Abstract
Undergraduate institutions today are increasingly looking to adopt high impact practices (HIP) as a means to provide optimal learning experiences for their students. Study abroad courses are a particularly popular HIP offerings for students, as they provide opportunities to not only experience new cultures around the world but also to gain insights into their own cultural identities. However, because of the many demands placed on Division I collegiate student-athletes, they unfortunately are often not able to engage in such a global experience. This case study describes a credit-bearing, short-term study abroad course that not only taught Division I volleyball student-athletes about theories of culture and how to analyze culture at the individual, team, and national levels; but infused a variety of experiential activities and other elements characteristic of effective HIPs. As a means to make the course more personally relevant and meaningful to these students, special attention was given to present topics in a context specific to a collegiate athletic team. These student-athletes were introduced to a host of relevant validated models and theories of culture, and engaged in a number of individual assessments to gain insights into their cultural identities and their influences, as well as in formal assessments of as their team’s dynamics and overall effectiveness. In addition, the course included team-based activities and workshops that addressed the team’s weakest areas related to performance. identified areas in need of improvement. All of these activities were aligned with a 10-day travel experience to Italy. Overall, this case study is an example of how an innovative course can be created to not only provide a study abroad opportunity for student-athletes, but also be tailored to address individual players’ and team needs and create a positive and lasing experience for all involved.
Highlights
Introduction to national culture andHofstede’s (2010) dimensions Discussion and applications of Hofstede’s national cultural dimensions o Volleyball Around the World presentationsOverview of travel itinerary o Destination Italy presentationsElon native Italian students visit o Italians’ perspectives on cultures in Italy and the US o Learning Italian language for travel and volleyball
I/O psychology is the study of behavior in organizational contexts and includes topics such as job attitudes, personnel management, leadership, teams, organization culture and development
Building on his academic expertise and experience consulting to Fortune 500 organizations, he designed the syllabus with four primary goals: (a) to teach student-athletes about the social phenomenon of culture and its existence and antecedents at multiple levels; (b) to ensure a meaningful experience in Italy, the travel destination, and its culture; (c) to provide tools and activities for them to critically assess their team’s culture and overall functioning; and (d) based on these assessments, to facilitate organization development interventions as a means to enhance team functioning
Summary
As a goal was to maximize potential applications learning for this group’s future competition performance, the ‘team’ as a unit of analysis received special attention. Prior to the in-class meetings and departure to Italy, the instructor held a series of meetings with the coaching staff and the thirteen team members to gain a baseline knowledge of the team and its members, norms, goals, and general culture Such an up-front assessment by a consultant is typical in organization development activities (Burke, 2017). To establish a level of credibility with the student-athletes later, the instructor asked questions to better educate himself about volleyball in general, including game and strategy basics and current collegiate trends He sought feedback on ideas he had for class discussions and activities and explained how each would fit within the goals for the course and the team. Post Course Meetings Goal setting workshop Ongoing consulting with players and coaches
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