International and Comparative Education Commons^™

Maximizing The Benefits Of Short-Term International Programs: Student Engagement And Reentry Guide For Global Routes Students And Leaders, Susanna Adams

Capstone Collection

Study abroad programs have greatly increased in number and program type during the last decade. Due to factors such as academic and financial demands, students are finding short-term programs, typically lasting eight weeks or less, to be the most feasible option. Critics are skeptical of short-term programs questioning whether students are able to gain the depth necessary to achieve cultural awareness, personal growth and new perspectives. Supporters argue that if planned and managed correctly, short-term programs can have meaningful short and long-term impacts on students.

Global Routes, an international education organization headquartered in Windsor, New Hampshire, offers short-term exchange programs …

International Students In The Classroom: A Faculty Learning Community, Carolina De La Rosa

Capstone Collection

International students represent about 5.4% of the total student body at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh. However, roughly a third of academic dishonesty cases which have been reported since the 2010-2011 academic year have been international students. The needs assessment and literature review presented in this paper point to the importance of involving academic departments in strengthening support for international students not only in avoiding plagiarism, but also in being academically successfully. Furthermore, it is argued that international students’ cultural diversity holds incredible potential for enhancing the educational experience of all students.

Based on that rationale, …

Americans Teaching English: Reflections On Experience As Sojourners In Another Country, Catherine Nameth

Educational Studies Dissertations

Sojourners are visitors to another country for a defined period of time where occupation is the primary reason for the visit. Study participants spent at least one academic year teaching English as a Foreign Language at a university in another country. Working in the context of a university in another country means teaching in a system predicated upon the local culture’s values and assumptions. Though all returned sojourners in this study attended a pre-departure orientation which included information about teaching in the assigned host culture, this kind of pre-departure preparation does not mean sojourner adjustment to the host culture will …

The Value Of International Experiences For Business Students: Measuring Business Student Attitudes Toward Study Abroad, Sean Heffron, Peter A. Maresco

WCBT Faculty Publications

The value of an international experience—especially for students of business—continues to be an area of focus at colleges and universities. Students across all disciplines within the business curriculum: accounting, economics, finance, management, marketing, or sport management are expected by employers to possess knowledge of, and appreciation for, other cultures. Using as a backdrop two unique study abroad programs that immerse students into an intercultural business experience and have them interacting with—and learning from—the local residents as well, the survey research in this study measures student attitudes before and after they study abroad and it notes the changes that students report …

Why Do Gen Y Students Study Abroad? Individual Growth And The Intent To Study Abroad, Jennifer A. Pope, Carol M. Sanchez, Kevin Lehnert, Alexandra S. Schmid

Peer Reviewed Articles

This paper proposes that Generation Y college students’ desire for individual growth is a critical factor that motivates them to express the intent to study abroad, and that five additional variables -- gender, parents’ educational level, prior international experience, age, and household income -- moderate the direct influence of the desire for individual growth on the intent to study abroad.

Comparative Analysis Of Research Priorities For Technology Education, Gene Martin, John Ritz

STEMPS Faculty Publications

This study compares and contrasts the most relevant research priorities identified through two Delphi studies by the authors. The panels of experts used in these studies, an international and a U.S. study group, were asked to identify important topics to guide future research studies for the school subject of technology education. Both panels sought to determine the most relevant issues that need to be researched related to K-12 technology education and preparation for teaching this school subject. This study reports the similarities of research priorities identified by both expert panels, then contrasts the major differences that the groups identified for …

Students' Perspectives Of Ngo Service-Learning Experiences: A Case Study Of Operation Smile, Suzanne B. Unger, Shana Pribesh, Linda Bol, Daniel Dickerson

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Past research demonstrated both strong and questionable benefits to students participating in domestic service-learning. However, we know little about high school and college students' perspectives of service-learning while working with nonprofit, non-governmental (NGO) agencies that serve international populations. This qualitative, exploratory study aims to determine how students perceive their lives are impacted as a result of their service-learning experiences at Operation Smile. Data were collected from two focus groups comprised of high school and university youth. Results indicated service-learning in an international setting positively influences areas of personal growth, career choice, and future philanthropic participation. It also affects level of …

A High-Need Azeri School: A Georgian Perspective, Nino Sharvashidze, Miles T. Bryant

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the International Study of Leadership Development Network initiative to identify high-need schools around the globe by focusing on a small minority ethnic school in the country of Georgia. It will be clear in this article that the challenges the Karajala School administrator faces in this former Soviet bloc school stand as an example of the educational disadvantages common to rural minority ethnic schools in Georgia and to many small rural schools in former Soviet bloc nations. The Karajala School is populated with Azeri students and is located in an isolated agrarian village. In the Republic of …

Environmental Sustainability, Cultural Awareness, And Personal Growth: A Short-Term Study Abroad Program Design For The University Of Colorado, Boulder, Jana K. Howlett

Capstone Collection

The University of Colorado (CU), as with many academic institutions in the United States, has seen a consistent increase in the number of students opting for short-term study abroad programs. A growing concern in the field of international education is whether it is possible for students to mature in cultural competence from such a short time spent abroad. In an initiative to deliberately increase students’ intercultural growth during short-term excursions, Global Seminar: Environmental Sustainability and Cross-Culture Contact in Costa Rica (GSCR) proposes a program that implements two new aspects to CU’s study abroad options: a course-linked program and an …

Corporate Social Responsibility Enrichment Exchange Program, Deborah Waggoner

Capstone Collection

In this globalized age, international companies and organizations are working in more countries than ever before, and consumers and concerned citizens now have the opportunity and, perhaps even the responsibility, to better understand the environmental and social impacts of the companies and organizations with which they do business.

The concept that businesses and organizations need to be responsible to society for their direct and indirect impacts on people and the environment has become known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). As CSR continues to be a growing practice, companies seem to be approaching it from very different angles, depending upon their …

Designing Pre-Departure Orientation As A For-Credit Academic Seminar: Curriculum And Content, Joshua P. Barber

Capstone Collection

International educators widely agree that overseas experiences provide tremendous opportunities for student growth and learning. However, institutions and international education professionals are increasingly recognizing that pre-departure preparation is essential to maximize student learning during overseas programs. Most institutions offer a pre-departure orientation program of some form, such as a weekend workshop, a series of presentations, or weekly sessions prior to departure. These meetings are often mandatory and provide essential “nuts and bolts” information about the international programs and usually some type of cross-cultural training and instruction.

A mandatory for-credit pre-departure seminar, called Global Awareness and Competence, was developed to provide …

Learning From Sensory Experience In Costa Rica, Rebecca Ragland

Capstone Collection

Utilizing mixed-method phenomenology and case study, this qualitative research study investigates the links between learning and sensory experience for university students studying in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. Three essential themes emerge from the collective data, themes related to learner motivation, cultural awareness, and students’ relationship with nature. The findings of this study suggest particular benefits of reflection on sensory experience abroad for both students and educators. An often overlooked educational tool for higher education, sensory learning carries additional significance in the field of study abroad and might be used by international educators to enhance student development.

Key words: …

Amended Incoming International Student Orientation For The College Of The Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, Monica Hamm

Capstone Collection

This proposal was created in order to design and implement a theory-based Incoming International Student Orientation program for the College of the Atlantic (COA) Office of International Student Services in Bar Harbor, Maine. This is a Course-Linked Capstone Proposal (CLC) for the two-day orientation that prepares incoming international students for life at a small American college and touches on aspects of immigration regulations, culture, transitions, and student development.

After reviewing the program Needs Assessment and past orientation programs for incoming international students at COA, it was clear that there was an active need for an orientation that touched on more …

The Impact Of Academic Exchange Between China And The U.S., 1979-2010, Kaitlin Peck

Psi Sigma Siren

The relationship between China and the United States has been complex and often tense. In the second half of the twentieth century, both countries experienced ups and downs in their diplomatic, cultural, and political relationship. An important part of this relationship included the strains of the student exchange program. Because of the tension between the U.S. and China, these educational exchanges ended in 1950 and did not resume until the United States officially recognized the Peoples Republic of China in 1979. After this point, education exchange between China and United States grew and expanded. To understand this growth, many aspects …

“I Would Like To Live A Better Life:” How Young Mothers Experience Entrepreneurship Education In East Africa, Elisabeth E. Lefebvre, Amy Pekol, Brooke L. Krause

Education Faculty Publications

This paper examines the capabilities, values, and constraints of young mothers participating in a youth entrepreneurship program in Tanzania and Uganda. Entrepreneurship education is an increasingly popular development strategy for vulnerable and out-of-school youth. The ultimate value of these programs rests in the ability of these youth to convert the knowledge and skills they acquire into valued livelihood opportunities. It is therefore important to understand the characteristics, experiences, and needs of the participants, as well as the socio-economic conditions that shape their abilities to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills. Findings from this study suggest young mothers enter the …

Uncontrolled Enrollment Expansion: Fragmented Authoritarianism In Chinese Higher Education, William Bumpas

Honors Theses

The enrollment expansion of the Chinese higher education has no historical precedent, and defies belief in its speed and scale. I argue that this rapid enrollment growth is best understood not as a natural phenomenon of the market economy, nor as an intentional policy outcome, but rather as a byproduct of the structure of the Chinese state. I propose that the central government's lack of effective control over lower-level cadres at local governments and individual universities was instrumental in the expansion of enrollments far beyond the intentions of the Ministry of Education. This uncontrolled enrollment expansion was enabled by local …

The Evolution Of English Language Teaching During Societal Transition In Finland – A Mutual Relationship Or A Distinctive Process?, Riitta Jaatinen, Toni Saarivirta

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study describes the evolution of English language teaching in Finland and looks into the connections of the societal and educational changes in the country as explanatory factors in the process. The results of the study show that the language teaching methodology and the status of foreign languages in Finland are clearly connected to the changes in society and its education system. Since the first decade of the 20^th century, Finnish society has developed from an inward-looking agrarian country into an economically and technologically advanced and industrialized society joining in various ways to the rest of Europe and global …

International Student Perceptions Of The Quality Of Learning Experiences In Vocational Education And Training, Jimmy P. Kho

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The private VET education industry has done well to maintain a high self-concept among the students, and perhaps the overall high praise of the teaching staff have contributed to maintaining high self-concepts among the students. Most international students treasured the social cultural, environment and lifestyles aspects of their stay in Australia and these items are also among the easy items of the linear scale produced in this present study.

The Rasch self-concept findings were consistent with the qualitative findings where students related much of their positive self-concept through their non-academic activities. Importantly, when the student’s Self-Concept is high they are …