Study abroad (SA) in North America is changing in two ways: short‐term trips are becoming more popular, and more students are traveling in teacher‐facilitated groups. These changes raise questions ...about how teaching methods can help to improve outcomes in short stays abroad, particularly in the case of language learners. To better understand teachers' perspectives on pedagogy, we conducted a series of group and individual interviews with 18 college teachers who facilitate short‐term language SA. The results of a constructivist grounded theory analysis showed that teachers believed pedagogy in short‐term SA could be improved by integrating the SA program into the at‐home curriculum, by targeting both measurable and process‐based objectives, by adopting a variety of teaching strategies including experiential teaching, and by integrating interactions between students and locals in different ways.
The Challenge
Is short‐term SA truly less effective at developing students' language proficiency than stays of longer duration? What if context‐specific teaching practices could be developed to help facilitators maximize the benefit of shorter stays? This study examines teachers' beliefs about how pedagogy in short‐term SA can be improved.
This study examined US undergraduate students' intent to study abroad upon college entry and their actual participation in study abroad during their undergraduate years, correlating the college ...outcomes of three cohorts to identify trends. The findings show that study abroad intent and participation are interrelated and shaped by an array of factors, including gender, race or ethnicity, major, and involvement in college activities. While mathematical ability and helping to promote racial understanding negatively affected study abroad intent, aspiring to earn an advanced degree, time spent socializing with friends, artistic ability, seeking to improve understanding of other countries and cultures, and expectations to join a social fraternity or sorority, to be satisfied with college, and to participate in student clubs or groups positively influenced study abroad intent. Also, the findings indicate that involvement in the student government, a music or theater group, a political club, club sports, and off-campus study negatively affected participation in study abroad. Finally, the findings reveal that study abroad made a unique contribution to college outcomes, such as understanding moral and ethical issues, communication skills, academic performance, and overall satisfaction. Implications for higher education researchers, study abroad professionals, senior administrators, faculty advisors, and college students are discussed.
This study aims to clarify the elements of compelling study abroad program designs. We identified three global competency components based on several questionnaire surveys of university students: ...collaborative, initiative, and performative. These competencies are correlated with foreign language communication, speaking, output, and preparation hours during the short-term online study abroad programs. Providing opportunities for communication, speaking, output, and preparation with a foreign language is indispensable in designing a compelling study abroad program.
This study aims to clarify the elements of compelling study abroad program designs. We identified three global competency components based on several questionnaire surveys of university students: ...collaborative, initiative, and performative. These competencies are correlated with foreign language communication, speaking, output, and preparation hours during the short-term online study abroad programs. Providing opportunities for communication, speaking, output, and preparation with a foreign language is indispensable in designing a compelling study abroad program.
Students studying abroad are faced with challenges that impact their cultural, social, and economic identities, and this varies greatly depending on their home country and study destination. The ...transition and inter-cultural learning experiences of international tertiary students from African countries are currently under-examined. Afrocentric theory was employed to interpret the data derived from this qualitative study, which drew upon participatory action research and Photovoice methods to explore how African students navigate transitions to studying in Canada and the strategies they use for creating supportive social resources. As authors, co-researchers, and participants, we identified unique insights on how students build and maintain senses of connections, familiarity, and comfort when away from home, and how they conceptualize, create, and sustain community. These accounts provide insight for mentors, faculty, and policymakers in North American institutions on how they can offer opportunities for holistic learning, cultural integration, and access to valuable mentorship to help students navigate the complex journey of transition.
The Integrated Student Choice Model and Theory of Planned Behavior are used to frame an analysis of longitudinal student data. We utilize generalized structural equation modeling to evaluate our ...framework and to examine the impact of select student characteristics and college experiences on actual involvement in study abroad, giving particular attention to the role of intentions. Study results generally confirm prior findings and provide general support to our framework underscoring the importance of considering the temporal aspect of decisions to study abroad and the strength of intentions when estimating its effect on participation. Findings highlight student attributes associated with intentions that differ in strength and patterns of institutional characteristics and student attitudes, subjective norms, behavioral control beliefs, intentions, and campus involvement that shape individuals’ decisions to study abroad. Our findings provide insights into why prior study results regarding antecedents of intentions and the impact of intentions on study abroad participation may vary. We offer insights into how to advise and market programs to individuals who enter with different levels of motivation to study abroad.
The purpose of this study was to determine what students participating in short study abroad program (SSAP) elective courses learned during their experiences and if they satisfied the course learning ...objectives.
University of Florida College of Pharmacy students who participated in a SSAP to Scandinavia in the years 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2018 wrote digital journals describing their experiences. This study used inductive and deductive thematic analysis to analyze the journals and identify codes and themes.
Four cohorts with a total of 39 student journals were analyzed leading to 11 themes being identified. Example themes included Differences in Pharmacy Practice, Differences in Pharmacy Law/Processes, Differences in Pharmacy Education/Training, and History/Culture. These themes were then mapped to the course objectives, and all course objectives were deemed to be fulfilled.
Students participating in one College's SSAPs over four years through their own words demonstrated a better understanding of healthcare, pharmacy, and culture as it exists in one or more foreign countries and were able to meet the course objectives.
In this study, we address the question of whether and how the internationalization of higher education, particularly its study abroad aspect, has contributed to the common good. Much of the past ...discussion on study abroad impact has been largely concentrated on outcomes at the personal level. Using qualitative data from the Study Abroad for Global Engagement project, this study analyzes how former study abroad participants contributed to the global common good at the levels of local, glocal, and global communities. The findings show that many chose to practice global engagement, such as civic engagement, philanthropic activities, social entrepreneurship, and voluntary simplicity, for the common good, as the result of study abroad. This article concludes with discussion of implications for research, theory, policy, and practice.
This cross‐sectional study examined the effect of general proficiency and study‐abroad experience on pragmatic comprehension in second‐language English. Participants were 25 native English speakers ...and 64 Japanese college students of English divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 22) had lower proficiency and no study‐abroad experience. Group 2 (n = 20) and Group 3 (n = 22) had higher proficiency than Group 1 but differed in their study‐abroad experience. Group 2 had no study‐abroad experience, but Group 3 had a minimum of 1 year of study‐abroad experience in an English‐speaking country. They completed a pragmatic listening test measuring their ability to comprehend conventional and nonconventional implicatures. Group performance was compared for the comprehension accuracy scores and response times. There was a significant effect of proficiency on response times but no effect of study‐abroad experience. Comprehension accuracy scores revealed mixed findings. It was advantageous for students to have study‐abroad experience in the comprehension of nonconventional implicatures and routine expressions but not in indirect refusals.
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