"Finding yourself in a foreign country": The Subjective Learning Experiences of Students in an Embedded Short-Term Study Abroad Program
Open Access
Author:
Johnson, Kayla
Graduate Program:
Higher Education
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
March 02, 2017
Committee Members:
Joseph Valente, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor Dorothy Evensen, Committee Chair/Co-Chair David Guthrie, Committee Member Karly Ford, Committee Member Joseph Valente, Outside Member
Keywords:
study abroad short-term programs sociocultural theory incidental learning embedded programs faculty-led programs social-emotional learning student voice reflection photo-cued interviewing
Abstract:
This dissertation examines the subjective learning experiences of students on an embedded short-term study abroad program. Using an innovative ethnographically and phenomenologically inspired assessment strategy called photo-cued interviewing (PCI), this study uses conversations prompted by students’ photographs of their experiences to make their learning more observable and describable: to uncover understandings about the processes of learning—the situations in which students learn—and the products of learning—the specific learning outcomes—in embedded short-term international educational programming. By using a sociocultural lens and a case study approach of 15 university students participating in one embedded study abroad program that included a 10-day international component in Sweden, this study provides new understandings about curriculum and program design decisions and asserts that short-term programs, though often criticized, can successfully result in significant student learning outcomes, both intended and incidental. This dissertation also has implications for education more broadly as it interrogates what constitutes both learning and teaching, and how broader conceptions of both may impact understandings of student learning.
