Thesis advisor: Laura . Rumbley / Thesis advisor: Hans . de Wit / Internationalization of higher education continues to transform the field of post-secondary education around the world. Student mobility, and specifically study abroad, operates as tool of internationalization that receives a lot of attention from institutions, nations, and students alike. Support for studying abroad is rooted in the many benefits, including but not limited: exposure to new cultures and perspectives, improvement of foreign language skills, development of independence and personal confidence, and expansion of problem solving skills. However, the transition back home after an experience abroad can often be a difficult experience for students who lack intentional and specific support through their institution. This re-entry period is often overlooked by institutions, however, it is a part of a student’s study abroad experience and should be supported as such through resources and programming for returned students. American Jesuit institutions in particular promote participation in study abroad as it aligns with the Jesuit mission and values rooted in serving God through serving others. As institutions that place a high value on engaging with the world and a holistic view of the educational experience, American Jesuit institutions have an obligation to support students through re-entry. This study looks at how these institutions support students as they return from abroad, the major challenges they face, how they integrate Jesuit values into their support, and what can be done in the future. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

As globalization continues to increase, the demand for culturally intelligent employees is central for navigating everyday intercultural business interactions. For college students preparing to enter the workforce, cultural intelligence is trained at universities through cultural training courses and study abroad experiences. Although cultural training courses and study abroad experiences are recognized as important factors in developing cultural intelligence, their effects are often assumed. Additionally, research indicates that international travel alone does not enhance a person’s overall cultural intelligence. This research examined a university program designed using Bandura’s Social Learning Theory to increase undergraduate students’ cultural intelligence through an on-campus cultural training course followed by a study abroad experience. Study 1 compared the effectiveness of a university program consisting of a cultural training course with a study abroad experience against a comparison control group. Multi-level modeling analyses suggest that students who participated in the cultural training course followed by a study abroad experience significantly increase in motivation, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavior CQ. Furthermore, interaction analyses examined the relationship between the two study groups, students’ self-assigned cultural development goals, the quality of their reflective journal entries, and an examination of any potential cultural mentor effects. None of these variables was associated with CQ growth. Study 2 compared two study abroad groups who either spent 3- or 6-weeks abroad after completing a shared cultural training course. Both groups experienced a statistically significant increase in all four CQ domains relative to a comparison group. When comparing the 3- and 6-week study abroad groups, there were no differences in motivation, cognitive, or behavior CQ; however, in metacognitive CQ, the 3-week group experienced a statistically significant increase compared to the 6-week group. No student-level predictors (age, gender identity, ethnicity, year in school, previous overseas experience, and grade point average) or program-level predictors (cultural mentor, number of countries visited) had a significant relationship with CQ development. These results demonstrate that a university intercultural development program that combines a cultural development training course with an instructor-led study abroad experience can help students improve their cultural intelligence, regardless of a student’s background, and that students can experience significant CQ growth in as little as 3-week abroad.

<p>In today’s evolving classrooms, educators are tasked with going beyond providing the necessary content knowledge to reach the needs of their students. In addition to effectively differentiating instruction, global competency skills have become an increasingly pressing concern as the American society gradually becomes more diverse. In response, recent programs and supports have been created to allow prospective teacher candidates to develop their global competence to better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse and globally connected society.</p><p>An explanatory sequential mixed methods research design examined how participation in a short-term study abroad can impact teachers’ empathetic dispositions related to globally competent teaching practices. Quantitative data was first collected through an online Qualtrics questionnaire from pre-service, in-service, and other agricultural educators (n=36) who participated in a short-term study abroad experience in Jamaica from 2015-2019. Following the online questionnaire, four virtual follow-up focus groups were conducted via Zoom to further explore the collection and analysis of study participants’ self-rated stage of empathy development along the Globally Complement Teaching and Learning Continuum. Inductive coding revealed themes for both internal and external factors influencing study participants’ rationale and desired movement along the continuum.</p><p>Overall, participants acknowledged the transformative experience during the short-term study abroad to Jamaica as an external factor for building competence in the dispositions element of empathy and valuing multiple perspectives. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research were provided to help agricultural educators develop globally competent teaching practices.</p>

This phenomenological multiple case study provides the details, reasoning, and discussion of the role of study abroad experience and its perceived impact(s) on three in-service teachers. Two research questions were posed: What are the perceived impacts on in-service teachers' practice of a study abroad program experience and how does the in-service teacher's perception of impact change over time within a teacher's career? Results of this study suggest that the teaching practice of in-service teachers who study abroad would benefit, especially in the area of intercultural competence, if this experience is structured in a way where the curriculum of the study abroad program aligns with the content of their future teaching assignment i.e. curricular bridging. Case evidence further suggests that long-term impact of a study abroad experience upon a teacher's practice is related to providing the future teacher an opportunity for to develop and maintain pedagogical relationships with students while abroad. The term ‘submersion' is introduced to help articulate depth of impact during a study abroad program experience.

<p>One goal for educators today is to prepare students to succeed in a globalized world. The connection between teachers’ experiences of student educational programs abroad and teachers’ perceived growth in their instructional abilities to prepare globally competent students served as the focal point of this study. The qualitative method of grounded theory was utilized, and focus groups and interviews were conducted. Teachers who previously led students during educational programs abroad volunteered to participate in this study. Following the creation of transcripts for the focus groups and interviews, the data were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Glasser, 1965), and participants confirmed the categorization of the data. Seven emergent themes were identified and included: (1) perspectives, (2) empathy, (3) global conditions and current events, (4) cultural differences, (5) intercultural communication, (6) classroom environment, and (7) intercultural lessons. From these themes, three assertions were gleaned: (1) Opportunities should be provided for teachers to reflect on their own perspectives and consider the perspectives of others; (2) Both local and global opportunities should be promoted to teachers to experience other cultures; and (3) Professional development sessions for teachers to explore global competency instruction should be offered. The seven themes support the continuation of teachers’ involvement in student study abroad programs, and the three assertions offer recommendations to equip principals with approaches for promoting teacher leadership and improving global competency instruction. </p>

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Schendel / Over the past several decades, the number of students participating in international academic programming has increased drastically, having quintupled in from the early 1990s to 2017. Many of these students have participated in increasingly popular short-term programming models where students spend less than eight weeks in an international location doing academic coursework. Considerable research exists tying the participation in study abroad experiences to positive institutional and academic outcomes such as increased institutional retention and academic performance. Underrepresented in this literature is the impact these experiences have on smaller institutions, such as private liberal arts colleges, which are increasingly looking for ways to diversify themselves in a crowded educational marketplace. Using the case study of Moon Crest College, this quantitative study uses statistical and regression analysis to determine if participation in short-term study abroad experiences have a relationship with institutional retention and time-to-degree. This analysis finds at Moon Crest College a statistically significant relationship between participation in short-term study abroad experiences and graduating from the institution. This study found no clear relationship between participation in these experiences and time-to-degree rates at Moon Crest College. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

This study focuses on how applying MCII, a wish-fulfillment and goal-setting method researched by Gabriele Oettingen, benefits the quantity and quality of English language learners' (ELLs) social networks while participating in a study abroad program in the United States. This is done by instructing participants in the use of MCII, giving them weekly reminders on that instruction and the goals they set, and by measuring change from beginning to end. Analyzing the social networks of 36 English language learners at an intensive English program (IEP) after 14 weeks of instruction shows that the ELLs displayed growth in the number of ways they met new people and in the depth of their relationships. This study also shows although learners who used MCII largely perceived it positively and noted using it in their lives, there was no significant difference between that group and those who did not use MCII in terms of proficiency development.

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L2 proficiency gains during study abroad vary widely across individuals and programs, and much of the research in the study abroad literature attempts to identify the causes of this variance. Social network data has proven useful in explaining some of the variance in oral proficiency gains (Baker-Smemoe, Dewey, Bown, & Martinsen, 2014; Isabelli-García, 2006), and the current study builds on those findings by applying the same methodology to listening and reading proficiency in addition to speaking. Proficiency gains in listening, reading, and speaking were measured for 17 students from a US university studying abroad in Nanjing, China for one semester. Social network measures focused on interaction with native speakers (NS) were taken at the beginning, middle, and end of the study abroad program using the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire. Linear regression analyses showed that social network measures accounted for nearly 46% of the variance in listening gains, nearly 82% of the variance in reading gains, and nearly 46% of the variance in oral proficiency gains. These findings make a strong case for applying social network methods to understand listening and reading proficiency gains in study abroad.

Study abroad has been shown to improve students' linguistic and cultural competence, but students who gain their fluency abroad may struggle to adapt to the plethora of regional dialects they encounter in their studies and interactions after they've returned from their study abroad. The researchers of this study posited that learning Spanish in a domestic immersion context may improve a student's flexibility or tolerance for dialectal variation in regard to listening comprehension. Using a detailed survey and multi-dialectal listening assessment, the researchers examined the degree to which Spanish language learners, in this case 183 missionaries, were exposed to a variety of dialects, whether this exposure varied depending on region of study, and whether it affected their ability to comprehend a variety of accents. Significantly higher levels of variation were found in Spain, the U.S., and Canada, possibly due to the higher levels of Hispanic immigration to these regions. A comparison of Spain, the region with the highest average test score, and Mexico, the region with the lowest average test score, showed high practical significance (d=.8), suggesting that high levels of linguistic variation in the region of study may improve listening comprehension of multiple dialects. Pearson correlations between exposure to variation and listening test score were also positive. The researchers believe this is grounds for increased support of immersion programs both domestic and abroad, especially to areas such as Spain with high levels of linguistic diversity.