Abstract:

This exploratory paper considers the development and implementation of short-term overseas study tours for undergraduate students in business and business-related majors at a Japanese University based in Tokyo (Meijigakuin University). Previous studies have shown that students gain intellectual growth by participating in overseas study tours. Therefore, study tours have been used by business faculties and schools around the world to provide students with international experience and as a means of broadening their cultural understanding. Japanese universities and other educational institutions have been at the forefront of developing and participating in study tours. However, the available literature tends to be US or European centric or Japanese institutions tend to focus predominantly on linguistic benefits of study tours. This paper overcomes the limitation within the literature by providing a Japanese perspective on key issues that needs to be taken into consideration in designing and planning study tours as an effective learning tool for students in business and business related majors. Firstly, this paper identifies the characteristics of Japanese students in terms of their motivations and learning attitudes to study tours. Secondly, it discusses the activities to be employed in the study tour which would help students to increase their involvement in a divergent cultural setting. Finally, the paper proposes a collaborative assessment between a host institution and a home institution that would help to maximize the learning for students from both the home and the host institutions to enhance their international knowledge and broaden cultural understanding.

Keywords:

Overseas study tours, experiential learning, Japanese perspective.