Transcript Making The Most of (Short-Term) Study Abroad Experiences

Making The Most of (ShortTerm) Study Abroad
Experiences: From Tourism
to Engagement
Jacqueline M. Moore
December 1 , 2010
Why Do It?
• Short-term faculty-led courses potentially
offer exciting possibilities in content and
pedagogy.
• Short-term courses can serve more
students.
• Faculty-led courses engage faculty
members.
• But … study-abroad professionals have
reservations about short-term, faculty-led
International courses.
The Challenge
• How to design and administer
programs that can engage
students in a higher level of
learning?
Some Keywords:
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Cultural integration
Partnerships
Immersion
Engagement
From observation to
engagement
Observation
Engagement
Hotels
Home stays
Multi-site; complex ground –
air schedule
Single site with excursions
English only
Language study, immersion
Content delivered exclusively
by home professor
Partnered presentations and
interactions
Reflection activities optional
Reflection component(s)
required
Research determined solely
by home agenda
Research agenda determined
in partnership
Observation-oriented
assignments
Engagement-oriented
assignments
Sites
• Often, the more sites you visit, the
fewer the opportunities for
engagement with local people and
institutions.
• With many sites on the itinerary
special planning is required to create
the conditions for experiential
cultural learning
Pre-Departure Preparation
• Readings and lectures on home
campus
• Student research into sites for onsite
presentation
• Language lessons
Onsite Engagement tasks
• Drop offs
• Active inquiry (go, find out, interact, come
back and report/Observation sheets)
• Partnered debates, presentations, focused
discussions, etc.
• Service learning (includes structured
reflection)
Observation Sheet # 1
• What is the site? When was it constructed or
developed? For what purpose? Are there distinctive
architectural traits (i.e. religious, ethnic, regional)?
How is it used now?
• Who is there (i.e. local or tourist, men, women,
families)? How many people are there? Where are they
(i.e. inside, outside)?
• Why are they there? What are they doing?
• Are there religious instructions? If so, what kind? By
whom? To whom?
• What is the atmosphere (i.e. solemn, social)?
Observation Sheet #2
• Who is at this market? Who are the buyers?
The sellers? (i.e. local, out of town, tourist?
men, women? Han, minority?)
• What is being sold? Is there a market
specialty?
• How is the market organized?
• How are transactions carried out? (i.e. fixed
price or negotiated? silently [hand signals],
quietly, loudly for all to hear? cash, credit, in
kind?)
Putting It Into Practice
Temples and Empires: Burma, Thailand,
Cambodia
28 students, 25 days, 3 countries, 2
professors, 1 wombat
history professors, seen here at the
Eiffel Tower in Paris)
Students Enjoy the Scenery
Students Take Notes On History
and Architecture
Students Practice New Cultural
Customs
Hmong Courtship Ritual
December 26, 2004
Boxing Day Tsunami
devastates coasts
of Indonesia,
Thailand, Sri
Lanka and Burma
In less than one week
• 1 ton medical
supplies
• $4000 US
• Made local
connections
• Changed
students’ lives
International Service
Learning
Components of International
Service Learning
(With Thanks to Nancy Janus, Eckerd College)
• Designed to help students to experience
hands-on cultural awareness, to serve, and
to become better global citizens.
• Generally short-term in nature
The International ServiceLearning Players
• The college or university
– Commitment to service learning
pedagogy
• Understanding the differences between
service learning and study abroad
– International travel policies for student
• The Professor
– Organizes service learning experience
• Establishes partnership with
international agency
• Supervises students
• Facilitates reflection
The Players (cont.)
• The Students
– Willing workers
– Open reflectors
• The international receiving agency
– Defines useful service
– Fully partners in planning the service
– Acts as on-site monitor of service
The Role of the Professor in
International Service Learning
• Establish connections with the field site
where students will provide service
– What needs to be done?
– Will the work be project-based?
– Will the work take opportunity away from
needy locals?
– Can the work be done in the short time
frame?
Limits of Short-Term Service
Learning for Receiving
Agencies
• Often more beneficial to students than to
receiving agencies
• Time and benefit in service must be
greater than time in preparing learners
• Potential danger in establishing
relationships with children or youth
• With the increase in “voluntourism” more
and more agencies are specifying
minimum service time frames. Often 6
months to a year
Selection of Agency
• Locate agencies through contacts, web
search, websites such as idealist.org
• Agency contact needs to begin early with
a back-up plan in the event of change
• Start small at first
The Reflection Component
Various models
– Evening debriefing sessions
– Structured questions for students to respond
to in their rooms or small groups
– Journals/Observation Sheets
• General questions
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What have you seen
What have you learned
What do you think
What do you make of it all
How have you changed
For Help with Creating
Service Learning in Syllabi
• www.compact.org/category/syllabi
So Where Will You Go?