cepa foundation webinar #6 “helping students make the most of their study abroad experience”...
TRANSCRIPT
CEPA Foundation Webinar #6“Helping Students Make the Most of their Study Abroad
Experience” Presented by:
Lynn C. Anderson, Academic Director, CEPA FoundationDr. Jon Stauff, Director, Center for Global Engagement,
The College of New Jersey
February 9, 2015 at 12 pm eastern, 11 am central, 10 am mountain, and 9 am pacific time
The presentation will last approx. 45 minutes. There will be a 15 minute Q&A session afterwards.
Sponsored by the CEPA Foundation - Cultural and Educational Programs Abroad 1
Share ideas and resources related to motivating students to develop and fulfill academic, career, and personal goals for education abroad.
Describe what some colleges/universities are doing to help students develop goals pre-departure
Describe what the CEPA Foundation and others are doing to support goal achievement while abroad
Describe what some colleges/universities are doing to support students with goal realization upon return
Discussion, Questions, and Answers
Topics
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We cannot assume that students know TO do this or HOW to do this on their own—create level playing field
Motivate students by sharing national, local, and institutional data and articles of interest
Collaborate with career development office Find out what skills local employers who hire
your graduates are looking for Give students opportunities to discuss with
each other and with staff members
Academic, Personal, and Career Goal Development
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Kolb’s Learning Styles Inventory
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Traditionally pre-departure sessions focused on administrative nuts and bolts
As field has professionalized, “study abroad” = a experiential learning activity with student learning outcomes, changing the nature of “pre-departure”
Pre-departure activities need to prepare students to learn in different ways, all the while reminding them that “they are going abroad to study” in classrooms
Goal Development in Pre-Departure Advising
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Offices should review their vision and mission statements and determine what outcomes they want students to achieve abroad Consult NAFSA and Forum on Education Abroad
resources for updates on best practices Inventory campus resources available to support
pre-departure advising Consider the best means of delivery of
information Tailor the program to campus population/culture
and to the office’s desired outcomes upon return
Resources for Pre-Departure Advising
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Small office (N=4), 400+ students abroad/year, large cohort of peer advisors
Staff, GA, and peer mentors deliver a “curriculum”: Study Abroad 101 – Weekly Info Session/Group
Advising Study Abroad 201 – Post Acceptance/Pre Departure
Series (5 sessions, 2nd half of semester) Study Abroad 401 – Returnee Programming Series
(5 sessions, 1st half of semester)
TCNJ - Study Abroad Advising
Range of academic and experiential opportunities Semester or short-term Classroom-based study, internship, or combination Direct enroll, study abroad center, faculty-led
Student perspectives Goal-setting exercise Student requests advising
appointment with more specific goals in mind Refining the goals in the advising appointment
Study Abroad 101 at TCNJ
Communicate rules and regs while creating an interactive learning activity Students often want to talk about the boring stuff Staff often want to focus on loftier goals
Strive toward efficiency (e.g. using websites and online orientation videos) while not neglecting the human element (e.g. value of peer mentors)
Develop a program that prepare students appropriately, yet does not overwhelm them
Achieving Balance in Pre-Departure
UC San Diego – Website, video, program- and country-specific sessions in person
St. Norbert College and The College of New Jersey – Required workshop(s) supplemented by series of optional meetings on specific topics
Maximizing Study Abroad Global Scholar (online course from Center for
Global Education)
Pre-Departure Advising Models
On-Site Director teaches Experiential Learning Seminar
Handbook of information for students Opportunities for students to process and
reflect on their experiences as they engage with the local community
Mock Interview while abroad Resume and Cover Letter Critique via Skype
while abroad
CEPA Foundation On-Site Support
Sponsored by the CEPA Foundation - Cultural and Educational Programs Abroad 11
Formerly known as “Re-Entry Programming” Recognition that
students often need help adjusting to campus life students continue to process their experiences
after returning home and “learn” – how do we prepare them to capture those lessons and use them
With more dedicated EA professionals more attention paid to this phase more exciting resources available to professionals
Coming Home: Returnee Program
Identify campus offices to help you deliver returnee programming – share the burden/raise awareness of underutilized resources
Determine to what degree your office can deliver the programming yourself – put the finishing touches on your program and promote those desired outcomes
Develop peer mentors and alumni mentors to show students the way (and relieve office staff of the need to lead all returnee programs)
Connecting Returnees with Resources On Campus and Off
Five-week series of programming for returning students (each weekly session = 30 minutes)
Introduces a variety of returnee activities to help students process their experiences and use them in their post-graduate planning
Connect students to campus resources, encourage them to make appointments to discuss how to integrate study abroad outcomes into future activities
Study Abroad 401 at TCNJ
Lessons from Abroad – provides framework for multi-campus/regional returnee conferences, may inspire certain campus-based sessions or workshops
“Unpacking Your Study Abroad Experience” – Michigan State research report focused on strategies to use with returnee students
NAFSA website – volume of resources reflect interest in this aspect of EA programming
Benchmark Resources
Motivating students Students at different level of
development Finding sufficient staff time to
implement and maintain Goal setting and actualization for
shorter-length programs Gathering data on impact
Challenges and Opportunities
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Discussion, Questions & Answers
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We look forward to your questions and comments.
Please use the chat function on your screen to post questions and comments for the presenters.
Thank you for participating today and also thanks to the CEPA Foundation for providing this free series of academic webinars for faculty and education abroad professionals!
Your feedback is important to us! Please complete the brief survey about this webinar: http://www.anymeeting.com/SYID=E152DE87854D
Check our website regularly for information about future webinars. www.cepa-foundation.org/webinars
Upcoming Webinar
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Contact InformationLynn C. Anderson, Academic Director CEPA [email protected]. Jon Stauff, Director Center for Global Engagement The College of New [email protected]
Thank you for participating in this CEPA Foundation Webinar
Sponsored by the CEPA Foundation - Cultural and Educational Programs Abroad 19