Uncovering the Potential Learning in Short-Term Study Abroad

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the facets of intercultural learning that might be achievable through faculty-led, short-term study abroad. Exploring changes in various facets of students’ intercultural competence pre- to post-study abroad, we found that the largest gains were in the cultural knowledge domain. Findings also point to vast differences in how individual students do, and do not, show gains across multiple measures of intercultural competence after studying abroad

A Catalyst for Learning or Reinforcement of Inequities: Using a Critical Hope Lens to Understand the Potential and Limitations of Short-Term Study Abroad in Fostering Students’ Ability to Effectively Interact Across Differences

Study abroad is often hailed as a unique and important learning experience that fosters students’ ability to engage in effective and appropriate interactions in a variety of cultural contexts. Scholars, however, have not only questioned the learning that occurs in study abroad but have also highlighted problematic aspects such as the potential miseducation of participants and harm to host communities, particularly for short-term study abroad (STSA) experiences. Utilizing the lens of critical hope, the purpose of this study was to critically assess the potential of STSA in fostering cross-cultural learning, while also examining its limitations and potential harm. Based on interviews with 18 participants 1 and 2 years after their STSA, we found STSA has the potential to be a catalyst for learning and growth related to the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed for effective cross-cultural interactions. However, when participants approached STSA with a colonial attitude and failed to connect learning to cross-cultural experiences after STSA, that learning was minimal and STSA reinforced ethnocentric viewpoints. Participants’ race and ethnicity shaped their learning. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color participants who had positive experiences abroad felt inspired by STSA to seek out additional cross-cultural interactions, which led to further growth. The white participants who experienced more growth had passions and interests related to cultural learning prior to STSA and engaged in meaningful cross-cultural experiences after STSA. In our Implications section, we discuss ways to maximize the potential of STSA to foster cross-cultural learning and serve as a catalyst for social change

International Teaching Assistants\u27 Contributions to Online Learning: A Qualitative Case Study

To meet the needs of diverse population of students, online classes in higher education started to proliferate in recent decades. Increase in enrollment in online courses required U.S. higher education institutions to employ teaching assistants, including international teaching assistants (ITAs) to teach a variety of undergraduate level courses. This exploratory qualitative case study aimed to analyze international teaching assistants’ (ITAs) teaching strategies through the lens of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. Themes emerged from the data that highlight the knowledge and skills ITAs brought to teaching online classes

Online + International: Utilizing Theory to Maximize Intercultural Learning in Virtual Exchange Courses

Virtual exchanges (VEs) are course-based experiences designed to promote global learning, often by integrating cross-cultural interactions and collaborations with people from other areas of the world into coursework in a virtual format. Due to the widespread disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, VEs have seen an increase in popularity. However, research findings on the effectiveness of VEs are mixed, and limited guidance is available to VE instructors on how to structure and facilitate these programs. The purpose of this paper is to highlight how theories and literature in two distinct areas of scholarship, Intergroup Contact theory and the Community of Inquiry model in online learning, could be applied to VEs to maximize student learning. We discuss each of these theories first and then highlight how they could be applied to VEs using illustrative examples from a pilot study of five VE courses offered at one institution during the summer of 2021

Identifying Meaningful Individual-Level Change in Educational Experiences: Adding to Our Methodological Toolkit

In recent years, improving the quantitative methods used to assess the effect of college, and particular college experiences, on student outcomes has received increased attention (e.g., Mayhew et al., 2016). In How College Affects Students, Mayhew et al. (2016) highlighted the importance of issues of practical vs. statistical significance, self-selection into college (and by extension, self-selection into particular experiences), and direct and indirect effects, among other methodological challenges in identifying the relationships between college experiences and student learning and success. One particularly difficult challenge is identifying the conditional effects of experiences on student outcomes. Who benefits, or who does not, from particular experiences? There is growing evidence that the effects of educational experiences may differ among students, and in some cases, effects that may be positive for some students are negative for others (e.g., Mayhew et al., 2016; Seifert, Gillig, Hanson, Pascarella, & Blaich, 2014). The most common methods of assessing conditional effects rely on group-level analyses (e.g., introducing interaction terms or conducting subgroup analyses). Yet, these methods do not provide a way to determine whether an experience has had a positive, negative, or neutral effect on an individual student. Examining individual-level change can help researchers and practitioners further understand the complexities of how educational experiences affect students. With this article we aim to build on the work on conditional effects in higher education (e.g., Seifert et al., 2014) to provide a way to assess meaningful individual-level change. We provide a theoretical framework for understanding why educational experiences might lead to positive or negative outcomes; discuss the challenges in assessing individual-level change; describe one method of assessing individual-level change; provide an example of how researchers might use this method to consider positive and negative outcomes for individual students; and discuss how this consideration might change the way we view college experiences

Being "good company" to students on their journeys toward intercultural maturity: A case study of a study abroad program

In an increasingly interconnected global society, study abroad is often seen as an effective way to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century but recent studies have questioned the effectiveness of study abroad. The purpose of this qualitative case study of the Maryland Social Entrepreneur Corps Study Abroad program – an 8-week summer program in a Latin American or Caribbean country with a pre-departure and a debriefing course – was to explore how educators can shape the learning environment in a study abroad program to promote students’ development of intercultural maturity. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with student participants and the instructor of the pre-departure and debriefing courses at the beginning and end of the program; a focus group with student participants; observations of the pre-departure and debriefing course sessions; document analysis of recruitment materials, course syllabi, and student assignments; and participants’ scores on the Global Perspective Inventory, a quantitative tool. The study’s findings indicate that participants experienced some growth in all three dimensions of development– cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal – though most did not reach the mature level of the intercultural maturity. Educators in the study abroad program fostered students learning by integrating participants in the day-to-day lives of host families and other host nationals and portraying culture as complex and contextual, but also missed opportunities to do so. Educators struggled to balance encouraging participants to take initiative and bring in new ideas with providing guidance and leadership. Time for reflection was limited and educators missed opportunities to take reflection to a deeper and more critical level that could have helped participants make sense of their experiences and learning abroad. The study adds to the literature by (a) connecting study abroad outcomes to overarching goals of higher education in the 21st century; (b) advancing a conceptual model that combines King and Baxter Magolda’s developmental model of intercultural maturity with Baxter Magolda’s learning partnership model; and (c) by providing feedback for King and Baxter Magolda’s developmental model of intercultural maturity