Every year in August, we have cross-cultural training programs in Canada and Malaysia, and three specialized training programs conducted at our university by lecturers from our partner schools in the United States. This year, due to the global COVID19 outbreak, we were not able to go abroad as freely as we would, so we conducted all of the training online for one to two weeks.

Aviation English, MF Course in Mechanical Engineering, Green River College

The students studied Aerodynamics, Airplane Systems, Basic Weather Theory, etc. with Captain Coleman Boetter, who is an aviation operations professor. At the end of the day, the students worked very hard on their presentation assignment in English and seemed to have gained confidence in their presentation in English.

Special Experiments in Biotechnology, Department of Applied Biosciences, South Seattle College

It was a challenging experiment to connect Prof. Ruben Murcia in South Seattle College with our laboratory online and conduct the experiment in English. The participants enjoyed the contents that incorporated the gaming elements such as "Find the culprit by DNA electrophoresis!" and "Identify the first infected person by antibody test!" The post class questionnaire showed that 100% of the participants enjoyed the experience and 92% were very satisfied.

International Information and Media Practice, Department of Information and Media Studies, DigiPen Institute of Technology

We learned digital drawing using Photoshop, which is the basis for illustration and animation production, from Prof. David Longo, an expert in game concept design. Based on the basics of screen composition, harmony, and light expression, the students learned techniques to tell a story on the screen. Participants enjoyed and commented "I was able to improve my skills” or “ I learned practical techniques that I can use!"

Students could choose to attend the class in the classroom or at home, depending on their preference.

Overseas cross-cultural training, All departments open, UCI, University of California, Irvine

The overseas cross-cultural training program is open to all departments and grades. In the past, the program was held for two weeks every summer in Malaysia and Canada. This year, we learned about English and SDGs online. The participants joined a virtual tour of a sewage treatment facility to experience the efforts to recycle precious water. Outside of class, some students commented that they enjoyed spending time with UC Irvine students in English.