Now What? Think Fast: Using Healthcare Clinics as Universal Language to Maximize Learning for International Students in a Graduate Classroom

International students in Masters programs come to the US optimistic and willing to learn. Upon arrival and entrance into programs, they often encounter unexpected environments. Culture shock and language barriers may seem like obvious hurdles, but work ethic and scope of visual knowledge also pose unique challenges for both students and design educators. Although all students share new challenges in graduate school, international students face tougher impediments in studio environments where they express themselves both visually and verbally. Additionally, much of design uses humor, idioms, and visual clues only understood in English. So how do educators help international students build on what they already know? How do educators break barriers between domestic and international students so they may teach one another through a shared language? In fall 2015, my Conceptual Development and Implementation class was struggling to exchange ideas in the classroom. We moved through that struggle by developing a shared language around each student's experiences with healthcare clinics in their country of origin. Students explained what makes healthcare clinics reputable; how people access information in India, China, small towns and larger urban areas; and where people look for trustworthy information. This paper discusses how one educator used student experience of healthcare clinics to find a universal language to maximize learning for international students in design education.