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Forum institutional members will receive a reduced registration rate on BEVI certification training offered on Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11 at Brethren Colleges Abroad (BCA) in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Those completing this workshop will be authorized to administer, join or initiate research projects, and interpret reports and other results of the BEVI through their institution or organization. To register for this workshop and secure lodging, please visit
http://www.thebevi.com/beviregistration.asp
The Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI) is an innovative measure designed to assess “worldview shift” as well as the processes and outcomes of international and multicultural learning. Twelve Forum institutional members played a key role in readying this instrument for use in the field through their participation in the Forum BEVI Project.
BEVI results are translated automatically into reports at the individual, group, and organizational level. Individual reports have multiple applications (e.g., as a teaching tool in classes, or during pre-departure orientation sessions for an international learning experience), and are designed to facilitate thoughtful and substantive reflection on self, others, and the world at large. Group and organizational reports provide cohort profiles, index scores, and other analyses that help course instructors, program directors, and administrators understand how different groups see the world before a learning experience occurs (e.g., education abroad), and how much “worldview shift” occurs as a result of the experience. In short, in addition to individualized reports and pre/post testing at the group or organizational level, the BEVI may be used for many other assessment purposes as well (e.g., to track learning processes over time; evaluate program outcomes; meet institutional assessment needs).
Special Update on the Forum BEVI Project:
Learn more about
project developments, preliminary findings, and its transition this Fall from the pilot and into the formal phase by reading Craig Shealy's update.
The Forum BEVI Project is a special collaboration with the International Beliefs and Values Institute (IBAVI) and the Office of International Programs (OIP) at James Madison University. This project offers selected Forum member institutions the state-of-the-art opportunity to validate a new outcomes assessment instrument, and then benefit from its first formal application.
The BEVI Instrument
The project uses the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory (BEVI), an instrument developed by Dr. Craig Shealy, Executive Director of IBAVI. Shealy describes the BEVI as "designed to assess a number of relevant processes and constructs including, but not limited to:
- Basic openness;
- Receptivity to different cultures, religions, and social practices;
- The tendency to (or not to) stereotype in particular ways;
- Self- and emotional awareness; and
- Preferred strategies for making sense of why 'other' people and cultures ‘do what they do.’”
Institutions will be able to use BEVI results for a variety of assessment goals:
- To comply with accreditation requirements, such as substantive assessment,
- To evaluate specific international learning experiences, including study abroad; and
- To better understand how, why, and under what circumstances students learn.
“The web-based BEVI may also be used flexibly with other assessment measures and approaches,” says Shealy.
The Forum has selected the institutions for this project. The selection committee was composed of Forum staff, a representative from the Forum Council’s Outcomes Assessment Committee, and the Executive Directors of the IBAVI and OIP at James Madison University. Selections was based on a variety of factors, including:
- Commitment, as demonstrated by the identification of specific international learning experiences to be assessed, allocation of appropriate institutional resources, and support from institutional leadership;
- Strength of rationale for participating in the project and how the project will benefit the organization/institution; and
- Diversity of institutions and organizations represented in the study.
Participating Forum member institutions include: Brethren Colleges Abroad, Dickinson College, IESAbroad, International Studies Abroad, James Madison University, Michigan State University, Saint Mary’s College, Saint Olaf College, University of South Carolina, University of Texas at Austin, and Wells College .
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