Assessing Global Citizenship Pathways in a Communication, Advocacy, and Global Citizenship Classroom in the Midwest

Authors

Satveer Kaur-Gill, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2026

Document Type

Article

Citation

Kaur-Gill, S. (2026). Assessing Global Citizenship Pathways in a Communication, Advocacy, and Global Citizenship Classroom in the Midwest. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, FIRST Portfolio.

Comments

Copyright 2026, Satveer Kaur-Gill. Used by permission

Abstract

To assess instruction in an undergraduate communication course titled Communication, Advocacy, and Global Citizenship, this qualitative inquiry examined how undergraduate students at a Midwest university engaged with global citizenship as a communicative process by conducting a content analysis of student assignments, guided by three key research questions formulated from four course objectives. The assessment found that place-based learning on global issues enhanced students' understanding of the meaning of global citizenship in a globalized world. Based on a qualitative evaluation of their key assignments, students successfully articulated threads and connections between local community concerns and issues as globally situated communicative phenomena. Findings also show that students recognized the impact of their everyday engagement in mediated and non-mediated spaces as part of the processes of globalization, and discussed how they were shifting, changing, or reorganizing their engagement as global citizens through the lens of critical global citizenship by the end of the course. The redesign of learning materials and assignments to meet the course objective of explaining concepts and theories that guide global citizenship and social change advocacy required modification. Finally, allowing students to organize and develop their collective voice in course design can enhance the course's goals related to global citizenship.