Supporting Student Learning to Make the Most of Study Abroad
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v36i3.822Keywords:
Assessment, curriculum design, IDI, intercultural learning, study abroadAbstract
Spanish and French majors at our small, private, Southern U.S. liberal arts institution must study abroad for an entire semester, yet students embark and return with widely disparate levels of language and intercultural learning. To more fully foster learning-laden semester-long study abroad experiences we changed the curriculum and now majors take a three-semester sequence of courses before they leave, while abroad, and upon return. In this pilot study we assessed students’ intercultural competency using the Intercultural Development Inventory both pre- and post-study abroad experience. We also used their assignments to triangulate and contextualize the IDI scores. As a result of the data, we contend that intercultural learning a) must be scaffolded and supported throughout the entire language, cultures, and literatures curricula, and b) any results on indirect standardized scales need to be compared with direct assessments. Based on the data, we revised the three-course sequence to help students process their intercultural journey. Given the nature of the changing international education landscape, some implications, beyond our department, of the small pilot study are also provided.
Abstract in SpanishEn nuestra universidad privada en el sur de Estados Unidos es obligatorio que los estudiantes especialistas en español y francés estudien en el extranjero para un semestre entero (típicamente cuatro meses). A pesar de tal, estudiantes van y vuelven con niveles de idioma y aprendizaje intercultural muy desiguales. Para fomentar que los semestres en el extranjero fomentaran más aprendizaje, nuestro departamento cambió los requisitos para la especialización. Ahora necesitan tomar un curso antes de que vayan, un curso en línea mientras están en el extranjero y un curso al volver. En esta investigación evaluamos el desarrollo intercultural de los estudiantes usando el Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), antes y después de sus estudios en el extranjero. También usamos sus tareas para verificar los resultados del IDI. Insistimos que el aprendizaje intercultural a) tiene que ser integrado durante toda la especialización y, b) los resultados de pruebas estandarizadas, como el IDI, se necesitan comparar con trabajos estudiantiles para comprobar tales resultados. Discutimos las modificaciones a los cursos que hicimos a base de este estudio e implicaciones que el estudio nos dio que pueden aplicar a otros departamentos e instituciones.
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