International Dimension in Curriculum Development A Synthesis of Research

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the predominant trends in knowledge production, that related to internationalization of curriculum in the past two decades, which is a broad and relatively heterogeneous topic; consequently, the scoping literature review method has been adopted as the most appropriate for the research objectives among other methods. The review includeds numerical and thematic analysis of the research published between 2000 until 2019. The findings revealed considerable similarities in the related literature, characterized by focusing on perceptional surveys with particular emphasis on the role of teacher, as well as conceptual studies, which may indicate a lack of consensus on the terminology, whereas internationalization has been referred to in the literature in several concepts; such as: global citizenship, mobility and global market, therefore, business schools have formed fertile grounds for internationalization studies. In addition, it was notably evident that most of the studies flow from developed countries, with a special concentration on higher education, in the sense of increasing their global competitiveness with regard to attracting international students. However, a significant research gap has been detected, regarding the scarcity of research aiming at profoundly analyzing and criticizing the provision of the international dimension in universities' programs in terms of their effectiveness and sustainability.