How to Begin a Successful Study Abroad Course

Abstract

As employers seek to build a comprehensive work environment and prioritize not only subject matter discipline knowledge and its relevant application, they also desire to hire students with a wider breath of skills. These skills include considerable “soft- or people-skills”, now being referred to as “career- or world-readiness skills. Employers certainly value and assess a students’ knowledge base, but in addition successful employers want employees to demonstrate the ability to “apply relevant information to assist others in solving challenges and being more productive”. Study abroad experiences provide an excellent opportunity for students to develop these skills. In preparation for a study abroad course just as with any course, the instructors must apply critical curriculum design components to this experience if it is to be meaningful. Careful attention must be paid to the expected learning outcomes using Bloom's Taxonomy verbs and background design to select content, preparation needed, relevant assignments/activities and assessments. It is also critical to establish trusted on-the-ground collaborators to ensure the experiences can be planned and executed in a well -organized and intentionally educational manner.