International immersion experiences do not, in themselves, provide students with the opportunity to develop cultural competence. However, using an anthropological lens to educate students allows them to learn how to negotiate cultural differences by removing their own cultural filters and seeing events through the eyes of those who are culturally different. Faculty at the University of Wisconsi...

Metacognition, defined as active control over cognitive processes during learning, is a critical component in the development of intercultural competence. Progression through stages of intercultural development requires self-assessment, self-monitoring, predictive, planning, and reflection skills. Modern virtual learning environments now provide a level of immersion that enable meaningful pract...

Applications of augmented reality have a great immersion potential for education, edutainment or cultural heritage presentations. The combination of intuitive and playful interaction with multi-faceted presentation options proved to be an effective mixture that attracts viewers to educational or cultural content. We introduce a multi-touch augmented reality system (MARS) using two display units...

Virtual Reality (VR) applications provide various possibilities for use in cultural heritage interpretation. They offer users (to varying degrees, depending on the type of application) the feeling of immersion in a multimedia environment, giving them the sense that they have been transported to the recreated space, be it the streets of an ancient city or the stadium where the original Olympic G...

Until recently virtual applications rarely incorporated any deep social, cultural or emotional capabilities exhibited in normal human interaction. In this paper, we present a methodology to develop virtual actors with believable communications skills who may provide a sufficient feeling of immersion to reproduce an efficient simulation of human activities. We focus on the relationship between g...

BACKGROUND In the US, the fastest growing segment of the general pediatric population is Latino children. Language barriers may impede optimal care for these patients. Programs are needed to enhance communication effectiveness with Latino patients. We examined the effect of language immersion training for pediatric faculty on their communication with Latino patients. METHODS Five general pedi...

In this paper, we will discuss a two-week experiential learning trip to Indonesia, ranging from the design phase module course and in-country implementation with two institutional partners in country. The involved four faculty eight students disciplines Geology, Anthropology, Environmental Studies Chemistry Music. Comparison was at heart of project. Our team explored cultural functional respons...

Most of our perceptions of and engagements with the world are shaped by our immersion in social interactions, cultural traditions, tools and linguistic categories. In this study we experimentally investigate the impact of two types of language-based coordination on the recognition and description of complex sensory stimuli: that of red wine. Participants were asked to taste, remember and succes...