The purpose of this research project was to see if it is possible to assess students’ levels of intercultural communication competence. The project started with the conduction of a literature review in order to identify what it means to be “interculturally competent” and to look at pre-existing models of assessment. After completion of the literature review, we created our own pre- and post-survey, where the Bennett Model of Cultural Competency and the Toomey Staircase Model of Intercultural Communication Competence were used as our foundations. The survey relies on students’ self-assessment, where they evaluate themselves on the three areas of content introduced by Bennett—knowledge, skills, and attitudes—and the students placed themselves within one of the four stages introduced by Toomey. Currently, the project is still in progress. In the future, we plan to collect our data by administering the surveys to students participating in study abroad and in globally-oriented coursework. The students will take the test once before the program or class begins, and once after it has been completed. We will then use the data to determine if the Drexel programs help students improve their levels of intercultural communication competence.
