Thesis advisor: Michael Cermak / Despite the vast amount of literature on service trips, only modest efforts have been made to look at how ideologies formed on the trip change over time. There is also little work done comparing different social justice communities. This study examined the differences between two service and religious groups in these regards through 26 in-depth interviews with both current college students and graduates. An analysis of these interviews revealed several faith-based tensions between the service and faith communities. Based on this conclusion, I argue that in order to move toward more substantial and enduring outcomes, the service and faith community work best when they work together, or when individuals of either group have a source of social support. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

International service learning (ISL) has been integrated into engineering education and has become increasingly more popular in co-curricular experiences. While prior research investigates each of these avenues of ISL, we have not investigated how these experiences compare to one another in terms of student learning outcomes or understood these experiences from a national perspective. The purpose of this thesis is to address these gaps in existing literature and to provide a comprehensive, holistic perspective of ISL experiences ability to impact student learning on a national scale. To better understand student learning outcomes in engineering ethics, agency and identity and draw comparisons in student career choices, several survey instruments were used within a nationally-representative survey distributed to engineering seniors (n=1911) at four-year universities within the United States. Descriptive statistics were used to categorize he responses by type of ISL experience: capstone, work, or co-curricular. The survey instruments were used to measure the individual learning outcomes: engineering ethics contained 5 items, engineering identity contained 14 items, and engineering agency contained 12 original items. Each survey instrument was validated using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine the relevant factor groups for each construct. An ANOVA test or Kruskal Wallis, the non-parametric equivalent test, was used for each dataset depending on normal distribution of the data. Responses in engineering ethics showed a significantly higher score in students’ ethics understanding with ISL capstone (p< 0.001) and work experience (p<0.0001) and a medium effect size for both (Cohen’s d=0.3). Responses in engineering agency scores showed a significant difference with ISL capstone (p<0.05) and co-curricular experience (p<0.05) with a medium effect size (Cohen’s d=0.3). Additionally, responses to predicted career choice post-graduation showed a lower percentage of students anticipating leaving engineering from the 9% population rate to 6% for those with ISL capstone experience and 5% for those with ISL co-curricular experience. These results give reason to consider more frequent incorporation of ISL projects into engineering courses such as senior capstone design. / Master of Science / International service learning (ISL) is a way of learning that allows students to use their engineering skills to help others, while gaining experience in a global context. ISL projects allow students to interact with people around the world, gaining experience with cultural and social diversity while using and developing their engineering skills. ISL projects take many forms and have been used within engineering education in many ways. The three most common ISL experiences are integration into capstone courses, independent ISL work experience, and co-curricular programs such as Engineers Without Borders. Prior research has focused mainly on capstone and co-curricular ISL experiences. Research found ISL experiences beneficial for student learning, however prior research has not investigated how these experiences compare. Additionally, many studies are conducted within courses or programs which provides a limited general understanding. This study aims to provide more clarity between student learning by ISL experiences and provide a national perspective on the impacts of ISL experiences. The purpose of this study was to determine how effective ISL experiences are in improving student learning in engineering ethics, agency, identity, and retaining engineering students in the field after graduation. A survey with a total of 31 questions related to these topics (5 for engineering ethics, 12 for engineering agency and 14 for engineering identity) was nationally distributed to senior engineering students enrolled at four-year universities in the United States. The responses were categorized by student’s ISL experience (capstone, work, and co-curricular) and compared for each engineering topic. The data was analyzed statistically, and the survey questions were analyzed to ensure that they were measuring student learning as expected. The results showed that ISL capstone projects improved students’ understanding of engineering ethics, increased their sense of engineering agency, and led to a lower percentage of students who planned to leave the field of engineering after graduation. ISL work experiences improved ethics understanding for students but had little to no impact on engineering agency. Finally, ISL co-curricular experiences had little impact on engineering ethics understanding, but improved student’s engineering agency beliefs and led to a less students leaving the field. These results give reasons to consider integrating ISL experiences into engineering education more frequently to provide benefits to students.

The main focus of this study is to explore Swedish soldiers’ experiences of the transition back to everyday life after international service missions. This includes the help and support that they have received and also what barriers to care they have experienced during the transition back to everyday life. The theoretical perspectives of this study are social identity and stigma theory. This study was performed using a qualitative method and includes six individual interviews with active duty officers within the Swedish armed forces. All of them have participated in international service missions. The results of this study show that the soldiers experience barriers to care during the transition back to everyday life in Sweden. What emerged is that they are experiencing mental depression and a need for a recovery period. It’s also revealed that the stigma surrounding mental illness in the military and in society precludes a good reintegration into everyday life. The study concludes that more research is needed on what support soldiers need when they return home, and that the responsibility for veterans support efforts need to be clearer between all responsible parties in Swedish society.

The main focus of this study was to investigate how Swedish military veterans experience that events during an international service affect them after completed mission. This also includes the contact with their relatives. Secondly, this study deals with the course of the crisis, personal defense mechanisms, cumulative stress and post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). The study was performed using a qualitative method and comprises individual interviews with six Swedish veterans. The responders were all men of different military positions, who participated in one or more international missions during 1993 to 2011. The results of this study show that, according to the veterans, the return back home is the most strenuous part of an international mission. With all the new experiences that an international service brings fresh in their memories, it is hard to re-adjust to the life of a civilian. In connection with the return back home, different degrees of stress reactions were also commonly seen, for example sleep disturbance, restlessness and exhaustion. One of the veterans being interviewed was also affected by post-traumatic stress syndrome, although healthy again at the time of the study.

Background: International Service Learning (ISL) is becoming widely used in nursing education as a means to provide global learning opportunities. Concrete outcomes for these experiences have not been clearly supported in previous research. Determining if ISL experience facilitate the development of Professional Nursing Values (PNV) can support the use of ISL as a viable pedagogy. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine if there were a difference in PNV development in students who participate in ISL as part of their clinical experiences compared to those who do not. The hypothesis was that there was a difference in the two groups. Theoretical framework: The study utilized Kolb’s experiential learning theory, which has a focus on the experiences of students as an impetus for learning. Methods: The research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest, posttest design. Consecutive sampling was utilized for the experimental group and stratified random sampling for the control group. Results: Pretest analysis did not demonstrate any significant difference in the two groups at baseline. Post-test analysis indicated that while the mean PNV of the ISL group was higher, the results were not statistically significant. However, the difference in the pretest and posttest scores across all participants was statistically significant. Conclusions: While the findings were not significant in determining a difference between the two groups, the findings indicated that experiential learning in itself does support the development of PNV. Further research using a larger sample size may support the difference in these two groups and support the use of ISL as a viable pedagogy.

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As calls for institutions of higher education to educate globally competent citizens have intensified over the last two decades, the field of international service learning (ISL) has responded resoundingly. ISL programs have been implemented at many institutions and there have been countless studies that demonstrate the great power for student learning and growth inherent in this exciting educational tool. In more recent years, experts have moved away from studying the student experience and have, instead, questioned the power relationships inherent in service learning programs abroad; related studies have made use of newer critical theories and community development philosophies, which have advanced the field tremendously. However, to date, the re-entry period has still been largely overlooked, and there has been a noticeable lack of studies that apply student development theories to the ISL experience. This study explores how a diverse group of students from a large, public, four-year institution on the West Coast experience transformational learning during an ISL program in Thailand and how they make sense of their experience upon their return to the U.S. and in the months afterwards. By utilizing a case study design and implementing qualitative methods, this study provides significant evidence that well-designed ISL programs can trigger transformational learning in a variety of ways and that the re-entry period is a significant time of learning and growth for students. Further, the findings importantly show that by creating strategic opportunities for students to learn and connect with others on the program, both during and after the ISL experience, students are better able to navigate the changes in themselves after returning home. Finally, the experiences of the students indicate that the processes associated with transformational learning continue well on after the in-country experience, highlighting the significant need to provide support and guidance for students during this time. / Educational Leadership

Given the tormented history of development projects around the globe and the fact that global service learning and engineering-for-development often engages students in development interventions, it is critically important to explore the impact of global service learning projects and partnerships not only on student learning, which has received ample attention, but also on the international host communities. Although there is increasing research on student outcomes of participation in service-learning, there is a lack of research focusing on the outcomes related to the community where the service takes place. Research focused on the impact on communities should include the wide range of perspectives that compose the community- participants, organization leaders, residents, and others. This study responds to this need by exploring the community participants’ perspectives in Waslala, Nicaragua about the projects and partnership with Villanova University’s College of Engineering. The two research questions explore the community participants’ perspectives about: (1) outcomes of the projects or partnership, and (2) educational goals. Community participants’ perspectives call for a broader conceptualization of what counts as outcomes and highlight the importance of participation in all phases of the research process. Supporting existing scholarship about host community motivations to serve as co-educators, my findings describe what the community participants want to teach university students. Community participants’ perspectives describe a desired shift in students and a move towards critical global citizenship education. This study highlights the utility of Fraser’s (2009) theory of social justice and Andreotti’s (2006) framework for critical global citizenship education as useful tools to analyze and understand GSL partnerships. / Urban Education

This mixed-methods study contributes to the limited literature on global citizenship by comparing the impacts of two curricular methods used to educate for global citizenship: international education experiences and a school-wide approach. Using Round Square as the case study, an international association of secondary schools that incorporate both methods to foster global citizenship, and an adapted version of Hartman’s (2008) Global Citizenship Survey, this study examines the global citizenship qualities of 185 graduates from Canadian Round Square schools. Findings reveal that not only is the pursuit of global citizenship within schools valuable and possible, but that a school-wide approach is as effective a method to educate for global citizenship as international education experiences. Results are valuable as many schools lack the resources, capacity, and motivation for global citizenship programming, particularly if programming relies on international education activities. Results also question the necessity of international opportunities to foster global citizenship.

This mixed-methods study contributes to the limited literature on global citizenship by comparing the impacts of two curricular methods used to educate for global citizenship: international education experiences and a school-wide approach. Using Round Square as the case study, an international association of secondary schools that incorporate both methods to foster global citizenship, and an adapted version of Hartman’s (2008) Global Citizenship Survey, this study examines the global citizenship qualities of 185 graduates from Canadian Round Square schools. Findings reveal that not only is the pursuit of global citizenship within schools valuable and possible, but that a school-wide approach is as effective a method to educate for global citizenship as international education experiences. Results are valuable as many schools lack the resources, capacity, and motivation for global citizenship programming, particularly if programming relies on international education activities. Results also question the necessity of international opportunities to foster global citizenship.