As increasing numbers of students participate in study abroad programs, how can colleges help students integrate their international experiences into their ongoing studies on campus? How can such integration transform the teaching and learning that takes place at colleges?
Faculty and administrators are invited to explore those questions, and many more, at a conference on “Integrating Study Abroad into the Undergraduate Curriculum: Transforming On-Campus Teaching and Learning” on November 6-7. The conference will be hosted by Beloit College in Beloit, WI, and co-sponsored by Kalamazoo College.
Panel discussions will be organized around the interests and expertise of the conference participants and are expected to include topics such as:
- Ways that the home-campus curriculum can prepare students for the unique learning that takes place in study abroad;
- The role of study abroad in preparing students for their future careers and lives; and
- The role of faculty development activities in integrating study abroad into the curriculum.
Call for papers and posters: The conference organizers invite presentations for panel discussions and posters from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences as well as interdisciplinary studies addressing the conference theme.
Submissions addressing the following questions are particularly encouraged:
- What do students need to know before they study abroad in order for the study abroad to be a meaningful learning experience?
- How can we encourage students to engage meaningfully with local environments and people when they study abroad?
- How can learning and using a language abroad become a window and entree into other cultures, as well as a formative experience in itself?
- How can we structure reflection before, during, and after study abroad to make sure students’ experiences result in learning?
- What kind of activities post-study abroad will enable students to embed their study abroad into their on-going education and lives?
- How can we help students transfer the knowledge, insights, and skills gained abroad to other contexts, including those in the U.S.?
- How do we apply the AAC&U’s LEAP learning outcomes (organized around knowledge of human culture and the physical and natural world, intellectual and practical skills, personal and social responsibility, and integrative learning) to study abroad?
- What do institutions and students gain from study abroad? How can we measure these gains?
ACM will provide funding for faculty and administrators from ACM colleges to attend the conference through the Faculty Career Enhancement (FaCE) Project, a program supported by grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Registration information for ACM participants is on the conference website.
Full details about the conference and registration for “Integrating Study Abroad into the Undergraduate Curriculum” are available at www.beloit.edu/oie/campus_internat/integrating_sa_conference.html.
ACM involved in efforts to link off-campus and on-campus learning
For years, ACM and its member colleges have been involved in efforts to integrate off-campus study and on-campus curricula.
Currently, ACM is a partner in the Study Abroad Learning and Cost Alliance, a ground-breaking project aimed at helping colleges and organizations like ACM develop study abroad programs that are more affordable and that provide the best experience for liberal arts learning. A key component of the Alliance’s work will be to provide practical knowledge about program design changes that can strengthen liberal arts learning outcomes for students in study abroad programs.
Past efforts have included the Global Partners Project and Liberal Education and Study Abroad.
