Learning in context in a short-term education abroad program
Open Access
- Graduate Program:
- Adult Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Education
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 17, 2008
- Committee Members:
- Ian E Baptiste, Dissertation Advisor
- Ian E Baptiste, Committee Chair
- Fred Michael Schied, Committee Member
- Richard Francis Devon, Committee Member
- Renata S Engel, Committee Member
- Keywords:
- education abroad
- study abroad
- short-term study abroad
- situated learning theory
- qualitative study
- learning in context
- processes of learning
- Abstract:
- The purpose of this study is to describe learning that occurred among participants who engaged in a short-term education abroad program using a modified situated learning theoretical framework. In situated learning theory, experience becomes activity and takes on a dynamic relation to learning. For the study, I selected a specific case to examine one type of education abroad program that students can engage in, which was a short-term education abroad program where a group of nine students traveled as part of a course for one week. Methods of data collection for this qualitative study included direct participant observation, field notes, and in-depth interviews. I asked the participants to describe their experiences during their short-term education abroad program, and I analyzed their descriptions based on the four elements of context that I defined for the study in an education abroad program - activity, tools, situation, and community of learners. I examined how these elements of context related to learning for them. I applied this theoretical framework by looking at the ways in which participants described how they learned in their education abroad program. I also looked at the ways in which the descriptions of learning provided by the participants contribute to new ways of understanding learning in context in an education abroad program.