There were at least five purposes in pursuing research on international education in the public community colleges of Oregon and Washington states. The first purpose was to fully demonstrate a new and original taxonomy of ten elements, or dimensions, found in defining and describing international education. A second purpose was to add to the body of knowledge and research on international education practices at the nation's community colleges through an extensive literature search and original research. A third purpose of the study was to identify and describe the current status of international educational programs and activities of the forty-three public community colleges of the two state region through the use of quantitative data obtained in a survey questionnaire. Another purpose was to identify and describe three case studies of the most highly developed community colleges, at least one from each of the two states, in the arena of international education. A fifth purpose of this study was to provide several conclusions and recommendations to those community college leaders interested in improving upon international education programs and practices. Two research questions led the investigator to utilize two different research methods: The survey questionnaire and the case study. The research questions were: 1. What is the current status of international education programs among the public community colleges of Oregon and Washington? And 2. How and why did the international education programs and activities evolve and develop at the three most highly developed public community colleges of Oregon and Washington? The first method was used to survey the field of international education and to select three of the most highly developed community colleges in the two state region. The case study method, or the second method, was used to probe deeply into the international education programs and activities of the three most highly developed community colleges in Oregon and Washington. The results of the research methodology were reported in two different chapters and provide the findings and recommendations about the field of international education. The research was also defined by nine propositions suggested at the outset of the study. It was thought that international education programs and activities of Oregon and Washington community colleges evolved and developed through: The efforts of strong presidential leadership; large community colleges found in urban areas; the presence of international students; the presence of full-time international education administrators; the presence of international education grants from external funding sources; the presence of a strong global curriculum; the presence of strong foreign language programs; the presence of full-time faculty born in other countries; and, the presence of full-time faculty who have lived and travelled abroad. The results of the nine study propositions were mixed. The research led to twelve specific recommendations for those wanting to either evaluate their existing efforts and for those wanting to enter the very dynamic and exciting field of international education

This research explores the multifaceted benefits that accrue from learning within an international, experiential context. It uses a qualitative, case study approach employing pre and post surveys, in-situ observations, and semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews to analyze the Center for Geography Education in Oregon’s (C-GEO) 2013 Overseas Teacher Institute--a professional development program that took 11 teachers to Russia, Mongolia, and China for a total of 17 days (plus two additional travel days) to learn about the cultural and physical geography of each place. The focus of the research is two-fold and examines processes involved in gaining, synthesizing and applying 1) a sense of place (the emotional ties between people and place), and 2) geo-literacy. The results of this study provide evidence that intensive professional development programs can increase teachers personal and professional knowledge, change their instructional practices, and may lead to improved student learning outcomes.