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Appendix 13. Recommendations for Vietnam University Advanced Program Site Visitors to Exemplary Programs in the U.S.

Module by: Phuong Nguyen

The intent of these guidelines and suggestions is to assist selected Vietnam higher education site visitors as they seek information and guidance in designing or redesigning an academic program designated by MOET as essential to the future of the country. Visitors representing an assigned academic institution in Vietnam and a particular discipline will visit one or several U.S. academic programs identified as exemplary to request access to program and curriculum information and rationale suitable for adaptation and adoption in Vietnam.
Initial discussions of willingness and availability on the part of U.S. program personnel will include consideration of the range of information, level of explanation, and extent of involvement desired and required. The following Guidelines are intended to inform these initial discussions as well as to guide collaborative planning by both sets of academic programs.

Program Selection

Ways might be considered to plan carefully the U.S. program identification, solicitation, and site visit implementation processes to ensure willingness, approval, and information technology transfer success. Examples of sound planning include:
  • Endorsements from the highest possible Vietnamese and U.S. authorities. This could include MOET, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), VNU, VEF, and the National Academies in the U.S.
  • Rationale for selection and solicitation of specific programs. Substantive reasons beyond personal connections could include specific research and development expertise, a history of sustained excellence, a cadre of well-respected faculty, a curriculum recognized as dynamic and functional, an assessment and evaluation system that provides ample evidence of what works and what requires attention.
  • Identification of appropriate individuals from the Vietnamese universities to serve on the site visit team(s), who will represent the many components of what is being requested. Organization and administration competence is only one component to consider. Specific instructional and content-related expertise along with assessment expertise could all be well-served on a site visit team. It is important that faculty designated to eventually design and implement the Advanced Program in Vietnam as well as to serve as the disseminators of the model to other Vietnamese institutions be given high priority. The visits themselves have the potential to serve as powerful faculty development ventures, which can serve to establish the standards for future professional practice in Vietnam.

Site Visit Team Activities

Consider identifying a full range of activities in which the site visit team might participate. These could include:
  • Attendance and participation in key courses throughout a semester.
  • Participation in any and all feasible faculty and administrative events such as assemblies, faculty meetings, curriculum committees, and program review meetings.
  • Observe faculty-student interactions in different settings, including individual, team, and program-focused venues.
  • Attend local, regional, and national professional conferences with U.S. host university faculty.
  • Seek explanations and examples of exemplary centers and institutes focusing on research, training, development, and/or advocacy for the discipline.
  • Invite VEF Fellows to participate in site team activities. This will further the education and careers of the Fellows as well as expand the pool of people to assist in information gathering.

Timeframe for Site Visit(s)

Consider defining the preferred timeframe for site visit team involvement so as to notify potential U.S. academic program hosts of the dates and duration of a possible visit (or visits). This could include the following:
  • Use the targeted U.S. program’s Web site to identify initial student orientation and semester startup dates as well as holiday and extended vacation periods. These vacation periods can be used as travel opportunities to visit other U.S. programs or relevant institutes and centers.
  • Review national professional association Web sites for information on national conferences and conventions. Such events offer a wealth of information on research, curriculum development, and assessment of students and programs.

Collaboration Options

Identify possible collaboration opportunities to discuss with host program personnel. These could include the following:
  • Joint or one-way faculty exchanges as instructors, research collaborators, or participants in a study program.
  • Student exchanges for individuals or groups during a short period (vacation time), a semester, or summer.
  • Collaborative research, development, or publications addressing topics of common interest.

Documentation Control

Consider ways to determine an agreed upon system for collecting, documenting, indexing, storing, and maintaining a record of who is using program materials. Procedures to consider would include:
  • Determine whether the system will be centralized in an institutional library or in a faculty (school or college) location maintained by a staff member.
  • Develop a coding and indexing scheme to allow easy labeling, storage, retrieval replacement and checkout recording.
  • Consider backup systems for electronic files and records.
  • Build the system to allow additions as the program is developed and implemented. If files of the latest course syllabi are not currently maintained, this system could house such items as well, once the curriculum and courses are operational.

Fundamental Principles of Learning and Instruction

Seek out potential applications of fundamental principles of quality learning and instruction1. Examples could include:
  • Evidence of learner involvement.
  • Active learning strategies.
  • Context focused learning and instruction.
  • Providing ongoing knowledge of progress and results (feedback, mentoring, peer review).
  • Increasing the amount of learning time on task (assignments, team exercises, independent assignments).
Identify possible partners and collaborators to assist in making connections and finalizing site visit arrangements. This could include any of the following:
  • Contact VEF Fellows currently studying in the U.S. to assist in linking with U.S. colleagues.
  • Request VEF assistance through National Academies’ consultants involved in selecting VEF Fellows or doing the site visits for this study.
  • Identify potential exemplary programs via reviews of U.S. professional association recommendations and involvement in association conferences and conventions.
  • Request recommendations from Vietnamese faculty with experience in working with U.S. faculty in the designated discipline.

Instructional Materials

Consider ways to identify the full array of instructional materials reflecting curricula, courses, and workshops in the targeted discipline. These could include any or all of the following:
  • Program curriculum development records as well as rationale for specific scope (how much) and sequence (what order) decisions.
  • Course syllabi including grading standards, content outlines, learning expectations, product requirements, team activities and the like.
  • Course texts, recommended professional journals, and collections of readings.
  • Electronic files including relevant Web sites, practice exercises, sample problems and solutions, dynamic models, and other courseware.
  • Program and course policies related to proper listing of citations and references, collaborative work, examination practices, requirements for making up missed classes, exercises, labs or tests.
Preferably assure that the study team has an ample budget to allow purchase of key textbooks, collections of readings, lab manuals, electronic courseware and the like. If the study team is tasked with documenting a full Bachelor’s degree program and perhaps even a master’s degree program, the amount of material to be purchased could be considerable, using as a basis to estimate costs the usual ten courses per year multiplied by four years of a B.S. program, for example.

Faculty Development Knowledge and Skills

Consider how to construct a set of files addressing faculty and program development elements that support instruction and research. These could include:
  • Procedures and standards for promotion in academic rank as well as tenure (if relevant).
  • Support systems for facilitating faculty in developing research and development proposals as well as managing such projects once approved.
  • Approaches to the development and operationalization of a personal or work group research agenda. This could include labs, equipment, support personnel, student roles, documentation, and presentation and publication schemes.
  • Assessment, accreditation, certification, and summative evaluation schemes used to ensure quality control (of process) and quality assurance (of product) for exemplary programs.
  • Testing and measurement guidelines for development and validation of course examinations and practical exercise review.
  • Formative evaluation procedures and instruments used to obtain information from students, alumni, and employers on program and course content, outcomes and processes.
1. A reference for the principles for good practice in undergraduate education is: Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (March 1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin.

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