Study Abroad Awareness TrainingMeaghan O’Brien, Meghan Harder, Vicky Berry, & Julia Brown

Target GroupO Who: Study abroad students in

universities (aged 18+)O 20-25 studentsO Minimal study abroad experience

O Atmosphere: “Hello from Around the World”

O Goals:O Help new students get

acclimated into a new social, scholastic, and environmental setting

O Learn to integrate and interact with individuals from different cultural groups

O Getting the most out of your experience abroad

Introduction

FrameworkO Client: University Study Abroad

OfficeO Where: Easily accessible location on

college campuses O Length: 3 Hours O Method: Interactive Workshop

Needs Assessment & Potential Problems

O Students not venturing out of their comfort zones such as:O Fear of interacting

with localsO Failure to learn

about unique cultures

O Lack of resiliency in stressful situations

O “Simply sending students to a location abroad for academic studies is not sufficient toward facilitating the larger goal of creating effective global citizens” (Lederman, 2007).

O Improvements on intercultural development index are marginally significant (Pederson, 2009).

Agenda for the Day

IntroductionGoal 1Goal 2Goal 3Wrap Up

Agenda O Introduction O Comfort ScalesO Circle UpO Country GameO CharadesO Goal 1: Results &

DiscussionO Challenging

SituationsO Goal 2: Action

PlanO EnergizerO All About YouO Goal 3:

Discussion & Results

O Wrap Up & Round Up

IntroductionO Introduction of facilitators with

personal experiences of studying abroad

O Explanation of the overall goal of this training

O Guidelines:Safe Place

Judgment Free Zone

Respect Each Other

Ask Anything

No Phones

Comfort Scale O Method: Each participant is given a personal

Comfort Scale along with numbered stickers to place on the sheet

O Objective: Visual representation of progression of feelings

O Materials: Premade scale and 8 stickers per person

O Directions: Throughout the day participants continue to place stickers based off of their feelings of comfort at that given time

Introduction of the StudentsO Form and circle with all the studentsO Ask students to state name, study abroad

location, and what they are hoping to gain from this training

Country Game: 20 Questions O Method: Asking people

questions what country they are

O Objectives: Engagement, Comfort with asking questions

O Materials: Paper cards with country names

O Directions: Everyone is given a card with a name of a country and instructed to not look at what is written on the card. They will place is on their forehead and walk around the room. They are allowed to ask one question per person. Once they figure out their country they may be seated.

O Duration: 5-10 Minutes

Charades O Method: Act out given scenarios & have your team

figure out the situation without the use of speech O Objectives: Using nonverbal communication,

Interacting with groupsO Materials: 2 groups of 10 & scenario cardsO Direction: Players are given a scenario with one

restriction and have 60 seconds to reenact the situation

O Duration: 15 minutes

Goal 1: Reflection & Discussion

Challenging SituationsO Method: Drawing out adverse

situations that they have encountered or are fearful of

O Objective: Identifying feelings during challenging situations

O Materials: Groups of 4 or 5. Each get their own poster board and writing utensils

O Directions: Split everyone into even groups and make them draw out difficult situations in with they have encountered or some situation they fear that might happen while abroad. Once completed, one member of each group will stay at their poster while the other members move around to learn other situations and add their feelings to the area surrounding the picture

O Duration: 30 minutes

Action Plan, Goal 2: Discussion & Reflection

O Method: Discussing action plans to cope with stressful situations abroad

O Objectives: Adapt and cope in challenging situations

O Materials: Poster board and writing utensilsO Directions: Talk in small groups about ways to

cope while abroad. Write down actions you can take and share one with the whole group.

O Duration: 30 minutes

Fast Ball/ Parachute Game

O Method: Tossing a ball around a circle of people

O Objectives: Energizer, Realizing similarities

O Materials: Ball, stopwatch

O Directions: Remember who threw you the ball and to whom you throw the ball. After students practice a few times, facilitators will call out a category or experience, and all of the students for whom this is true will run into the middle and switch places with each other. In the new positions around the circle, repeat the original order of throwing the ball.

O Duration: 10 minutes

All About YouO Method: Asking questions in order to find 3

cultural differences between partnersO Objectives: Communication skills, Learning

about othersO Materials: 1 Partner and 1 Piece of paper and

penO Directions: Without using “I” statements,

partners of 2 ask each other questions in order to find out 3 cultural differences between each other

O Duration: 15 minutes

Goal 3: Discussion and Reflection

O Why do you think we did this?O Why is it important to learn about

others while abroad?O Listen first

Wrap Up/Round UpO Wrap up:

O 5 most important things you have learnedO Pair discussion for favorite quote or drawing on

back of panic to comfort scaleO Round up:

O Everyone in a circle and share their quote or drawing