Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Competence at a Christian University

This longitudinal and mixed methods study examined growth and decline in intercultural competence among university students at a Christian university in the Upper Midwest using pre- and post-test scores on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Descriptive analysis showed moderate growth of 3.51 points in mean developmental orientation scores, with 29.9% of students experiencing decline, 15.6% of students remaining stable, and 54.4% of students experiencing growth. The study also explored student perceptions of factors contributing to growth in intercultural competence through reflective journaling. Deductive analysis revealed three themes and nine subthemes. Students discussed the impact of formal learning, experiential learning, and relationships on their growth in intercultural competence. The relatively monoethnic context of the institution in this study points to the need for emphasizing formal and experiential learning. It raises questions about the role of relational learning as promoted in Yancey’s (Citation2022) mutual accountability model in monoethnic contexts. It also raises questions about the norming influence of one’s organizational context on who experiences growth in intercultural competence. Implications for using the IDI as an assessment tool and for designing contextually informed teaching and learning strategies are discussed.