Addressing the “Study” in Study Abroad: Experience vs Academic Performance

1. 2009 Forum on Education Abroad Conference  Portland, OR Addressing the “Study” in Study Abroad: Experience vs Academic Performance

2. About Australian Education International • AEI aims to increase collaboration and student exchange between Australia and North America • Fosters education and research links between Australia and North America • Offices in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA

3. Background • Australian study abroad program • Extensive data collection on academic performance • Why? • Previous studies: • Merva, 2003: “Grades as Incentives” • Trooboof, Cressey & Monty, 2004: “Does study abroad grading motivate students?”

4. Research Question How do American students experience the academic environment of an Australian study abroad program?

5. Project Design • 11 students, July-Nov semester 2006 • Self-selected, a variety of backgrounds • Mid-sized Australian urban university • 3 rounds of interviews, open-ended questions

6. The results

7. 1. Disengaged “It’s a three-hour lecture. I go, the professor talks and talks and talks. He doesn’t make any sense and one time someone in our class even asked, “What’s the point of this lecture?” And he said, “Oh I don’t know,” and kind of shrugged. So if the professor doesn’t even care about teaching us anything important, you know… There’s a woman who lectures sometimes, and she’s very good so I always go when she’s speaking, but usually I don’t go. And most of my classes are just paper assessments so it’s sort of pointless to go to the lectures.” - Megan “I think the university makes it really easy not to go to class. They almost encourage you not to go to class. Everything’s online, you can read the lecture online, you can listen to the lectures online. I’ve never had that before.” - Benjamin

8. 2. Externally focused “Priority of study? Travelling is, really…., I can study at home. To be very honest with you, I did not come here to sit in my room and read. Good doing the work and I foresee myself getting good grades. I’m still putting in the effort but, I just… I don’t know, I want to… there needs to be a balance. But if I have to put it on a scale I’d say that travelling is… doing things I wouldn’t get to do at home is, like, really important to me right now. That’ll keep till I go back.” - Benjamin “I’m not really expecting too much, I’m just hoping that I pass. I mean, with some courses, it’s…I really don’t care if I pass because it’s just being here and the experience is enough for me.” - Jessica

9. 3. Engaged but struggling “There’s also less class time itself. Cause back home it’s like you have an hour and ten minutes for Monday, Wednesday, Friday classes or an hour and fifty minutes for Tuesday, Thursday classes, and so you’re more regularly going to class. Whereas here, it’s sort of like, okay my Mondays are dedicated to this class, my Tuesdays, I don’t have any classes so that was kind of weird. Wednesday is dedicated to an hour of this class, Thursday, you know, this class, Friday an hour of this class. And so it was a lot less regular, sort of.” - Amanda

10. 3. Engaged but struggling “It’s a stupid system. It’s a very stupid system. And I understand it’s for externals, it’s for people who can’t come to class. Well then, don’t make the lecture available to someone who could be in class. You know, I don’t understand. And you know, I haven’t missed…I’ve missed like two classes the whole semester… and I’ll probably be graded the same way as someone who has missed 15%. As long as you don’t exceed the limit, you’re graded the same way as someone who is in class 100% of the time and that’s not very reasonable.” - Benjamin

11. 3. Engaged but struggling “I have a paper next week that I’m turning in that’s 20 percent of my grade, you know, and I was talking with a few people in the class before the teacher showed up. Half of them were American and half were Australian and I was like, “Geez, you know, it’s a 20 percent paper. Christ, how am I supposed to write this? This is 20 percent of my grade. And the Americans are like pulling out their hair, they’re like, “What are we going to do?” And the Australians are like, “20 percent of your grade! That’s nothing.” And I’m like, “What’s wrong with them? Of course it is.” - Jonathan “I have two exams, one of them really is stressing me out. It’s 60 percent of my grade, which for me is mind-boggling and it’s completely multiple choice, which, not just from a student standpoint you know, is like really sucky….” - Amanda

12. 4. Engaged and performing “It’s different from at home because it seems like there are fewer assignments, but those assignments are harder and require more research. So I can’t say it’s a heavier workload but it is a more concentrated workload, when I do it.” - Andrew “…it’s reading so, you know, I like to think that reading is an easy version of homework, you know. My version of homework in my head is always equations, math book, problems one through 20, you know, something like that. It’s not like that, it’s just really…and that’s fun, you know.” - Jonathan

13. 5. Highly engaged “I think there’s a difference in how we teach history, because we’re thematic back home whereas here it’s subject oriented… I think that’s generally all over the world that’s how they’re changing the subject and so history is different…as people learn how people learn, they’re changing it. I think it’s going to be different for everybody, but ours is thematic back home, so a different reading situation…” “I love my education so, like, I love all of my classes this semester. And I’ve been telling my parents, ‘Oh, I love my academics way better this semester than last semester’ and I love, I like that fact that I’m starting to work at a museum ‘cuz that’s what I was doing back at home. I was volunteering and that kind of thing. I’m getting kind of back into what I did at home…” - Sarah

14. Academic Results

15. Recommendations Pre-departure • Faculty-student relationships • The informality of the Australian university environment and appropriate interpretation • Teaching/learning philosophy, including the focus on assessment tasks not classroom participation, and independent learning • Samples of timetables, course structures and assessment tasks

16. Recommendations Orientation • Workshops by Australian faculty • Discipline-specific workshops • Library 101 –undertaking independent research • Tools for success – balancing study and the outside temptations, time-management, goal-setting

17. Recommendations Throughout the semester • Workshops relevant to workload during semester • Peer mentors • Greater assistance from faculty and student support staff to understand common problems & provide relevant answers and support

18. AEI North America Team John TW Hayton Counsellor—Education Director, AEI North America (Washington, DC) john.hayton@aei.gov.au Ph: +1 202 797 3464 Sarah Wolf Assistant Manager, AEI North America sarah.wolf@aei.gov.au Ph: +1 202 797 3478 Jen Nielsen Manager, AEI North America jen.nielsen@aei.gov.au Ph: +1 202 797 3028

19. Academic Engagement in Learning AbroadPreparing for Success Stephen Ferst

20. Potts’ Taxonomy • Disengaged • Externally Focused • Engaged but Struggling • Engaged and Performing • Highly Engaged

21. Well Prepared Under Prepared Two Academic Populations

22. Well Prepared Engaged and Performing Highly Engaged Under Prepared Disengaged Externally Focused Engaged but Struggling Two Academic Populations

23. Case Studies • Informal research tells the same story • Location and Language are factors • Type of program is a factor

24. Type of Program • Free Standing or Island programs • Allows for familiar academic setting • Allows for tighter curricular integration • Students tend to match academic achievement at home

25. Type of Program • Field Based programs • Typically unfamiliar academic learning setting • Allows for tighter curricular integration • But generally with US faculty so structure is generally similar • Students tend to match achievement at home

26. Type of Program • Full Integration programs • Allows for new academic setting • Allows for greater variety in coursework • Students tend to be close to academic achievement at home but it varies along the Potts’ divisions.

27. Under-prepared Students • What do we know? • What can we do to help?

28. Multicultural Learning • We know about teaching to different cultures: • “Learning Styles, Culture and Inclusive Instruction in the Multicultural Classroom” Glauco De Vita, May 2001 • “Learning Styles and Culturally Diverse Students” Irvine and York, 1995

29. Learning in Different Cultures • Multi-Cultural Teaching is different than Multi-Cultural Learning • Multi-Cultural Teaching is about adapting to the learner. • Multi-Cultural Learning is about the learner adapting to the teaching style.

30. Foreign Students in Australia • Study of students from Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong studying in Australia • Volet, Simone. Learning across Cultures: Appropriateness of Knowledge Transfer. 1999

31. Culture & Learning Potential The cultural dimensions are critical in determining what are appropriate forms of learning as well as in realizing the learning potential of individuals

32. Our Current Assumptions Implicit assumption that the process of enculturation in a new community is mainly a cognitive and social affair.

33. What should we focus on? The focus should be on perceptions of learning in the home and the host country.

34. Indicators of Success • Deep approach to learning • Informal peer support groups • Diligence at cue-seeking in order to conform to task requirements • Realistic expectations regarding learning and instruction, seeking help from teachers during class, and low participation in tutorial discussions

35. Where to go from here? • We need to take an approach that prepares students to study in the location to which we are sending them. • A careful look at the style of teaching is relevant and important for success of Potts’ low-engagement groups.

36. Addressing the “Study” in Study Abroad From the Home Institution Perspective Or, is it all just a “Carnival”? Hilary Lieberman Link, Ph.D. Assistant Provost and Dean for International Programs Barnard College, New York, NY

37. Putting “Study” in/Taking “Carnival“ out • Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975)on the Renaissance Carnival (what does this remind you of?): • “[Carnival] belongs to the borderline between art and life. In reality, it is life itself, but shaped according to a certain pattern of play…Carnival is not a spectacle seen by the people; they live in it, and everyone participates because its very idea embraces all the people. While Carnival lasts, there is no other life.” (8) • “As opposed to the official feast, one might say that carnival celebrated temporary liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order; it marked the suspension of all hierarchical rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions. Carnival was the true feast of time, the feast of becoming, change and renewal.” (10) • Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World. Tr. Hélène Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1984.

38. Barnard College • Liberal arts college for women in New York City • Affiliated with Columbia University • 2300 students • 33% of students study abroad, almost all in their junior year • 1-person study abroad “office”, the Dean for Study Abroad, part of Academic Deans office

39. Institutional Impediments • Impediments to focusing on academics in pre-departure period at home campus: • (Under)Staffing of study abroad office • Lack of connection/integration between an institution’s study abroad office and academic advising office/center • Loss of “study” in the pre-departure preparation and re-entry programming • Student development/adaptation tends to overshadow academic preparation

40. Student Impediments • How much time do students spend preparing specifically for the academic experience they are departing for? • How able are they to fully understand the system they are entering into? • Different types of programs from which students choose/overwhelming number of options

41. What Students Say: • How aware of the educational system of your host university were you before you began your studies there? • Prior to the application process I had extremely little knowledge about university life in Hong Kong.  I was aware of very basic facts (classes are taught in English, follows the British educational structure, etc).  I was warned that the workload of courses are "back-heavy", in that the grades are heavily (or in some cases, completely) dependent on your final exam/project.         Fall 2007, direct enrollment, Hong Kong • Prior to studying abroad, I took a class in the French department on Contemporary France, and basically learned about all facets of France's bureaucracy. Having done that, I was pretty aware of the French system and prepared for the red tape and the vocational nature of the French education. The study abroad packet I got from my program was also informative, although nothing really prepares you for waiting in endless lines and not fully understanding the language.  Fall 2007, courses at a French university, through an American university provider

42. What Students Say: • What did you do to learn about this different system of teaching/testing before you went? What else could you have done to prepare? • Aside from reviewing the syllabus for my classes I had no real way of preparing for the difference in educational environment because I had no idea what to expect.   Because there were no other Barnard students that had recently participated in the program, I had very few options. (Hong Kong) • In order to prepare, I read the guides that my program sent me. Otherwise, I didn't do much to prepare since I felt that I already knew a lot about the French system after growing up learning about France.  I think I was really well prepared. I felt comfortable enough with my language skills and my knowledge of the process in order to guide myself. I think that that experience was very beneficial; it proved that I was capable of navigating a new system by myself and I gained confidence (France) • Before I left I had a bit of contact with a few professors from the University (in Australia) to acquire course guides for a few of the courses for Barnard pre-approval.  Judging by the course guides I did have the impression that there would be fewer tests and that individual assignments would have a greater weight on the final grade.  I also knew there would be significantly less in-class teaching time, because of the length of the semester – only 12 weeks, as well as shorter classes.   (Fall 2008, Australian University, through provider) • I talked with a Barnard student who had studied there previously, read about the university online, and met with my dean to discuss the different system. I could have contacted students currently enrolled in the university. (Oxford, full-year 2008-2009, direct enrollment)

43. What Students Say: • How difficult was it to adapt to the new system once you got there?   • The "back-heavy" course loads prompted me to try to focus more on continuous self-study instead of measuring knowledge through periodic assignments/problem-sets as we do here.  It was a pretty logical and straight-forward action for me to take given this particular difference in educational style.  (Hong Kong) • The workload was much greater than what I was used to, and it took a week or two before I felt completely comfortable in the new system. My tutor (who was also the visiting student dean) was very helpful and supportive throughout the term. (Oxford) • It was pretty chaotic at first but you just have to go out of your way to track down your professor to sit down and talk with them about your questions and concerns. The program was able to guide me to the people I needed to talk to to get my questions answered. (Fall 2007, Argentine university, through third-party provider)

44. Complications of Assessing Academic Preparation • Difficulties in measuring academic preparation before going abroad, beyond looking at GPA • How much access does SA office have to student academic records? • How much of a comprehensive understanding does the SA office have of a student’s academic trajectory? • How well do faculty understand the different types of SA programs students go on?

45. The Return to Campus: Measuring the Affect of Study Abroad on student GPA • Difficulties in measuring the academic impact of the study abroad experience through GPA alone: • Based on GPA, there is little empirical data to prove that studying abroad has a positive effect on a student’s academic trajectory • Since the majority of students study abroad in their junior year, their return coincides, at least at Barnard, with a general increase in GPA (90% of students perform best in their senior year)

46. What Students Say: • How did studying in that new system impact your Barnard experience once you returned, if at all? • I now prefer "back-heavy" courses.  In my senior year, I specifically chose classes that have back-heavy course loads and this past semester I earned the highest GPA in my entire college career.  However, the semester after my return from Hong Kong, I took required and core classes that were "typically" structured and it was my worst semester. (Hong Kong) • There was definitely an adjustment period; the workloads were not comparable. I had to do a lot more work in order to keep up in class and be the student I wanted to be. However, I felt much more prepared in language classes and much more confident in participating in discussions. (France) • One (unexpected) impact is that I now somewhat appreciate midterms and the (sometimes many) assignments that my classes here have to break down the final grade and course material into smaller sections. One change that I plan to apply to my studies in the U.S. has more to do with the general academic environment I surround myself in.  Australian students, in general, tend to study and get their work done, but not spend a lot of time talking about it.  I look forward to adopting more of the policy of getting my work done and then spending time with my friends, rather than the complete social life/schoolwork intertwinement I've previously adopted at Barnard.  (Australia)

47. Other Academic Issues that Come into Play • Frustration among faculty of “losing” students to study abroad just as they come into their own academically • General sense that academic experience elsewhere is different/not equal to that of home campus, so a general disregard of academics offered abroad

48. What are we doing to combat this dilemma? What could we be doing better? At Barnard: • Surveys • Integrated learning tools • Faculty dinner conversations

49. What Students Say: • What could Barnard have done to prepare you better *academically* for your experience abroad? • Part of the excitement and growth experienced when studying abroad stems from the anticipation of being in an environment that you're unfamiliar and unprepared for.  In retrospect, I highly suggest that students are warned upon their return to take a less rigorous workload, if possible, or one that resembles the structure of courses from abroad.   (Hong Kong) • Nothing, really.  The academic style in Australia is just a bit different, and it's nothing that one can really be prepared for.  I could have been told a million times that the academic environment would be different (I probably was), but I think it's the type of situation I had to live it to get it.  (Australia)

50. Questions to Consider • What are you doing on your campus/at your study abroad site to prepare students for the academic experience they are about to have abroad? • How much time do students with whom you work spend thinking about the academic system they are going to enter? • What strategies do you have for putting the “study” back in study abroad? • How integrated is your institution’s study abroad program with its academic programming? • How relevant to a student’s college education is all of the extra-curricular activity that takes place on study abroad? • Which locations are easiest for your students to assimilate into, and why?