Evaluation of Cross-Cultural Training Programs for International Students from East Europe

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of didactic and experiential training in Germany carried out on a sample of international university students from Eastern Europe. The long-term evaluation was conducted by using a quasi-experimental design with a control group according to Kirkpatrick's model including three steps: reaction, learning and behavior. Empirical results on the reaction level indicate that the students prefer the learner centered didactic training. Learning effects, measured by a previously unpresented case study showed that the experiential group differed significantly from the control group in the posttest on culture specific knowledge and empathy. They also performed significantly better on culture specific knowledge than in the pretest. On the other hand the didactically trained subjects achieved significant learning progress in their ability to identify sources of problems in cross-cultural encounters, culture specific knowledge, empathy and problem solving ability. A significant contrast to the control group in the posttest was found only in empathy. However behavioral results evaluating the transfer of achieved knowledge and competencies into "daily work" and encounters with foreigners were rather modest. In addition, no special differences between trained and non-trained individuals on the degree of work performance, adjustment and satisfaction during internships abroad were reported in interviews with superiors and the self reports of the students. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 5 footnotes.) [This paper was published in: Proceedings of Intercultural Competence Conference August, 2010, Vol. 1, pp. 195-219.]