CIES Secretariat Florida International University 312 ZEB Miami, FL 33199
Number 150
Understanding Student Conceptions of International Experience
By
Bernhard Streitwieser and Shyanmei Wang
Northwestern University
A collaborative project between the Searle Center for Teaching Excellence and the Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies at Northwestern University has just been launched. The Student Conceptions of International Experience Study (SCIE) is investigating the differences in undergraduate student conceptions of international experiences vis-à-vis study abroad program models. This study is guided by a unique theory and research methodology, Variation Theory and Phenomenography, in order to assess the outcomes of student learning experiences. In Variation Theory and Phenomenography, the purpose is to identify how a select group of learners that is simultaneously experiencing a shared phenomenon—in this case international experience during study abroad—varies in its perceptions and derives diverse learning outcomes as a result (Marton and Booth, 1997). Documenting this variation in perceptions is important not only for understanding how students differently experience a study abroad learning opportunity, but more importantly how the opportunity itself may alter the way students think about global citizenship more holistically. For example, while some students may experience study abroad in what can be thought of as a basic and relatively superficial way—taking in sights, having fun, and maybe testing linguistics skills—others may return with a profoundly developed sense of the world, their place in it, and what they strive to do in the future as sentient members of the global community.
Many study abroad program evaluations rely on fairly standard post-program questionnaires or exit surveys to gather student feedback on satisfaction, linguistic gains, or intercultural competence development during study abroad (Teagle Foundation Report, 2008; Engles & Engles; 2004). While the best of these studies have made some important contributions to our understanding of a number of key aspects of the study abroad experience, less attention has so far been paid to the nature of the relationship between the student experience and the specific type of study abroad programs chosen. The eventual goal of our study is to better understand how student perceptions of their international experience may be impacted by the particular program model they select.
The SCIE Study is divided into three phases spanning two years: qualitative interviews with 40 students; mapping of data; and survey creation and distribution to roughly 800 outbound study abroad participants. In the first phase, the interviews, students are asked to describe their experiences with a wide range of possible and broadly defined international activities. The focus is on “why” questions rather than “what” questions in order to encourage student to reflect deeply on the meaning of their experiences (Akerlind, 2005). Areas students are asked to elaborate on, often with probes that delve deeply into the details of the experience, include growing up abroad, traveling overseas with family and friends, or studying abroad; studying a foreign language and taking internationally-focused courses at the University; participating in international events or interacting with foreign students on campus; or otherwise engaging in a wide variety of activities that allow for interaction with those from foreign backgrounds. In the second phase, mapping, students’ descriptions of their international experience are used as a medium to discern the range of possible variation in student perceptions of international experienced. This variation of experience is mapped into categories (what the phenomenographic literature terms “hierarchies of sophistication”). In the third phase, survey design and administration, the mapping categories serve as the basis for the creation of a survey to be pre-tested, validated, and eventually administered to Northwestern students before and after they study abroad. These data will help us understand how the current slate of study abroad programs at the University impact student’s depth of international experience and if the institution is, indeed, facilitating meaningful study abroad outcomes as we ideally envision them.
The ultimate goal of the SCIE Study is to provide University administrators with the outcomes-based evidence they need to make decisions with regard to future international education programming, specifically for study abroad. In describing and clarifying some of the current international education terminology—specifically “global citizenship” as these terms lie at the heart of much of the current rhetoric behind student international learning aims— and coming to better understand the link between our students’ global sensibility before and after they have studied abroad, we hope to not only inform administrators on our own campus but also other institutions that may be engaging with ways to ensure meaningful international experiences for their undergraduates. Once our survey has been tested and validated we would be open to sharing our instrument with other interested institutions and colleagues. Ideally, over time data can be collected from wide diversity of institutional types and students. Some of the data from this study was shared at the March Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) meeting in Charleston, and the April American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in San Diego. For more information please contact Bernhard Streitwieser, b-streitwieser@northwestern.edu, or Shyanmei Wang, shyanmei@northwestern.edu.
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