Student Learning Objectives: What Instructors Emphasize in Short-Term Study Abroad

Authors

Elizabeth Niehaus, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Taylor C. Woodman, University of Maryland–College ParkFollow
Angela Bryan, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Ashley Light, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Erika Hill, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

11-2019

Citation

Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, Vol. XXXI, Issue 2, (November 2019): pp. 121-138.

Comments

© 2019 Elizabeth Niehaus et al.

Abstract

Given that higher education institutions are increasingly utilizing short-term study abroad courses as a means to develop students’ intercultural competency, it is important to determine if and how the instructors leading these programs are incorporating intercultural learning into their courses. By examining learning objectives embedded within syllabi from short-term study abroad courses, the purpose of this study was to identify the relative extent to which instructors emphasize disciplinary and intercultural learning in teaching short-term study abroad courses, and to examine the types of intercultural learning that instructors are explicitly including in their courses. Findings point to a wide diversity of emphasis on disciplinary content and intercultural learning, with slightly more courses emphasizing disciplinary content than intercultural learning. Of those learning objectives that focus on intercultural learning, the vast majority focused on intercultural knowledge rather than skills or attitudes.