The IECP Blog

Pandemic impacts local community

On Monday, March 16th 2020, after a week of spring break, Penn State, like so many other institutions, had its first day of remote, synchronous classes as a result of the looming threat of COVID-19. In the two weeks that followed, the world watched as more and more cases of coronavirus were reported around the globe. The governor of PA, Tom Wolf, eventually ordered a stay-at-home order for Centre County. Due to the preemptive actions of Penn State, however, the university was already compliant with the state order. Remote classes will continue through the end of the spring semester.

An order of this kind has had and will continue to have far-reaching effects in our local and global communities. It’s important to focus on good news, as well. Many people in the State College community are stepping up to help people who may have lost sources of income. For example, the State College Area School district is providing meals for families who depended on school lunches.

IECP adjusts to remote learning

As Penn State ordered online classes to be delivered synchronously, faculty and students immediately began working with the video conference software, Zoom.  While many students enjoyed not having to wake up as early to “attend” classes, IECP students miss their in-person classes. More importantly, our international students face very real concerns related to uncertainties with travel and academic progress.  IECP faculty are very understanding of the feelings and frustrations of students and are continuing to work hard to provide outstanding instruction and maintain communication online.

In one of Nikki’s classes, she used the online application padlet to create an opportunity to for students to say something positive. No doubt, this exercise helped everyone brighten their day a little bit in the midst of a lot of negativity. See the photo below.

A message from the IECP’s associate director of academics

Hi everyone–it’s Jackie, the writer and curator of the IECP Blog. I wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks to all the IECP faculty, staff and students for hanging tough and being so open during these very strange times. First and foremost, please take care of yourselves both physically and emotionally. We at the IECP care about our students and their well being. We will get through this together, and we will support you in any way we can. Be well.

https://global.psu.edu/covidintlfaq

IECP students can visit the site above for answers to questions regarding online study and travel.

All Penn State students are currently on break for the Thanksgiving holiday. However, it’s a great time to reflect on all the exciting events that have taken place at the IECP!

Sure, students have been busy editing research papers, preparing presentations, and gearing up for their upcoming final exams, but in addition to these important academic activities, students have had many opportunities to engage with the IECP and Penn State community.

Two visiting students from a Japanese university who were attending the Global Engagement and Leadership Experience wanted to see what classes were like at an American university. They were invited to visit the IECP’s Applied English: Science class where they were treated to a fun food science lab for Halloween. Students predicted the density of candy by researching fat content. The candy lab was part of the food science module, one of the three-week themes of the advanced Special Topics class. Another lab of the food science module included a potato chip taste test in which students predicted fat content and discussed mouth feel.

Moving out of the classroom, IECP students participated in a paper-lantern making workshop on November 21st at the PSU libraries. The workshop was presented by the Center for the Performing Arts, the Global Engagement Community (GEC), the PSU Libraries, and the IECP. Participants from all over the Penn State community came together to create beautiful lanterns. You can visit the IECP offices to see some lanterns from a previous workshop!

 

IECP instructor and Associate Director of Academics Jackie Gianico was pleased to host an IECP improv club series over several weeks. Students learned the basics of improv and did an outstanding job committing to fun, but important speaking and interactional skills. In improv, students have to listen to each other, remain focused, and keep the energy moving from person to person. These are important skills for any language learner, but the participants had tons of fun, too! The laughter could be heard all throughout the IECP offices.

Well done too all who participated. If you missed improv club this time, Jackie will continue the sessions in the spring semester, so stay tuned!

Have a great Thanksgiving break, everyone!

Welcome new students!

The IECP welcomed new students from seven countries to begin another fall semester. Our news students come from Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and UAE!

Exciting things happening in Special Topics classes

This semester, the IECP offers three Special Topics classes: Modern Topics, Creative Expression and Science. Special Topics classes (formerly called “electives”) are unique classes because they give students opportunities to hone their academic English in new ways.

For example, in Creative Expression, a brand new IECP course, students visited Old Main building on campus and collected information about certain characters who had a role there. One of those special characters, for example, was Old Coaly–the mule whose skeleton is in the HUB. (Did you know that?) Students then wrote about a day in those characters lives. But that’s not all! Students in Creative Expression have also analyzed excerpts from J.R.R. Tolkien’s the Lord of the Rings and Jacques Cousteau’s The Human, The Orchid, and The Octopus. The instructor. Münire Bozdemir, says, “students have also been working on using vocabulary or idioms they never used before even it they knew what they meant.”

Meanwhile, in Modern Topics, instructor Yuge Duan is using an integrated textbook with themes to facilitate students’ proficiency in many skills simultaneously. Yuge says, “for the first two weeks, we did self-introductions, ice-breakers, and we discussed what ‘identity’ is.” She adds, “We know each other better!”

Modern Topics is part of our Foundation English series in which 110- and 120-level students are able to take a class together while getting the important fundamental English support in a fun, challenging environment.

Finally, in the Science course, instructor Jackie Gianico has introduced her students to the scientific method by throwing them into an experiment on the second day of class! The Strength Experiment showed students how observations lead to questions, which lead to hypotheses. They tested two hypotheses: 1) Participants can hold a weight longer on their dominant-hand side, and 2) Men can hold a weight longer than women. They collected data, did analysis, and concluded that the hypotheses were accepted.

Because of the IECP’s location downtown and close proximity to the Sidney Friedman Park, the end-of-semester awards ceremony was held outside this semester on July 26…an IECP first! It was truly a perfect setting to enjoy a picnic and play some outdoor activities. Relieved of all coursework, students tossed a Frisbee, passed a soccer ball, and tried their hands at volleying a badminton birdie.

Certificates for excellent attendance and outstanding AL140 paper were awarded. Yosuke Endo and Jeong Hyun Heo were recognized for superior attendance. In addition, Yosuke was presented with the certificate for outstanding AL140 paper for his research composition entitled, The next research topics in the TMDs field for the next generation of semiconductor devices. Congratulations Yosuke and Jeong Hyun! Moreover, the IECP recognized two students who received admission to Penn State.Both Huseen Alkseemy and Yousef AlRabiah and will start their programs in the fall. We wish them both luck!

The IECP wishes everyone a great rest of the summer; we hope to see you again in the fall!

Many students from around the world come to Penn State to study at its renown STEM programs. In fact, many IECP students usually have plans to enter engineering departments. However, the IECP knows it’s also important to cultivate students’ involvement in the arts. The arts can help students think differently, in new ways.

Recently, the IECP provided two opportunities for students to try their hand at something creative (and hopefully fun and relaxing!). First, Jackie Gianico, the Associate Director of Academics, lead the third annual IECP Paint Night. A group of students, faculty, friends and family painted a lighthouse seascape with rainbow with step-by-step instruction from Jackie.

Then, the IECP joined with the Center for Performing Arts on a new project called, IllumiNATION. Ultimately, IllumiNATION will be a “student-driven art-based festival that will include lantern-making and other illuminated workshops throughout the year and will culminate in a parade and dance party March 30th, 2020. One of the goals of IllumiNATION is to connect students to people they wouldn’t otherwise meet, specifically, we hope to bridge the gap between international and national students as well as explore how other cultures use and understand light.” IECP students, alumni, faculty and staff created gorgeous lanterns. We can’t wait to see how they will be used next year in the festival!

And if that wasn’t enough art for you, this week marks the annual Central PA Arts Fest https://arts-festival.com/. IECP students will take a walk through the downtown festival and enjoy Creamery ice-cream.

Pictured above: New students pose with their Transition Partners and a couple of IECP faculty on Old Main steps. 

The IECP is thrilled to welcome its new students for the 2019 summer semester! The new cohort represents five different countries, including China, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and –nd IECP first–Burundi!

As always, the summer semester is a unique experience due to the extra-intensive nature of the schedule. Students are in class between 24 and 30 hours a week, ensuring that they experience the full curriculum the IECP has to offer in five fewer weeks than the fall and spring terms. It’s a busy time, but we are sure our new and returning students are up for the challenge!

Pictured above: New students enjoy their first taste of Creamery ice-cream!

The IECP is also pleased to welcome new instructor Yuge Duan. Yuge recently completed her MA in TESL in the department of Applied Linguistics and has been a familiar face in the IECP Tutoring Center (ITC) for several semesters. In addition, she has experience teaching with Mid-State Literacy in State College. Welcome, Yuge!

Pictured above: (left) GWS140 students before attending APLNG220 poster session; (right) Ellen Wu and Hasan Alkhajah are two of the recipients of the excellent poster award in Ai140. 

As always, the IECP had an eventful semester; however, this semester was quite extraordinary with the long snowy winter and the office move from campus to the new-and-improved downtown location at 112 W. Foster Avenue! Nevertheless, neither the snow nor the move got in the way of the IECP’s remarkable group of students.

Pictured above: (left) Hussain Abdulaziz, Abdulaziz Johar and Chris; (middle) Ayad Aldossary, Sadeq Alhamar and Erin Mathis; (right) Ai140 instructor Nikki Mattson assesses Merhan Askandar and Yiji Chen. 

The achievements of students were highlighted at the Many Faces of Intercultural Dialogue event on April 16 in Pattee Library and at the Spring 2019 Awards Ceremony on Thursday April 25th in 100 Huck Life Sciences. Ellen Wu and Hasan Alkhajah (Ai140A) and Yiji Chen (Ai140B) were honored along with their conversation partners (Taylor Young and Merhan Askandar, respectively) for their excellent work on the poster presentation. In addition, for the first time ever, the IECP honored an AL140 student with the Best Paper Award. Norah Aldobaiy received the honor for her paper entitled, “The advantages and disadvantages of online education”.

Another highlight of the Awards Ceremony was the recognition of hard work of the Royal Saudi Navy students. All RSN students were awarded certificates for their outstanding attendance.  In addition, RSN instructors Munire Bozdemir and Ahlem Yazidi both shared beautiful speeches as a tribute to the hard-working students.

Speaking of speeches…Ellen Wu delivered the IECP student speech and Ahmed Aldakeel gave the first-ever IECP alum speech. Ahmed garnered the audience’s rapt attention with a PSU trivia quiz that included Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks gift cards for the winners! Associate Director of Academics Jackie Gianico won a gift card for knowing that Peachy Paterno was the most popular flavor at the Creamery.

Enjoy the Awards Ceremony slideshow here.

Pictured above: (left) Ellen Wu gives the IECP student speech; (middle) Student Adviser Tom Spencer poses with RSN students honored for outstanding attendance; (right) AL140 instructor Alex Magnuson poses with Best  Paper Award Winner Norah Aldobaiy. 

During the week of final exams, IECP students were still involved with end-of-term projects. In GWS140, for example, instructor Jackie Gianico took her students to visit the APLNG220 Multilingual Lives poster session on April 23 in Sparks Building. While students visited the poster presenters, they had to make note of any similarities or differences from their own experiences which they could then add to their Ironically Academic Autobiographies.

Pictured above: GWS140 instructor gives the thumbs up with her students before attending the APLNG220 poster session.

Finally, IECP faculty and students enjoyed a beautiful spring day on Monday April 22 while visiting the Arab Tent on the HUB lawn. It is always great to see current IECP students and alums so involved with the organizations activities Penn State has to offer. See any familiar faces below?

Thank you all for a wonderful semester! We wish you the best in all your future endeavors and look forward to seeing some of you over the summer.

 

This semester, Penn State has had an unprecedented number of snow day cancellations and early dismissals. Much to the joy of students across campus, Penn State declared early dismissals on January 24th and 30th in addition to whole day cancellations on January 31st, February 12th and 20th. While most of the Penn State community enjoyed the days off, many faculty were concerned about getting behind in their syllabi since the snows days often affected Tuesday/Thursday classes. However, several IECP students and faculty agreed that walking conditions were often very slippery.

Despite the snow and ice, the IECP has remained busy with studies and social activities!

February 1st was bowling night, an IECP tradition! Students could bowl, enjoy some yummy pizza, or even play pool (billiards).

Currently, the upper level Academic Interactions classes are already in their third week of conversation partner meetings with students in APLNG 484. Students in Ai140 meet once a week with an American student to exchange cultural insight and gain understanding of things like language and academics. While students are only required to meet for one hour a week, many report that they end up taking two hours because they have so much to talk about!

On Sunday, February 24, the Penn State Kuwaiti Student Association hosted a beautiful evening of culture, history, and food at the Kuwaiti National Day celebration. Many IECP students (and their families!) were featured in several impressive video presentations and stage performances. Attendees enjoyed informative booths, treats and coffee, and even a magic show before dinner.

Most IECP students are likely relieved that midterms are over and look forward to the Spring break. Several IECP students report that they will be traveling over break to cities such as: New York, Pittsburgh, Orlando, Miami, and Los Angeles.

The IECP looks forward to everyone’s return at our new downtown location: 112 W Foster Avenue, 4th floor!