Abstract:

Many students cannot afford to pay for a traditional study abroad trip and do not have time for internships or full-time job opportunities. Time and money are two major inhibitors for students to participate in study abroad programs. What if students can apply for a paid internship opportunity and learn from an experienced faculty leader to plan and execute a study abroad program? The internship opportunity will allow students to work 200 hours and gain three credit hours as well as earn money they put towards their study abroad expenses. Such an experiential study abroad program may solve the persistent dilemma of not having money and time, but encouraging more students to participate in global education abroad.

From experiential learning perspectives, student participants can have at least five major benefits. First, more students can afford to join a study abroad program by having an additional paid internship opportunity. Second, students can acquire hands-on business skills, such as marketing, project management, hospitality management, business analytics, and supply chain management. Third, students can gain valuable work experience, explore a career pace, develop and refine management skills, network with industry professionals, and improve intercultural understanding. Fourth, students can acquire real-life problem-solving skills and take a leadership role to develop a new study abroad program. Fifth, students can have a chance to help the faculty deliver a study abroad program that can benefit the local community.

Students are motivated to learn for varying reasons: goals, interests, content, self-efficacy, behavior, and attributions. Six essential elements can contribute to these learning motivations directly or directly: Task, Authority, Recognition, Grouping, Evaluating, and Time (TARGET). The task difficulty, importance, interest, usefulness, and authenticity have a positive impact on the learning interests and goals of students. Authority refers to a degree of autonomy or responsibility (e.g., completing a task by a deadline, offering assignment options) that a student has for completing a learning task. Some students are motivated to learn when their learning efforts or outcomes are properly recognized. In cooperative group learning, students of the same group are motivated to achieve a common goal. Evaluation methods need to be designed to reflect the purpose of each grouping method so that students can align their learning purpose with grouping structures. Students vary in their ability and the amount of time needed to learn different materials.

This study will utilize the TARGET model to define the comparative benefits of experiential study abroad over traditional study abroad opportunities and attempt to prove a connection between experiential study abroad opportunities and the achievement of cognitive (belief), affective (feeling) and behavioral (action) goals. A research model and a survey instrument will be developed to measure students’ and faculty’s perceived cognitive, affective, and behavioral impact by participating in such an experiential study abroad program. Path analysis will be conducted with the collected data. Theoretical and practical implications will be reported based on the analysis results. Suggestions will be made to university faculty and administrator to offer this kind of experiential study abroad program to help more students acquire richer, and more immersive study abroad experiences.

Keywords:

Experiential learning, study abroad, global education, motivation, cognitive, affective, behavioral.