Dee working with the Academic Council members at Universidad El Bosque, in Bogota, Colombia

Dee Fink recently completed a 5-week “World Tour,” doing workshops on course design at 7 universities in 5 countries in 3 regions of the world.

The ideas of Integrated Course Design and the Taxonomy of Significant Learning are attracting attention all over the world.

South America:  Universidad El Bosque, in Bogota, COLOMBIA, is embarking on a remarkable effort of institutional transformation.  The rector, Carlos Escobar, likes the concept and the taxonomy of Significant Learning and is using this as the focus of his change effort.

Lynn Sorenson, an Associate with “Dee Fink & Associates”, led a two-day workshop last August for the whole faculty (N ≈ 280) – in Spanish!  Dee followed her activities in late September to work with the faculty as well as senior and middle-level administrators on how to provide the necessary institutional support.

This will be an exciting project to watch!

Dee working with high school teachers at the American University of Technology in Beirut, Lebanon

Middle East:  During 2 days in SAUDI ARABIA, Dee re-visited King Fahd University in Dammam to lead some faculty workshops, and led another at the University of Dammam Medical School, the only kind of university in Saudi Arabia where men and women faculty members can be in the same room at the same time.

He then visited the American University of Technology in LEBANON where he has been several times before.  After attending a meeting of their Board of Trustees, he led some workshops for faculty member and high school teachers in the vicinity.

Dee leading a faculty workshop on course design at Universität Bielefeld, in Germany.

Europe:  In GERMANY, Dee revisited Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and visited Universität Bielefeld to lead faculty workshops on course design.  In-between, he visited with senior administrators at the Academy of Economics in Poznan, POLAND.

In both countries, he learned how it is not the administrators nor the full set of faculty members, but the high-ranking professors who have almost full power over the major institutional decisions.  This seems to be making the change process quite challenging.