Making the Connection:

Praxis and Theory in Education Abroad

7th Annual Conference

Boston, Massachusetts

Thursday, April 7, 2011 Schedule
NOTE: Session materials are being uploaded as they are provided to the Forum, please check the schedule of conference sessions for links to materials.

View a pdf file of the details of Thursday's schedule here: Forum Conference, Thursday, April 7

   
7am-5pm Registration and Information
7:30am-5pm One-day Exhibit Hall

An opportunity to learn about the programs and services offered by Forum member organizations.

 
  Internet Café
An internet café will be available Thursday and Friday.
7:30am-8:30am Continental Breakfast available in Exhibit Hall
8:45-10am Concurrent Sessions
 

 

Blazing Trails in Education Abroad through the IDI Guided Development:  Impact, Results, and Improved Practice

Panel presentation

Study abroad researchers and practitioners have applied research findings based on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to re-design programs in innovative ways that build intercultural competence among students abroad.  This session’s presenters will review some of the ways that the IDI is being used to guide student learning and development abroad.

 

The Impact of Interconnectedness on Traditional Immersion and Language Learning Outcomes in Education Abroad

Panel presentation

In this internet age of global interconnectedness and students' deeply rooted habit of having friends and family at their fingertips, only a laptop away, the traditional immersion model of study abroad has had its inherent strategy severely compromised. The alternative to study abroad in the bush, is to accept that immersion must be cultivated as a "state of mind" - a motivation, desire, ability to actively engage in the host culture, despite the ever-present temptation to withdraw from interpersonal contact and take refuge behind a computer screen. This session will explore the do's and don'ts that favor or undermine such engagement. Both semester and short-term programs will be examined. 

 

Orientating Students to Academic Cultures Abroad:

Roundtable dialogue

Differences in academic culture are a vital part of predeparture orientation for students going abroad.  Are U.S. institutions adequately addressing this topic?  What should we be doing to help our students prepare?  This roundtable session will serve as a springboard for the development of practice resources in academic cultural orientation.

 

Reciprocity among Peers: Assessing What Students Receive, and What They can Give

Roundtable dialogue

Following the American tradition of young people contributing to their world (e.g., Peace Corps), should education abroad develop systematic programs for study abroad students to have both their own international experience and also bring a global experience to peers in their host country thereby building a wider global citizenry?

 

Reframing the Narrative: The Story We Tell About Women in American Study Abroad

Panel presentation

Education Abroad is often a story about women, its majority participants for almost a century. Women also dominate the profession. Yet the story we tell about these women is frequently a tale of diminishment. Is there theoretically driven research that will allow us to reframe this narrative?

 

Strange Bedfellows:  Effective Praxis in Consortial Approaches to Short-Term Education Abroad

While consortial approaches to education abroad (where multiple institutions collaborate on global education courses) are a fruitful way to diversify opportunities across different campuses, their multi-institutional format adds a layer of complexity to effective education abroad theory and praxis.  This session explores the dynamics of "consortial praxis" and will highlight the pitfalls and possibilities for best practices in education abroad consortia.

 

Telling Stories:  Curricular Models and Strategies to Optimize Experiential Learning

Roundtable dialogue

Using Gardner’s (1983) Theory of Multiple Intelligence and Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory as a framework, this interactive session explores the learning process that occurs as a result of study abroad.  These theories will serve as a lens to examine intended learning outcomes of two distinct study abroad courses; a hybrid course and a re-entry course will be used to apply theory to practice.

 

Turning Responsibilities Around:  Trust Building and Defraying Economic Risk-New Ways of Providing an International Experience

Roundtable dialogue

Three European examples of semester and year abroad programs (DIS, IUPS, FU-BEST) will demonstrate that host institutions can provide excellent academics designed for American needs through forming educational consortia, and in doing so, defray economic risks. Participants will discuss their expectations for affordable study abroad programs that don’t sacrifice the experience of another culture.  Janus powerpoint

 

Using Situated Learning Theory to Understand the Meaning of Learning in Context in Education Abroad Programs

Roundtable dialogue

In this roundtable discussion, the presenters will explain situated learning theory, and how it informs education abroad practice. Examples of ways in which program participants learn from context – meaning, how they learn from engaging in their environment, taking on new roles and assuming new identities while abroad – will be discussed.

 

What Motivates U.S. Students to Go Abroad?

Roundtable dialogue

Presenters will explore the results of several studies focused on the motivational factors encouraging U.S. students to study overseas, and discuss how similar research projects could be used to inform future activities and strategic planning.

 

10-10:45am                     Coffee Break

10:45am-12pm                 Concurrent Sessions

 

Applications of the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory in 2010 and 2011:  Assessment, Research, Teaching, and Training

Roundtable dialogue

The Forum BEVI Project assesses the processes and outcomes of education abroad through the Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory.  In dialogue with the Joint Working Group on BEVI Implementation, participants will learn about applications in 2010-2011 of the BEVI in assessment, program evaluation, teaching, student development, research, and training.

 

Assessing Student Global Holistic Development at Third Party Centers

Panel presentation

Two leaders describe their use of the Global Perspective Inventory and other tools to assess the effectiveness of education abroad on holistic student development, using a 3 X 3 framework which includes dimensions of global perspective (cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal) and characteristics of the environment (curriculum, co-curriculum, and community).

 

Best Practices for Marketing on Campus

Roundtable dialogue

This session will present the current Best Practices for the marketing of education abroad programs on campuses.  The group will review examples and templates from the Standards Toolbox. Discussion topics will be relevant to all education abroad professionals, including small and large institutions, and providers. The panel will solicit group feedback to incorporate into future versions.

 

Beyond Study Abroad:  Rethinking Our Paradigms in a Fast-Changing World

Roundtable dialogue

Is the era of “study abroad,” like the era of the “grand tour,” coming to an end?  This round-table discussion will challenge participants to think about new paradigms for education abroad, and a new vocabulary for thinking about how we can integrate other types of international educational experience into our discourse and theory-building.

 

Completing the Cycle:  Innovative Re-entry Models to Assess and Aid Student Development

Roundtable dialogue

The re-entry phase of an experience abroad is critical to student development yet is often part of the study abroad cycle not adequately addressed by international educators.  Using student learning theories as a guide, this session examines innovative approaches to re-entry programming to facilitate effective processing of the overseas experience.  Additional session material - resource list and best practices list.

 

Do We Need to Change the Way We Talk?  Implications of the Forum Glossary

Town hall meeting

The second, substantially revised and expanded, edition of the Forum’s Education Abroad Glossary is being unveiled at this conference. Is this just a reference tool? Or should it nudge the profession toward greater semantic clarity and standardization? Join the Glossary Working Group in exploring implications for our offices and programs. Please bring your Glossary to the session.  Additional session material - Geopardy answer sheet

 

The Forum Standards Project for Work, Internships and Volunteering Abroad

Panel presentation

Programs for experiential learning through work, internships and volunteering abroad (WIVA) are rapidly growing—evidence that the nature and purpose of education abroad is changing. A Forum Standards project is examining issues specific to these types of program types, and will be presented and discussed during this session, along with exemplary  practices. 

 

Minority Languages and Multiple Identities:  A Framework for Understanding Diversity through "Europe of the Regions"

Panel presentation

Americans view diversity as a domestic issue and globalization as an international issue.  Consequently, studying in the European Union is assumed to be about globalization, and not necessarily an encounter with diversity within countries.  But  “Europe of the Regions” recognizes minority language rights and multiple identities.  This session explores how Europe can provide a valuable object lesson in diversity for American students.

 

Power Up Your Program Evaluations:  Marketing, Development, and Assessment

Panel presentation

Evaluation and assessment are part of any well-planned study abroad operation; conversely, administration can be cumbersome, and results are often underutilized. Discover how strategic use of student evaluations can dramatically increase participation, steer quality assurance, and provide data for reporting, lobbying, and monitoring student learning.

 

Re-entry:  Splash Down or a Softer Landing?

Panel presentation

Re-entry implies a tense moment of re-emergence (out of the distant ether) into known territory:  the NASA syndrome. This is, we believe, the wrong metaphor. It creates an expectation of anguish rather than a sense of positive re-engagement. Students have, in short, been in another country not in another universe.

 

12-1:30pm             Working and Networking Lunch

                                 Conference participants will be invited to join Forum Committee and

                                 Working Group Meetings, set up their own pre-arranged meetings

                                 and/or casually connect with colleagues during lunch.  A portable lunch

                                 will be available for all pre-registered conference attendees.  

Open meetings include:

Lessons Learned From Egypt

Facilitator: Jon Booth, Syracuse University

Location: Plaza Ballroom, Mezzanine

 

Education Abroad and Cuba

Facilitator: Jerry Guidera, The Center for Cross-Cultural Study

Location: Arlington, Mezzanine

 

Debriefing After Recent Natural Disasters: Chile, Haiti, Japan and New Zealand

Facilitator: John Sunnygard, University of Colorado at Denver

Location:  Georgian, Mezzanine

 

Joining Forces and Speaking with One Voice: The European Experience

Facilitators: Portia Prebys and Gian Franco Borio, Association of American Colleges and University Programs in Italy (AACUPI)

Location: Terrace, Lower Level

 

The "100, 000 Strong" Initiative

Facilitator: Janice Levitt, The Alliance for Global Education

Location: Statler, Mezzanine

 

1:45-3PM                Concurrent Sessions

 

Australia: Moving Outbound Student Mobility Forward

Panel presentation

Australia has long been the recipient of international students; however internationalization strategies at many institutions has refocused this one way approach and placed a much greater emphasis on growing outbound student mobility participation rates. Now, close to 10% of graduating students nationally undertake an international experience, and this rate is growing. This session will explore similarities and differences  between U.S. and Australian student mobility, and what each can take away from the other.

 

Best Practices for Schools of Record:  Varying Perspectives from the Field

Roundtable dialogue

This roundtable session will discuss the subject of School of Record (SOR) from a variety of viewpoints – the various “users” of SOR’s (Program Providers and U.S. universities that require them) and the institutions that serve as SORs. Issues that will be discussed include models in the field, the new Forum standards for SOR relationships, ethics and more.

 

California Community College Student Outcomes Abroad Research Project (CCC SOAR)

Roundtable dialogue

This session will explain a new research project that examines the California community college student population in terms of study abroad outcomes, focusing on international skills gained and the relationship between study abroad and overall GPA, retention, success, academic achievement, graduation completion, transfer rates, and continued study abroad at the transfer institution.  The panel will engage the participants in a discussion of special issues of survey development and implementation for non-traditional student populations.

 

The City as Learning Laboratory

Panel presentation

Cities can be rich resources for learning during study abroad, but only if students and educators know how to unpack the lessons they can teach us.  This session focuses on how theoretical thinking about the city can lead to curricular innovations that transform the city into a learning laboratory for study abroad students.  Presenters are authors of chapters in the Special Issue of Frontiers, “Study Abroad and the City,” which is debuting at the conference.  Additional materials:  Kenney powerpoint

 

Connecting Students' Pre-departure and Re-entry Experiences:  The CORE Model

Roundtable dialogue

To help students make the connection between their pre-departure expectations and goals for study abroad and their post study abroad realities, many colleges, universities and study abroad providers are placing increased attention on their orientation and re-entry programming. This session will explore how one university and its study abroad partner are using the IES Abroad CORE model to connect and enrich the orientation and re-entry experiences of their students.

 

Culturally Contextualized Learning:  Exploring the Boundary between Language Learning and Intercultural Communication in Education Abroad

Panel presentation

Learning a language calls upon the mastery of the four skills of Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. Compared with the home university classroom, the study abroad experience provides real-life contact with the target language and thus ostensibly provides a more intensive and efficient  environment for the development of the interactive skills of speaking and listening. This session will explore the boundary between language learning and intercultural communication in the context of semester-long programs (although references will be made to short-term programs, as well).  Additional session materials:  Davidson presentation, Engle presentation

 

Doing Good?  The Enabling and Disabling Effects of International Service-Learning

Panel presentation

Is it possible for affluent Westerners to intervene within third world settings in a voluntary service capacity and to make positive contributions without exhibiting paternalism and fostering dependency? If so, what conditions would those interventions need to meet? This session explores these and other questions in relation to the operation of international service-learning programs aimed at serving, not just the growth goals of students, but also that of community-based agencies and clients.  Additional session material - risk descriptions and international service learning

 

A Holistic Approach to Direct Assessment of Student Learning in Study Abroad

Roundtable dialogue

Given the holistic learning objectives often embedded in study abroad programs, how can higher education institutions develop a model that incorporates direct assessment of learning outcomes rather than indirect measures?  This session introduces a direct assessment rubric that could be modified for any study abroad program.

 

Potential Partnerships between Fundraising Offices and Study Abroad Offices

Roundtable dialogue

This session provides a review of fundraising basics: from annual giving to annuities, individuals to institutions. It will explore partnerships between study abroad offices and development offices, including discussion of opportunities for external support of programs and oeprations including: internships, travel funds, financial aid, and service learning.

 

Screening Students with Mental Health Issues:  Ethical Issues and Strategies for Supporting Students Abroad

Michelle Scheib (Mobility International USA), Jane Buckingham (SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad), Ines DeRomana (UC Education Abroad Program)

Working with increasing numbers of students with mental health-related issues has prompted many education abroad professionals to consider screening of these students in the predeparture process.  This session will explore the complicated ethical issues involved in screening and strategies for supporting students with mental health-related needs.  Mobility International USA powerpoint and additional session materials.

 

3-3:45pm                Coffee Break

3:45-5PM                 Concurrent Sessions

 

A Holistic Model for Language Teaching and Learning:  From Theory to Practice

John Lucas (IES Abroad), Ana Maria Wiseman (Wofford College), Claudia Flores (IES Abroad, Santiago, Chile)

This session will discuss a new comprehensive framework for language learning in a study abroad context that represents a number of innovations in the field: inclusion of non-western languages in the design team for cultural diversity; development of progressive scale of intercultural competencies not found in other systems; clear understandable rubrics useable by staff as well as faculty; outcomes goals for various settings in study abroad-- the Home, the Study Abroad Center, and the Community.  This project is in its initial stages and is of interest to providers, universities, and colleges that care about the advancement of language teaching within an outcomes-based and holistic approach to student learning and development.

 

Bridging the Experience:  Peer Advising for the Future

Panel presentation

Peer advising programs can serve as immeasurable assets in the recruitment/advising of education abroad participants.  This presentation will discuss the theory behind peer advising, share best practices for the development and utilization of peer advisors, and illustrate how peer advising programs can take advantage of web technology and social media.

 

Digital Dialogue:  Processing Cultural Integration via Technology

Panel presentation

Study abroad practitioners have long wrestled with the challenges related to helping students achieve and process an “integrative experience.” Hear from a director of community-based learning, a study abroad director and an international resident director as they discuss two models that utilize technology to facilitate learning and maximize community integration abroad.

 

Drive-by Volunteering or Sustained Engagement?  Developing Meaningful Experiences for Students Outside of the Classroom

Panel presentation

This session will begin with a theoretical model of how students learn in service-learning courses and internships and how host institutions design and implement additional internships and/or service-learning projects. Discussion will focus on best practices while working with expectations among the host university, the sending institution, the host organization, and the student.

 

Introducing the New and Augmented Forum Standards on Safety, Security, and Risk Management

Panel presentation

This session introduces participants to the revised Standard 8 which grew out of the Standards Institute in Charlotte in 2010.  The members of the panel will present the revised Standard and briefly describe its details.  The session will then break into groups for problem-based work and discussion.  Additional session material - case study 1, case study 2, case study 3, case study 4

 

Mapping Urban Space & Identity Abroad:  Theories and Geographical Praxis

Applying Experiential Education Best Practices in Study Abroad: A Case Study in Mapping LGBT Identities in Paris, France

Panel presentation

This session provides a theoretical approach to using study abroad cities as laboratories for student intercultural learning.  In two case-studies (of LGBT communities in Paris and of sub-cultural groups Dublin) map-based approaches support best practices in experiential education. Cartographical tools for helping students understand the diversity of foreign urban landscapes are presented along with corresponding onsite-study templates designed for fostering student self-awareness and focused reflection.   Additional session materials:  onsite study excursion, Shoah Memorial, NSEE eight principles of good practice, QUIP Queries for effective mapping,  reflection questions - mapping human rights

 

On-Site, On-Campus and On-Call: Challenges for Education Abroad Professionals

Roundtable dialogue

This session is designed to give those who manage education abroad offices the chance to discuss pressing management issues with their peers.  The session will include breakout tables that will allow participants from similar-sized institutions to discuss issues in Human Resources, marketing, responding to international crises, and campus relations.

 

On Alert (or Warning)?  Best Practices for Education Abroad and Department of State-Issued Travel Alerts and Warnings

Roundtable dialogue

With U.S. Department of State-issued Travel Warnings in over thirty countries (and four regions under Alert status), education abroad professionals must make important programmatic decisions, often very quickly, about where students can study abroad.  Participants in this session will discuss the risk management, financial, and cultural implications of allowing (and not allowing) study abroad in Travel Warning and Alert regions.   Additional session materials - student waiver and travel warnings

 

Re-imagining Curriculum Integration

Panel presentation

This panel will challenge current assumptions in study abroad about curriculum integration in the context of the increased importance of internationalization at U.S. colleges and universities. It will proposed new models based on a more dynamic relationship between what happens on the home campus and what takes place abroad.

 

Traditional Re-entry Workshops Don’t Work!  Adapting Re-entry Exercises to Today's Students

Roundtable dialogue

No longer are students disconnected for weeks at a time as they were when most current re-entry materials were developed back in the pre-internet and pre-cell phone era. This session is an open forum to discuss how to adapt re-entry workshops for the Facebook-addicted students of today. You’ll leave with some fresh ideas towards revamping your own re-entry program.

 

6-8pm                     Networking Reception

                                 Celebrate the Forum’s Tenth Anniversary with colleagues and friends at

                                 the Park Plaza Castle across the street and still have time for dinner on

                                 the town.