Considerations in regards to the survey tool memo - CHE Consult

Monitoring Exchange Mobility Outcomes
The memo tool provides HEIs with information not
only on these aspects, but more importantly about
the interrelations between facts, perceptions and
attitudes and how this affects the outcome of study
exchange.
A psychometric approach underlies the set of questions
on attitudes, which are based on a research project
conducted in Germany that resulted in the survey
tool CHE-QUEST. This tool covers aspects concerning
the social as well as the academic requirements
of studying (Leichsenring, Sippel, & Hachmeister,
2011); the memo tool is also closely related to existing
scales used for determining intercultural competency
levels. These especially focus on tolerance of
ambiguity, openness, the ability to integrate and resilience.
These scales are deemed appropriate for the
measurement of how well the academic, social and
intercultural demands of a stay abroad were handled.
1.1 Personal Aspects
One aspect which shapes the situation in which the
student finds himself or herself when studying are
personal traits. For the study’s context, we focus on
two major elements: The first is the individual emotional
state, which contains the specific individual
tendency but also reflects the student’s emotional
reaction to the study experience. This aspect is also
dependent on the individual state of health. The
seceond element is the character trait of extroversion,
which reflects an outward looking attitude.
For an intercultural environment, two more aspects
need to be taken into account: Resilience or psychological
resistance. This is the ability to internally
rebalance oneself, when faced with external disturbances,
which is especially important in demanding,
stressful situations (Resilienzskala RS-25 (Leppert et
al., 2002) based on (Wagnild und Young, 1993)). The
second personal aspect, which comes into play in an
intercultural environment, is tolerance of ambiguity.
While some people view as negative situations that
are ambiguous, unstructured, below expectations,
contradictory and unusual, others perceive them as
stimulating (Reis, 1997). Tolerance of ambiguity is
even seen as a prerequisite for intercultural competence
(Bolten, 2007).
www.memo-tool.net
1.2 Social Aspects
The social demands of studying are twofold: First of
all, studying is about social integration, i.e. the frequency
of social contacts and the satisfaction with
the social aspect of the HEI’s internal environment as
well as with the relationships to other people at the
HEI. Another aspect relates to the social environment
as a support structure relevant to academic success.
Specifically, it comprises students’ readiness to request
help and accept help that is offered, within as
well as outside of the HEI.
In an intercultural environment, two further aspects
that are even more important have to be taken into
account: openness and sociability, since these reflect
also the interest and willingness to repeatedly
adjust to new situations and make different experiences.
People differ in how far they enjoy change,
exchange and questioning the traditional or prefer to
stick to what they already know and value (Borkenau
& Ostendorf, 2008). Successful internationalisation
means to gain more openness – but experiencing
intercultural environments might also lead to less
openness. Another social aspect – especially in the
context of a student exchange – is the ability to integrate,
which comprises the aspects of managing
oneself, integrity and team ability as well as an interest
in foreign cultures.
1.3 Academic Aspects
Academic aspects of studying are, in the course of
the memo project, assumed to transcend cultural
aspects. While we are aware of field-specific cultural
aspects, in memo we are following the idea of an
internationally similar academic culture (Parsons &
Platt, 1973). Therefore, we identify three aspects to
be relevant to a student’s performance in academia:
First of all, an interest in theoretical approaches and
frameworks and also the transfer between theory and
practice. Secondly, diligence is a necessary aspect,
and comprises commitment, time management, the
willingness to do something as well as what is called
the locus of control: The extent to which someone
believes that successful performances can be achieved
through one’s own efforts. Thirdly, we take into
account the degree of intrinsic motivation, signifying
the will to do something for oneself, because it is fun,
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