Education Commons^™

Spanish Language And Culture In Buenos Aires And Córdoba, Argentina, Sarah Eidt

Capstone Collection

The Spanish Language and Culture in Buenos Aires and Córdoba, Argentina program is a theoretical faculty-led multi-site semester-long program that is designed for Boston University students for the fall semester of 2022. The purpose of the program is to give student participants the opportunity to learn Argentine history and culture at two distinct locations with different sets of host families and speaking partners, while visiting contrasting regions around Argentina in order to obtain a more complete understanding of the country. Students will become more proficient in the Spanish language and gain a greater understanding of Argentine culture by immersing in …

The Island Earth Field Studio: A High School Summer Program On Polynesian Voyaging In Hawaii, Andrea M. Bachmann

Capstone Collection

The Island Earth Field Studio is a ten-day program for high school students to learn about Polynesian voyaging in Hawaii as a framework to understand non-Western knowledge systems. The program design is grounded in research on the historical significance of voyaging and informed by current literature on adolescent development and place-based pedagogy.

To further refine the program, a needs assessment was conducted using a combination of surveys and interviews with parents and educators in the continental United States (mainland) as well as interviews with local partners in Hawaii. The assessment revealed that cultural learning and community building were viewed by …

Global Citizenship Education In Homeschooling Practices And Experiences In Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, And Pennsylvania, Bethany Shackelford

Capstone Collection

Global citizenship education (GCED) has moved to the forefront of U.S. education policy. The core tenets of GCED are knowledge, skills, behaviors, actions, attitudes, and values. Through these tenets, GCED strives to prepare students to be contributing members of society through making positive change. In this study, I examined the extent to which GCED was integrated in homeschooling education in eight families located in four Northeastern states, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The findings derived from individual interviews and surveys with homeschooling parents and their adult children as well as document analysis demonstrate that seven of the eight …

Language Matters: What Are The Primary School Teachers' Perspectives And Lived Experiences Of Burundi's Language Policy?, Leah Passauer

Capstone Collection

Burundi is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Burundian language policy dictates that four languages, Kirundi, French, English, and Kiswahili, must be taught starting in the second trimester of grade one. The language policy decision is not an obvious one since the country is linguistically homogenous, meaning that almost the entire population speaks Kirundi as their first language. Primary school teachers in the public education system typically receive training in a vocational setting that may not fully prepare them for the complex multilingual classroom environment they are expected to cultivate. The aim of this small-scale mixed-methods …

Peacebuilding And Community Development, A Civic Engagement Program For Vietnamese Undergraduate Students In Cambodia, Thuy Nguyen

Capstone Collection

This proposal presents a program design for the Peace Building and Community Development program, a ten-week civic engagement program for undergraduate Vietnamese students in Cambodia during the summer break. This is a new program model proposed to Sarus, a leadership and peace education organization, which has run its programs mostly in the form of short-term exchange programs. The program will be executed by Sarus in partnership with higher education institutions in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and community partner organizations in Cambodia. The program aims to give students exposure to a multicultural environment, opportunities for holistic development, as well as …

Social Innovation Abroad: Service-Learning Program At Magga Foundation, Thazin Nyein Kyaw

Capstone Collection

Service Learning has been utilized as a means to increase knowledge, develop practical skills and provide a broad understanding of community engagement, development and social change for students. Students’ participation in those service-learning programs are growing globally in this interconnecting world. This Course-Linked Capstone (CLC) presents a detailed plan for a service-learning program exclusively designed for undergraduate students in Myanmar. Magga Foundation will organize social Innovation Abroad, a 13-week intensive study abroad program, in partnership with Ashoka organization in India and Thailand. The program aims to provide holistic development, cross-cultural communication, interdisciplinary and experiential global education for students. It is …

The Kiwi Way: Marketing In New Zealand, A Program Design For Johnson & Wales University, Rachael L. Peters

Capstone Collection

The proposal for a study abroad program to be implemented at Johnson & Wales University [JWU] results from a five-month internship in the JWU Abroad office and multiple interviews with full-time colleagues in the department. It is designed to not only expand the current JWU portfolio in subject matter and program location, but to strengthen a newly built partnership with American Universities International Programs Limited [AUIP] through the addition of a second collaborative program in the provider’s catalogue.

The Kiwi Way: Marketing in New Zealand is a twelve-day faculty-led study abroad [FLSA] program that splits time between the cities of …

Leadon Alliance: Empowering Alaska's Youth Through Inclusive Programming, Megan Juneau

Capstone Collection

Alliance is an annual youth conference in Alaska designed to create inclusive and multi-cultural programming for Alaskan youth and their adult mentors. Alliance is a reimagining of a program formerly known as LeadOn. While LeadOn has been successful for the last ten years at providing workshops for Alaskan youth and adults on healthy sexuality, relationships, and leadership, it will now focus on making quality content for Alaskan Natives, Immigrants, and LGBTQ+ identities in Alaska. In the development of this idea past program participants and previous program coordinators were surveyed and interviewed to collect information about how inclusivity has or has …

How Empowerment Processes Manifest For Afghan Women With Different Levels Of Education, Fatima Sabri

Capstone Collection

Afghanistan has undergone almost 40 years of war and instability and these different wars have had a huge impact on Afghan girls and women as each regime brought new rules for women’s opportunities, in particular, their access to education. This Independent Practitioner Inquiry Capstone (IPIC) paper explores the idea of female empowerment in the Afghanistan context in order to better understand the connection with education related to empowerment, education, gender, agency and mentorship. This small-scale qualitative study relies upon a combination of interviews and autoethnographical data and may provide additional insights into how education influences empowerment in the lives of …

Residential Life Curriculum: Wyoming Seminary, Allie Maxwell

Capstone Collection

This course linked capstone will focus on creating a residential life curriculum that is student centered, increases cultural competencies, and strengthens the community of the Wyoming Seminary Upper School. Many boarding schools have accepted international students into their schools to respond to a growing revenue need while simultaneously adding to a school’s diversity. The shift in student demographics has created a secondary level international education sector without many people specializing in this arena. Additionally, there has been a push to increase residential life resources in schools to help increase student support. With the drive for additional support and a growing …

Ma In International Education - Low-Residency Singapore Program, Joyce Ting (Chen)

Capstone Collection

The Master’s of Arts (MA) in International Education (IE) Low-Residency Singapore Program is a new graduate program designed for SIT Graduate Institute. It is created to value-add to the current program offerings of SIT Graduate Institute. The MA in IE Low-Residency Singapore Program is a two year long program, and is delivered via a unique combination of online coursework and low-residency periods in Singapore. The program is designed to allow current working professionals to keep their current job in the field of International Education while pursuing a higher degree. Participants will study in Singapore for two weeks in the first …

Measuring What Matters: Exploring Student Motivations To Inform International Student Recruitment, Rebecca Lubitz

Capstone Collection

Over the last decade, international students in the United States have surpassed the one million mark (Institute of International Education [IIE], 2016(a). Research found here highlights the goals and motivations of this growing constituency and examines factors that influence international students to choose educational experiences in the United States.

Two online surveys were distributed, one to international recruitment agents that work for UC Berkeley Extension, and another to international students. The paper examines survey responses along with existing research to offer data-driven theories on how international educators might more effectively approach student recruitment and program design. The research concluded that …

Semester At Sea Global Studies Program, Laura B. Mcdonald

Capstone Collection

Increasing intercultural competence in students is becoming extremely important to institutions around the United States. With the current trends in higher education, study abroad programs need to address intercultural competence as a necessity for the global age (Fantini, 1995). There is no clear consensus on how intercultural competence should be defined. Despite the varied definitions, the need for preparing students for an interconnected world could not be more important.

There has been a recent push for assessing intercultural competence in study abroad programs. Many institutions and organizations claim that their programs are developing global citizens and intercultural competence, but they …

The Heart Of Experience: The Education Of A Practitioner's Journey, Tai Mesches

Capstone Collection

This Capstone, The Heart of Experience: The Education of a Practitioner’s Journey, is an illustrative reflection of myself experiencing my learning cycle, taking the reader through my own journey of growth as an experiential education practitioner. To engage the reader, I first shine light on the context of what role experience played in my life as a form of education, specifically reflecting on my time living abroad in China and my cross-cultural work with Chinese youth in Manhattan, New York, emphasizing basketball’s involvement as a tool for engagement. I describe how such experiences helped me return to school. To portray …

A Comparative Approach To Non-Formal Education: The Power Of Sport For Female Youth, Meghan Mcmillan

Capstone Collection

Non-formal education plays a vital role in the lives of our female youth. From positive self-talk to team unity, the number of life skills that are promoted through value based curriculums are innumerous. Due to the growing popularity of such programming, it is important to understand the distinguishing characteristics of each organization. Therefore, this comparative study will analyze the power of sport as a form of non-formal education, and its impact on girls in India, Cameroon, and the United States. This will be accomplished through individual interviews that will attempt to answer the following question: What distinguishes non-formal education from …

A Well-Rounded Experience: Connecting The Home Campus To The Study Abroad Experience And The Study Abroad Experience To The Home Campus, Mary Aurora Grandinetti

Capstone Collection

Many small liberal arts colleges across the United States partner with third-party providers or foreign institutions to provide their students with an opportunity to study abroad. Denison University, a small liberal arts school in Ohio, traditionally sends 50% of its student body to study abroad before they graduate. Since students have the option to spend a semester or two participating in study abroad, it is important for the students to be well prepared, for the experience to be integrated into their overall Denison education and for the students to transition back to campus successfully. To determine how students were preparing …

How Whiteness Is Preserved: The Racialization Of Immigrants & Assimilation In Education, Hadiel Mohamed

Capstone Collection

This research aims to answer how educators can incorporate ethnic/racial identity development in the classroom for youth of color who are driven to pursue Whiteness. This quest begins by understanding Whiteness and its role within ethnic/racial identity and educational systems. The societal avoidance of discussing race furthers the perpetuation of Whiteness as the norm and removes the value of marginalized histories and voices. We can witness the preservation of Whiteness through immigration laws, the void of ethnic/racial identity exploration in schools, and the mono-cultured representation in classrooms. Therefore, this research explores assimilation and the racialization of immigrants through a macro-, …

Student Perspectives On Proficiency-Based Learning In Vermont's High School Completion Program, Hayley J. Shriner

Capstone Collection

This Independent Practitioner Inquiry Capstone (IPIC) paper examines student perspectives on proficiency-based learning at an adult education center in Vermont. Through Vermont’s High School Completion Program (HSCP), adults can earn their high school diplomas through proficiency-based Personalized Learning Plans (PLPs). This qualitative study focuses on high school-aged students who received referrals to the program from area schools within the context of the current shift toward proficiency-based learning mandated by Vermont Act 77. The study draws on resources specific to Act 77, as well as literature on the nationwide trend toward personalized learning and proficiency-based learning. The researcher uses holistic student …

The University Of Hawaii At Hilo: National Student Exchange Four-Part Workshop For The Outgoing Students At The University Of Hawaii At Hilo, Kadian Shaw

Capstone Collection

The University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) is part of the National Student Exchange Consortium, a unique, not for profit organization of nearly 170 accredited, baccalaureate-granting Colleges and Universities that provide exchange opportunities to undergraduate students. These exchange opportunities are across the US mainland, the US territories and Canada. The purpose of the National Student Exchange Office at the University of Hawaii at Hilo is to provide UH Hilo students with exchange opportunities at a reasonable and affordable cost. This capstone explores the idea that it is important to prepare students for a domestic exchange program. This capstone will …

Backpacking Brothers: An Experiential, Adventure Education Program To Transform Rape Culture And Prevent Sexual Violence, Matthew Lynn

Capstone Collection

Sexual violence is a public health crisis in the United States and globally, that has devastating interpersonal, social, psychological, spiritual and economic impacts. The root causes of sexual violence are tied to all forms of oppression. The normalization and perpetuation of sexual violence is buttressed by cultural paradigms used by media, religion, education and other systems that maintain rigid gender roles and power dynamics. There are promising initiatives for preventing sexual violence before it occurs. This paper explores one of those initiatives called Backpacking Brothers. The purpose of Backpacking Brothers is to engage middle school boys in an adventure education …

Explore Ecuador: A Road Scholar Intergenerational Program Proposal, Sarah Hilton

Capstone Collection

The world is aging! Older Americans make up the fastest growing segment of the population. The aging population is rapidly increasing and according to the U.S. Census, the U.S. population age 65 and over is expected to double in size within the next 25 years. By 2030, almost 1-out-of-5 Americans, some 72 million people will be age 65 or older (U.S. Census, 2006). The growth in this population will ultimately cause a greater gap between generation at the opposite end of the human lifespan, the young and old. This capstone introduces a new Road Scholar Intergenerational program that addresses this …

The Current State Of Access To Basic Education For Syrian Refugee Children Living In The Za’Atari Camp, Theresa L. Frey

Capstone Collection

Using Rodman’s (2006) International Education Analytical Inquiry Matrix as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study is to examine the current state of access to basic primary education for Syrian Refugee Children Living in the Za’atari camp. Within the scope of this study, access is examined in three parts, including:

(1) Who is accessing education within Za’atari and who is not?

(2) How are certain groups accessing education?

(3) What is the learning environment of Za’atari?

In addition to addressing existing issues of access to basic education in Za’atari, this study examines efforts made towards increasing access. By examining …

International Education Consultants: An Examination Of Their Role In Admission And Enrollment Of International Students At Private Secondary Institutions In The United States, Sarah Wiggins

Capstone Collection

Over the past ten years, the United States has seen a significant increase in the number of international students seeking a high school diploma from private secondary schools (Farrugia, 2014). Coinciding with this increase in international students is an increase in the use of educational consultants who help international students gain access to these schools. Little research has been done on what the relationship entails and the impact these consultants are having on U. S. private secondary schools international enrollment. Using a thematic analysis approach, this study looks at how consultants are involved in the international student admission and enrollment …

Peer Advising 101: A Training Workshop For Peer Advisors In Study Abroad, Anna Marter

Capstone Collection

Peer advising and peer education programs have been prevalent in all areas of higher education. Recently, there has been growth in peer advising programs in study abroad offices to address the gap between student advising needs and the time constraints of professional staff. While initially intended to take pressure off understaffed offices, other benefits emerged from the use of students as paraprofessionals. Peer advisors were able to encourage students to go abroad, as well as provide valuable insider information about specific programs. While a lot has been written on the topic of peer education in other areas of higher education, …

Returning From Abroad: A Comparative Review, Denver W. Miller

Capstone Collection

Reintegration into the once-familiar community after a sojourn abroad poses unique challenges to the undergraduate population and more could be done to help returnees process their experience. Seven institutions of varying size were surveyed using a qualitative data collection instrument to determine how this sample pool supports their undergraduate students emotionally once they have returned from a credit bearing semester abroad. This capstone examines how institutions are moving students toward the fourth stage of Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle: Active Experimentation. Through this lens, a multitude of reentry approaches are explored with the aim being a comparison of the several …

Argument For Internationally-Focused Curricula In Us Primary Education Reform, Hector Santiago

Capstone Collection

The purpose of my research is to investigate the current climate within the field of International Education, create a meaningful connection to education reform efforts that shows the merit and necessity of internationally-focused curricula in a global society, and to argue in favor of attainable, effective cultural engagement programing in US primary education reform by which US students combine standard learning objectives with multicultural elements to improve cultural communication, awareness, understanding, and adaptation. By beginning cultural education and engagement in primary school, I will explain how students will develop a better understanding of other cultures, be more willing to invest …

Effects Of The Omrit Project On Student And Alumni Participants From Macalester College, Nancy Bostrom

Capstone Collection

As participation in short-term study abroad programs increases, practitioners seek to understand the effects of these programs not just in terms of increasing participation in study abroad, but also with an emphasis on understanding the effects of these programs on student learning. Some research indicates that program design, rather than length, determines a successful experience abroad; however, the literature also reveals concern that there is not enough data to understand the impact of short-term programs on student learning and that much of the available research is too focused on immediate rather than longer lasting effects.

This paper reports on a …

Mi Cultura, Su Cultura: A Cultural Exchange Program For Central College, Whitney J. Longnecker

Capstone Collection

Central College is a 1,500-student, liberal arts higher education institution located in Pella, Iowa. The College boasts a study abroad participation rate of over 50 percent; however, the institution seeks to internationalize the campus beyond study abroad. At the request of Central College President Dr. Mark Putnam, a global taskforce consisting of faculty, staff and students formed to consider internationalization strategies and the taskforce is keen to welcome international students to the institution. Currently, a very small number of international students attend Central College and international student support services are decentralized and limited.

Mi Cultura, Su Cultura (MCSC) was developed …

Exploring Service Learning In Study Abroad: An Evaluation Of The Umbra Institute’S Urban Spaces Course, Lisa M. George

Capstone Collection

Over the proceeding decades, service learning programs combining academic study with community service have been growing in popularity at U.S. institutions of higher education. This growth has been equated to service learning’s ability to assist students with achieving personal and academic goals, as well as broader goals of civic engagement for communities. With these programs occurring in an increasingly interconnected world, that is also seeing growth in study abroad participation, it is only natural that students would seek out similar service learning opportunities in their international destinations.

Today more than 80% of students enrolled at The Umbra Institute in Perugia, …

Active Development Of Tacit Knowledge: Adtk In A World Without Farmers, Roger E. Garrett Jr.

Capstone Collection

Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) and extensions such as Transformative Learning Theory offer significant potential for skill development later in life – reskilling. Despite wide acceptance and deployment, practitioners are still obliged to design their own methods and activities in order to implement these theories. This paper introduces a novel curricular model, Active Development of Tacit Knowledge (ADTK). Educators can use ADTK to effectively implement and scale ELT. Agricultural Education, specifically the training of new farmers, is used as a sample context to demonstrate ADTK. In new-farmer education, it is necessary to compress the educational cycles of dozens of years of …