Students Competency Development During Study Abroad

Study abroad is often a highlight in a student's university life and is associated with a variety of developmental gains. But what happens during the time abroad that facilitates these changes? Using the personal narratives shared by students of two higher education institutions while spending a semester abroad, this study analyzed the critical incidents which contribute to their competency development during this time.

Providing an analysis of the relationship between Internationalization and Employability in Higher Education, this book considers the perspectives of both students and employers to illustrate how to reach positive employment outcomes for all stakeholders. Through a wide range of international case studies, this book delivers some key messages, including: The articulation of the link between internationalization and employability; The need for higher education institutions to communicate the benefits of an internationalized higher education beyond the academy; The need to ensure equity of graduate outcomes through enhanced internationalization at home; The impact of immigration policy on national benefits of internationalization of higher education; International study as a route to employability for migration purposes and building knowledge-based economies. Considering the skills developed by students through mobility experiences, while exploring the need for enhanced internationalization of the curriculum at home, Internationalization and Employability in Higher Education will be a key resource for any higher education policy makers or university staff associated with careers, employment, and integrated learning. It contains important messages for employers and recruiters.

As the world becomes more globalized, student populations in university settings will continue to grow in diversity. To ensure students develop the cultural competence to adapt to new environments, universities and colleges must develop policies and programs to aid in the progression of cultural acceptance and understanding. Cultural Awareness and Competency Development in Higher Education is an essential reference book on the latest literature regarding multiculturalism in colleges and universities, focusing on administration and faculty implementation of culturally-aware curriculum to support the development of students' global competence. Featuring extensive coverage on a range of topics including social constructivism, co-curricular learning, and inclusive pedagogy, this publication is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on the inclusion of culturally diverse curriculums in higher education.

Comprehensive and evidence-based, this book presents the best practices for designing and sustaining study abroad programs to maximize the outcomes and benefits of education abroad for all students. Distilling the history, research, and variations of study abroad programs, Goertler and Schenker provide a clear-eyed analysis of the lessons learned and the common obstacles associated with education abroad. Organized in three parts – the state of education abroad in the US; research on education abroad outcomes; and best practices – Goertler and Schenker demonstrate the benefits of long-term study abroad for the development of advanced language skills and intercultural competence, and the need for diversity in participation. Chapters offer theory-based, practice-proven recommendations to invigorate, innovate, and implement successful study abroad programs that are sustainable and ethically engage with the local community. The authors discuss design features to maximize language proficiency and intercultural competence. Grounded in up-to-date research and theory, the book responds to the challenges associated with long-term education abroad programs and provides recommendations on (re)invigorating long-term programs and diversifying participation in education abroad. From Study Abroad to Education Abroad is vital reading for academics, researchers, and students in the fields of language education and education policy, as well as practitioners, such as language program coordinators and education abroad administrators.

Education abroad is an essential part of the university student experience. Initiatives such as IIE’s Generation Study Abroad encourage more U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study abroad. According to the Open Doors 2019 Report by the Institute for International Education (IIE), 341,751 students participated in post-secondary education abroad programs during the 2017/2018 academic year. This figure represents an increase of 2.7% of U.S. students studying abroad from the previous year. Research shows that education abroad provides students with opportunities not only to see the world but also to develop intercultural competence, which is increasingly crucial in the 21st century workplace. There are also numerous studies that show gains in autonomy, confidence, and tolerance for ambiguity in students who complete some type of study abroad experience. In sum, the education abroad experience in itself represents a powerful learning environment that continues to support personal and professional development long after returning home. Nonetheless, these learning environments must be cultivated along with faculty who develop and lead programs, as well as university partners and providers. Furthermore, education abroad programming and assessment is complex and must take into consideration many factors including academic goals, purposeful curricular development, and a balance between academics and leisure activities on site. This book explores the many aspects of education abroad as a learning environment, such as student learning outcomes, faculty development, and program assessment and evaluation. In addition, several chapters present education abroad experiences as a model for community engagement and activism. The authors represent a diverse range of institutions and perspectives and discuss programs around the globe. The book represents the voices of faculty that lead education abroad programs, students who participate in them, and also those of international students on a U.S. campus reflecting on their personal experiences abroad. Furthermore, this book contributes to the discussion of best practices to assist faculty and program directors in creating robust education abroad programs that meet the needs of their students and institutions.

With the increased interest in study abroad from government, educators, employers and students, the question is: is study abroad engendering the desired intercultural competencies and intellectual development?To achieve this goal, this book proposes two strategies: structure study abroad to bridge the separation of academic learning from experiential and intercultural learning; and integrate study abroad with the undergraduate curriculum.In proposing this integration, the editors take into account the need for institutional change, and recognize faculty members’ concerns about maintaining the integrity of the curriculum, teaching in areas outside their expertise, and keeping up with ever-evolving institutional missions.This book opens with two chapters presenting different theoretical perspectives relevant to the integration of study abroad into the curriculum. The following nine chapters provide examples from a variety of disciplines – from anthropology and religious studies, to literature, urban studies, biology and public health – and within such contexts as distance learning, service learning, and the senior thesis. The concluding chapter considers faculty development activities and institutional structures and policies that support curriculum integration. While the examples are drawn from Beloit College and Kalamazoo College – liberal arts colleges with substantial study abroad enrollments, and nationally recognized for their innovative practices – readers will recognize they are easily adaptable to their own institutions. The two colleges achieved their curricular innovations with limited financial resources, and in the context that most of their students are dependent on financial aid. The transformational ideas and practices described here provide material for reflection and campus conversations for anyone concerned with developing global citizens and well-educated students, and offer a blueprint for implementation.

Co-published with This volume focuses on two questions. First, how can education abroad be embedded into undergraduate education so that students experience it as an integral component of their education and something they help shape, rather than as time away from their education and as a commodity to be consumed? Second, how can colleges and universities maximize the educational value of education abroad by forging stronger connections between it and other undergraduate experiences? The volume argues that learning abroad be positioned within the work of the larger institution and students’ overall education.Organized within three sections, this volume makes the case that learning abroad must be positioned within the work of the larger institution and students’ overall education. In doing so, it questions many current assumptions and stimulates thinking about the power of an integrative approach to education abroad to lead to lasting educative value. An integrative approach requires that students be afforded multiple opportunities and ongoing support to draw connections with their learning abroad with other dimensions of their undergraduate education.Chapters cover topics such as the additive value of integrating multiple HIPs with education abroad to span disciplinary boundaries and promote an array of soft or operational skills; the importance of maintaining the disruptive quality of the encounter with the foreign to enrich study at home; issues of commodification and reciprocity; increasing access to study abroad to community college--particularly adult--populations; facilitating students’ social and intellectual development, identity formation, and reflective practice; rethinking orientation programming to emphasize the continuity of learning pre-, during- and post-education abroad; asking fundamental questions about the purpose of education abroad to rethink assessment and its purposes; the faculty role in the internationalization of the curriculum; and developing more intentional relationships with in-field partners and international educational organizations to more effectively connect leaning abroad with other dimensions of undergraduate education.For everyone involved in international education – whether SIOs, faculty, department chairs or deans – the critical questions and new perspectives offered here will inform and shape the growing movement to integrate education abroad with the overall undergraduate experience.

Written for study abroad practitioners, this book introduces theoretical understandings of key study abroad terms including “the global/national,” “culture,” “native speaker,” “immersion,” and “host society.” Building theories on these notions with perspectives from cultural anthropology, political science, educational studies, linguistics, and narrative studies, it suggests ways to incorporate them in study abroad practices. Through attention to daily activities via the concept of immersion, it reframes study abroad not as an encounter with cultural others but as an occasion to analyze constructions of “differences” in daily life, backgrounded by structural arrangements.