transform an Iraqi university's curriculum and its faculty members' teaching style.
The three-year grant is part of the U.S. Department of State's Iraqi university linkage program, which provides technical and curriculum assistance to Iraqi institutions - in this case, Tikrit University.
Ball State faculty members will work closely with Tikrit University to review its current curriculum and teaching style, which is more of a traditional lecture method, and help it develop a more student-centered, interactive pedagogy.
Ball State professors will also teach courses in English, accounting and computer science via the Web and videoconferencing to 25 of Tikrit's top sophomore students from each of the three academic areas.
Additionally, the grant will afford some Tikrit University faculty members the opportunity to visit Ball State and receive professional development. "Having been given this opportunity and responsibility by the U.S. Department of State to help with its outreach programs in developing countries speaks volumes about Ball State's commitment to international students and its ability to produce high-achieving students," said Ken Holland, dean of the Rinker Center for International Programs.
To kick off this newly formed partnership, a small group of faculty members and administrators, including Holland, will spend a few days with their counterparts from Tikrit at a Baghdad conference coordinated by the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, starting June 24. Four additional U.S. universities were awarded $1 million grants to partner with other Iraqi universities. They include the University of Kentucky, University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State University and Oklahoma State University.