Saturday
November 22, 2008
Advertisement
News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education
July 28, 2006
Intro to Study Abroad
Kathleen Fairfax calls them “whistle wetters.”
Related stories
- Study Abroad Under an Embargo, Nov. 4
- In Study Abroad, Dispute Over Roaming, Oct. 3
- Calculating Credits for Short-Term Study Abroad, Sept. 11
- Getting Out of Georgia, Aug. 13
- More Than Yeats and Joyce, Aug. 11
They are two-week trips, run through Michigan State University’s Office of Study Abroad before the start of fall term, that take incoming freshmen overseas for a mixture of lecture and leisure. The itineraries are packed, with a few hours of humanities education in the morning, followed by cultural field trips in the afternoon. Students get to know professors, classmates and the geography of a foreign country.
The trip is, in short, a taste of study abroad.
Years of surveying entering freshmen at Michigan State showed that a high percentage of students weren’t comfortable living and learning overseas, according to Fairfax, director of the study abroad office.
“What we address is the fear of travel, and we give students the chance to do so in a controlled group program,” Fairfax said. “We know you can’t do a whole lot as far as cultural immersion and language learning in that time frame. We get them over the hump.”
And the hope is that students will come back for more — though not necessarily to the same country — when they are upperclassmen with a chance to spend a full term overseas. The Michigan State program began in 2003 with 35 students who traveled to Quebec. That’s where a group of more than 30 Purdue University students will spend a week beginning August 5 for the university’s similar overseas immersion program.
Purdue’s version, in its second year, consists of seminars taught by faculty at the host institution, Laval University, as well as tours of museums and local landmarks. Both Fairfax and Riall Nolan, who helped create the Purdue trip, said that taking students abroad before they begin as undergraduates has its benefits.
“Reaching students at the entry point is especially powerful because it has the potential to shape their whole way of thinking, not just for their time at college, but also for the rest of their lives,” Nolan, associate provost and dean of International Programs at Purdue, said in a statement. “And what we find after they travel is that a transformation begins to take place. The students start to feel more flexible, more comfortable with such things as taking foreign language courses, learning about other cultures or becoming aware and informed about foreign policy issues.”
Fairfax added that the trip might be the only time during their college educations when English and engineering majors learn together in peer groups.
Both the Purdue and Michigan State programs are open only to incoming freshmen. Students earn a small amount of academic credit for participation. About 150 students are scheduled to participate in Michigan State’s program this summer, which offers trips to Mexico, Ireland, Japan, Canada and the newest location, South Africa. The trips cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000, which doesn’t cover the study abroad office’s program operational costs, Fairfax said.
Ursula Oaks, a spokeswoman for NAFSA: Association of International Educators, said that her office supports increased study abroad by American students. David Larsen, vice president of Arcadia University and director of the Center for Education Abroad, said the summer trips are best suited for students who are inclined to return to a foreign country to study later in college.
Arcadia, which bills itself as an institution with an international focus, offers noncredit spring break trips to Europe (and one to Mexico) for freshmen that are mostly recreational. The college also allows about 75 students a year to take their first semester in college to study abroad. Students are encouraged to spend an additional semester overseas before graduation. The fall program started four years ago because Arcadia had more freshmen than the college could accommodate, Larsen said.
Michigan State’s first class to participate in its summer program will graduate next spring. While the study abroad participation rate is 28 percent among all undergraduates at MSU, more than 70 percent of those in the summer in Quebec group have since studied overseas — an early indication, Fairfax said, that the program’s mission is working.
Want it on paper? Print this page.
Know someone who’d be interested? Forward this story.
Want to stay informed? Sign up for free daily news e-mail.
Advertisement
Comments
This sounds like a university-run vacation and a great way to make money off full-ride students. It isn’t as if they are even taking courses with foreigners. They are simply taking courses with Americans in a foreign country. It is about as much of a cultural experience as watching The Curse of the Jade Scorpion teaches about Mandagascar.
Larry, at 2:05 pm EDT on July 28, 2006
Remember you’re an educator
If you consider global education in the context of student development, a 17- or 18- year-old student might not be prepared to enroll in a full semester program or one that requires host culture housing.
If you have a student who has never traveled and never thought about the world before, what better way to get them thinking about the idea than provide them with an introductory experience?
I would assume that most colleges and universities do not put incoming students into advanced-level courses, so where is the harm in putting introductory students into an introductory internatinoal experience. Especially if, as the evidence indicates, it makes them want to go abroad again and again.
Let’s put the education back into international education, and remember that highly immersive programs require some maturity and experience that—unfortunately—US students lack. Plenty of identify and development theories talk about stages, steps, and continua, so let’s view this as a first step.
James, Instructor, at 12:50 pm EDT on July 29, 2006
James, The harm in such sham programs is that they are 1) profoundly non-academic, and everyone knows that they are just a social adventure; 2) they give students a bad view of what it is like to work hard. A student that doesn’t know how to work “full time” in an academic setting has no business in college (yet somehow many are admitted, anyway.) These students accomplish no research that can’t be accomplished at their home institution. These students do not have a chance to interact with foreigners on a serious level (apart from social dalliances.)
And, James, if these experiences are basically parties, OF COURSE, they will want to go abroad again and again, and most undergrads treat study abroad activities as non-stop parties (and foreign faculty, acting as “adjuncts” know this).
James, American students are no more or less mature than foreign students, in that some are mature and some are immature. However, it is not the place of the university to cater to immature students. If a student thinks that he is immature he can join the military. There he will learn discipline, and perhaps he will learn something about foreign cultures, too.
Personally, I think that the notion that Americans are unaware of foreign cultures is bogus. Americans are a rather cosmopolitan lot. Within the US we have many cultures, and one has to be quite cloistered to have no contact with foreigners. Perhaps what you mean to say is that Americans, if they traveled abroad more, would disagree with American foreign policy more. I don’t think this is necessary true, since American foreign policy has changed over time, and therefore you are introducing another, uncontrolled variable into the equation.
Anyway, students are free to spend the summer before college buying a Eurail pass and traveling through Europe. Or they can go to Asia and Africa. They don’t need to have the school’s help. To pretend that this is real “education” does more violence to education than 10,000 Ward Churchills standing on top of each other Xeroxing Plato.
Larry, at 4:30 pm EDT on July 29, 2006
Larry, no one is claiming that one week of international travel is going to make a global citizen. But I work with many community college students who cannot envision a life outside of the place where they have grown up. They are convinced that their church has all the answers and the US is always right. Travel abroad is one of the best ways to challenge those views, and although students certainly have the option of travelling on their own dime and own time, some cannot afford to do so or would not consider doing so without it being a part of their education. Why begrudge students an opportunity to broaden their horizons through an introductory trip?
Clio, history prof at a community college, at 9:25 pm EDT on July 29, 2006
perspective
These students are not community college students, but will be four-year college students in the following months. These students ventures abroad are not paid for by the college or by their employer, but by their parents. If a kid wants to save up $3,000 or so, he can.
Your community college students are free to venture abroad as much or as little as possible. (Despite having visited many countries and speaking a few languages, I have no idea what you mean by “global citizens” since I am an American citizen.) Whether US policy is always “right” or not is a matter of perspective, and you seem to want people to view US policy as not being right, which shows your bias. Indeed, I assure you that there are many people who have been outside the country (sometimes for years on end) and think US policy is “right.” Maybe they don’t listen to whiney foreigners.
Perhaps if departments wanted to fund trips to graduate-level conferences for some undergrads (given out on the basis of performance, rather than favoritism) going aboard might serve a purpose, and exposure to foreign opinions wouldn’t be just a question of who a co-ed meets in a bar.
Larry, at 4:45 am EDT on July 30, 2006
Like Larry I am puzzled about this view that American students don’t have a clue that there is a world outside of the US. And I don’t see how disagreeing with your own political views or possibly agreeing with their “church” (although I am still puzzled how this last fits into foreign travel) can be offered as proof of this ignorance.
Study overseas is great if it is offered as that: study. And this study should be linked to the location. Otherwise time overseas can easily fall into a vacation semester that results in requiring a ninth semester of study. Or, as nicely put in THe Onion:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38803
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38803
STM, UConn, at 11:05 am EDT on July 30, 2006
Freshman Seminars Abroad
I am a little hesitant to jump into this fray, but I think that possibly a voice that has actually had experience with these programs might add a useful perspective. I lead the MSU program to Japan. The eighteen participants (9 male, 9 female between the ages of 17-19) just left Japan yesterday after spending two week with me, a professor from James Madison College (at MSU), and a representative from the MSU Office of Admissions. The student spent 7 of the 12 usable days (non-international travel days) in class from 10 AM until 4 PM at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities exploring the theme of “reading culture” — a semiotic and social anthropological look at understanding culture and its various manifestations. On the days we were not in class we visited Tokyo (Bandai Museum, Hiragana Times International Party, Ghibli Museum, Mandarake Manga Mall, Asakusa Temple, Meiji Shrine, Harujuku, Yoyoji Park, Roppongi, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chofu Fireworks Festival), Nara (Todaiji Temple, Nara Koen), Kyoto (Heian Shrine), Hikone (Hikone Castle), Kobe (professional baseball game), and Hiroshima (Peace Park, Atomic Bomb Memorial Museum, Miyajima Island). The activities were purposefully chosen to expose students to various aspects of Japanese culture (traditional and popular) and to provide a practical context for the work they were doing in their course. Individual and group work culminated in student presentations on the last day class and the students will need to submit a research paper at early in the fall semester. The activities in- and out-side that classroom were designed to challenge the students to develop academic and social skills they will need when they arrive on campus as first year students — academic skills like struggling with complex issues that do not have clear answers and social skill like being comfortable striking-up a conversation with someone who is very different from you, sharing space with a roommate, riding a bus, making new friends, and being entirely out of your normal surroundings — just to mention a few... These things may seem mundane, but for many students these programs can be transformative in regards to their academic and social competence.
That said, I acknowledge that for some students, these programs can be little more that a spring break-type experience abroad. But even for them, the poor grade they get in the credit-bearing class they take as part of these programs can be a wake-up call about what college-level academics are going to be about and what they are going to have to do to succeed. Coming to this realization early on is much better that finding out after a full semester is wasted.
As someone who has run domestic first-year student orientation programs for five years at private, liberal arts college and now coordinate the Freshman Seminar Abroad orientation program to Japan for MSU, I feel that these programs can indeed be great academic and social orientation programs for incoming first year students. I suppose they could have the potential, like all classes and program, to fall short of their expressed purposes, goals, and mission; but, from my experience, these programs came be an excellent way for all students to start their student experience in higher education.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or comments.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Martin
Martin Stack, Educational Program Coordinator at Michigan State University, at 12:05 pm EDT on July 31, 2006
Mr. Stack, Thank you for your honest response. A few general points.
Most “study-aborad” administrators are aware that grade inflation in these programs is not just a fact, it is a requirements. Foreign faculty know that they simply cannot grade low. These programs are as much as business as the campus gift shop. If they grade low (or honestly) the students stop signing up, and if they stop signing up, they stop paying.
I realize that many faculty see that their job is to help students develop “social skills” so that they can get jobs. But, there is a surprising lack of candor as to what sort of “skills” will be taught, and the fact that some faculty think that some students lack social skills. For many faculty, “social skills” are simply not talking about the original Star Trek, but instead talking about TV shows that are currently on. For others, “social skills” involve playing dirty academic politics (a tool that many think is required to survive in any academic setting). Perhaps if programs would be honest about what “social skills” will be taught, why these skills can’t be taught in the US, and how students will be evaluated, the conversation might be a little more understandable.
There is something seriously wrong with a school if a study-abroad program is the only time that English and Engineer majors take the same courses. When I was in school everyone took the same first two physics courses. I guess now people get away with taking watered-down sciences courses because if they get bad grades they won’t pay.
Larry, at 7:30 am EDT on August 1, 2006
Freshman Seminars Abroad
Larry,
Thank you for continuing this dialog. I appreciate your response and thoughts on the subject of “social skills” and grade inflation.
I am very interested in understanding what social skills you feel are important for students to develop during their undergraduate years and where/how/when are these skill developed? Please share your thoughts and experiences on this so I can get a better sense of where you are coming from.
On the point of grade inflation in Freshman Seminars Abroad programs, I guess I have not seen it in the brief four years or so these programs have existed. The students really do have to meet the expectations of the course or get a low grade. That said, the participants are very high achieving and motivated students — if they were not, they would not spend two weeks out of their summer in a program like this. From my perspective, it is a good thing if the word getting out that these programs are academically challenging scares off some applicants who are signing-up for the wrong reasons or who did not what to fully engage in the academic aspects of the program.
Again, thank you for your thoughts. I look forward to your response and continuing this dialog.
Martin
Martin Stack, Educational Program Coordinator at Michigan State University, at 11:00 am EDT on August 1, 2006
Dr. Stack, We probably will be getting “off topic” with the issue of “social skills,” but here goes. For most students, “social skills” involves the art of convincing people in “positions of power” that they were worthy of their favor. When professors complain about students complaining about grades, from my perspective, I see a student that is just an amateur at convincing the professor that he has so much in common with him or her that it is in her interest to change a grade. Students who are “pros” at this do this subtlety, and professors feel like they need to “help” a kindred spirit. (As a result, no angry-blog post is published.) These skills are used every day in academic settings, and often translate into workplace skill, especially amongst people without skills that can be independently marketed by hanging out a shingle (e.g. law, accounting, medicine). The problem is that most students who are going to learn these subjects learned them before they came to college. Their parents impressed upon them the need to not differ too much from the norm, and the need to show the correct decorum radiate a sense that they “belong” in whatever environment they are in.
A related kind of“social skill” learned in college is more akin to getting people to do things, and organizing large groups of people to work together. I don’t get as angry at people who are training to do things like this, because at least I don’t think it is a form of misrepresentation.
The above-two things probably the most practical “social skills.”
I guess making small-talk with people counts as a “social skill.” However, I seriously wonder whether an institution of higher education should be teaching native-speakers to say meaningless thing to each other in a foreign land.
Over the past 18 years or so, I have developed some familiarity with about a dozen or so study-abroad programs. While some of them did have low grade-curves (or low average grades) many of them consisted of foreign professors awarding straight As, or asking the students what grade they thought they should get. Perhaps a way to deal with this would be to simply report the grade distribution in all classes on the web, so outsiders could see what kind of shop you are running.
Larry, at 11:46 am EDT on August 1, 2006
Freshman Seminars Abroad
Larry,
Please call me Martin. Thank you for the continuing follow-up. I really do not see the discussion of “social skill” as at all tangential to this dialog — in fact, it is the academic and social skills that students need to navigate their experiences as undergraduates that the freshman seminar abroad programs (FSA) attempt to introduce. Therefore, this discussion gets right to the core of the mission of these programs.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on “social skill” — particular regarding their nature and function in higher education and in later life. This is insightful.
I guess the “social skill” I see as being targeted for development in these FSA programs are those that will help students navigate their first year on campus – thus aid in their overall success during their undergraduate years. We are not trying to teach them the skills they will need after graduation – it will take at least four years to do that. We are really trying to help them get off to the best start as possible. These “skills” are really the fundamental components of the socialization that takes place during the first few months on campus – components such as reestablishing their identities confidently in their new surrounding, coping with the transition of being away from their established social networks, and positively negotiating the frustration that comes with not understanding the norms and values of the culture they are now a part of. By participating in an FSA program, students get (through our purposeful design and guidance) experience dealing with these issues before they arrive on campus. The thought here is that they will be ahead of their peers in these adjustment issues because they have already experienced them in a very intense way a few weeks before arriving on campus.
Another element that is not really a “skill” is that these program provide the incoming first year student with connections to other students, faculty, and staff prior to arriving on campus. We know that one of the key elements in retention and academic success is a student’s feeling of connectedness and belonging. One of the key factors in students dropping out of school is the anomie that accompanies not feeling connected to the place, the people, or the programs of their institution. The intensity of the shared experience of being in a foreign environment forms bonds that connect student to each other and to the institution through the faculty and staff that accompany these programs in a way that I feel just can not happen during a normal on campus welcome week/freshmen orientation program. Participants develop a sense of motile community that they bring with them to campus and carry with them throughout their undergraduate years.
I do not feel it is appropriate to provide grades for these program (and I do not have access to them anyway), but I would be happy to go into more detail regarding the academic expectations and content of the FSA-Japan program if you (or anyone else following this discussion) are interested.
As a final note, it is 2AM in Japan right now. I need to make this my final entry for the night. I hope we can continue this discussion, and hope others join in. I would like to get other perspectives on these programs as well.
Martin
Martin Stack, Educational Program Coordinator at Michigan State university, at 1:30 pm EDT on August 1, 2006
I am an International Studies Major at Arcadia University and I disagree with a lot that is being said. As it my major I am very involved in the international scene and I love to travel. I do know though, that my roommate last year was a homebody and she never thought she would leave the country, not only did she go to Scotland on Spring Break, she is also talking about studying abroad there her junior year. I think that a week gives students who never thought that they would like traveling and learning about other cultures a chance to really experience it. Although that student may not end up studying abroad it has still opened their eyes to the international community that is out there. At Arcadia it is not about the money, in fact they pay almost all of our bill except spending money and a low fee of $250. We are a very internationally aware campus and I think that the spring break abroad and all the opportunities to Study Abroad (yes, study!!! I am highly offended by that. We work just as hard abroad if not harder, especially if it is in another language. Plus life is not all about the books, it is about learning about the real world) is great. You say that American youth know that there is a bigger world out there, but you are mistaken I feel, many youth don’t and not only youth but the adults of our country as well. I feel this program makes students realize this and will make for a stronger generation in this globalizing world.
Tara, Student at Arcadia University, at 7:35 pm EDT on August 3, 2006
Freshman Seminars Abroad
Tara,
It appears others may be taking a break. Thank you for your comments and insights. It is great to hear your perspective on the advantages and opportunities of study abroad — and I agree that often student do study very hard while abroad. As someone coming from a student affairs/residence life background, I am also very sympathetic to the idea of the importance of the learning that takes place outside the classroom.
It is actually this type of learning that the FSA program at MSU tries to foster in a purposeful way — along with the structured learning taking place in the class. Of course, we are not simply taking about seeing real manifestations of what you just read about as “out of classroom learning". That is, of course, one real advantage of study abroad, but what I think we are talk about here is the life-lessons and skill development that happens during these programs. Does that sound right?
Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. I had been checking back and not seeing anything new. I thought people had moved on...
Martin
Martin Stack, Program Coordinator at Michigan State University, at 1:30 pm EDT on August 4, 2006
replies
Sorry, I was taking a break. You know. Real work.
Martin, As I see it, your view of “social skills” is essentially the “skill” interacting in an unfamiliar environment. I have to admit that this is probably useful, and does not do violence to the idea that academe should be a meritocracy. (Most people consider “raising grades through schmoozing” to be a social skill.) Of course, there is no reason that such a social skill could not be obtained in the many unfamiliar and hostile parts of the US (e.g. deserts, swamps, and places far away from a Bed and Bath). But, I take your point.
Your second point, regarding “connections” seems a tad unfair. The idea that students need to pay to make “connections” with people whose job it is to interact with them seems a tad farfetched. Even more so, when they are doing so in Germany. And what exactly are these “connections”? Will the staff show them particular favoritism? Will they more easily get sought-after classes? (This probably would have helped me in my Sophomore year, when it took 3 weeks to get a transcript from a lackadaisical registrar.)
Why is it not appropriate to provide grades for the program? Are the students not supposed to be studying? Are they no supposed to master some material? And why is the school reluctant to provide a distribution of grades? Is the school afraid that kids might not sign up for the easy As, or that outsiders will know that the school is giving out easy As?
Tara, First of all, your roommate was always free to leave the country. Second of all, many people love to travel, but they don’t need to pretend that some academic activity is going on. Third, doing anything during “spring break” is not an educational activity because a) it is spring break; and b) two weaks (or so) is just too short. I like your use of exclamation points. However, rather than declare yourself to be “offended” by a position different than your own, perhaps you can explain – with specificity — what kind of academic work you did abroad that could not be done in your home country. Being “offended” by an argument doesn’t mean that the initial argument was incorrect or illogical, just that it somehow effected you in an emotional way.
I am also confused, Tara, as to how you, on the one hand emphasize that you “studied” abroad, but on the other hand said that you had “real life” experiences. Like what? Did you conduct experiments that could not be done in the United States? Did you perform some sort of anthropological study in Scotland (publishing the results). I am anxious to know how this was not a party. Finally, people doing real study don’t pay the school anything. The school pays them.
Larry, at 10:00 am EDT on August 5, 2006
Larry,quoted text: “Being “offended”... just that it somehow effected you in an emotional way.”
The correct word is “affected".
Anon Imous, at 11:30 am EDT on August 17, 2006
Advertisement
Jobs Related to Intro to Study Abroad
or search for jobs directly.
Payroll Administrator
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Whitehead Institute (MIT Affiliate) an experienced payroll administrator to join a fast paced accouting and finance office. see job
Instructor / Mental Health Clinician
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center-Downtown Denver
Posting Description: University of Colorado Denver Instructor/Mental Health Clinician The Kempe Center for ... see job
Assistant/Associate Vice Chancellor of Institutional Research and Planning
Western Carolina University
Job Duties: Reporting to the Chancellor, Western Carolina University seeks an Assistant/Associate Vice Chancellor of ... see job
Assistant or Associate Professor — Tenure Track
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota is a premier employer and a talent magnet attracting leading faculty and staff from around the ... see job
Assistant Professor
East Carolina University
East Carolina University, a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina, is a doctoral institution with an ... see job
Senior Research Associate
NC State University
Join the Pack! A community with nearly 8,000 faculty and staff, and 30,000 students. NC State is one of the largest employers ... see job
Postdoctoral Scholars — School of Physical Sciences, Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of California, Irvine
The Department of Physics and Astronomy anticipates openings for Postdoctoral Scholars. Requirements: Applications are being ... see job
Biology
South Texas College
South Texas College Job Announcement # 2010 – 3008 Position pending Board Approval of FY10 Budget Please note that only ... see job
Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center-Downtown Denver
Posting Description: University of Colorado Denver Associate Director for Prevention and Control University ... see job
Associate Director- Revised 9/12/08
Princeton University
Position Summary: The Office of Audit and Compliance (OAC) at Princeton University is seeking a ... see job
Home
| Sign up | Log in
| About us
| Work for Us
| Press Releases
| Rights and permissions
| Contact us
| Advertise
| Partners
| RSS 
| Podcasts
| Links
| Privacy
| My Account
© Copyright 2008 Inside Higher Ed
I love this idea! One of my colleagues and I are currently exploring how global education — that is, educating with a world-view in mind rather than a US-centric mindsest — can help community college students discover their place in the wider world — can open new avenues of possibilities for students who are unsure of themselves and their abilities. Taking freshman abroad for a short trip illustrates our point exactly. Get them interested in travel and other cultures early on; open their eyes to another culture before even beginning formal university study. Global education coupled with travel abroad is, I believe, of vital importance in the creation of global citizens in the 21st century.
Clio, History Professor at a community college, at 11:50 am EDT on July 28, 2006