International Field Experience Research Articles

Lesson learned from the assessment of planned converted CO2 injection well integrity in Indonesia – CCUS project

The risk of CO2 leakage from carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) wells and geological storage sites must be properly assessed before the implementation of CO2 injection. According to ISO 27914 and ISO/FDIS 27916, the design and construction of an injection well needs to guarantee safety and ability to contain the stored CO2 over a long-term period. However, these standards alone were inadequate to evaluate the well integrity due to the need to specify criteria, duration of measurement, and range of measurement parameters of the available tools according to industries’ best practices.The methodology used in the study adapted applicable and readily-available international standards, field experiences, and lessons learned that could be used to support the construction of new and/or the conversion of existing oil and gas wells into CO2 injection wells. This study focused on Jepon-1 in Gundih field, Indonesia, an abandoned oil and gas well. Its actual conditions, well integrity, capabilities of the equipment used in the workover and logging operations, and its limitations in checking the conditions of various crucial aspects of integrity, were evaluated. The results showed that the application of the international standards could not fulfill all the detailed requirements of integrity evaluation of the JPN-1 well due to its particular condition and situation. Other field experiences needed to be adapted, improved, and incorporated in the integrity evaluation of this well. Additionally, longer duration of measurement and more accurate and sensitive logging evaluation tools, combined with temperature logging tools, are required to detect leakage that could not be identified by the commercial tools used in this well.The result of this well integrity study will be used as a fundamental basis for constructing CCUS well regulations by the Government and stakeholders.

“The world is my oyster”: impacts of an international student teaching experience on future early childhood special educators

ABSTRACT A critical component of blended early childhood/early childhood special education teacher preparation programs is preparing future educators who have the knowledge and skills to work with culturally and linguistically diverse children and families. International field experiences that immerse pre-service teachers (PSTs) in another culture can provide a transformational experience that leads to personal and professional growth and the use of culturally responsive practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand how an 8-week student teaching experience in Ecuador impacted PSTs’ understanding of special education and their perceived ability to work effectively with culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families. We conducted semi-structured interviews with six undergraduate PSTs who student taught in Ecuador in Fall 2019. Participants described an awareness of culturally responsive practices, new perspectives on special education, and a shift in confidence and self-efficacy. This international experience provided different opportunities than traditional domestic field placements. PSTs described their responsibility for planning and implementing interventions with children with special needs as heightening their interest in special education. Given the transformational nature of international field experiences, personnel preparation programs should consider replicating key components of international field placements within cross-cultural domestic field placements.

Comprehensive Fluid Compositional Analysis Program to Support the Interpretation of Chichimene Field In-Situ Combustion Pilot

Summary The evaluation of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods in Colombia has been very active during the past decade. One of the most recent and promising pilots is the in-situ combustion (ISC) in Chichimene field, starting in September 2019. Based on international ISC field experiences, this pilot represents a unique case study given the depth (≈8,000 ft) of this heavy crude oil (9 °API) reservoir. The pilot project consists of one injector, seven producers, and two temperature observation wells between the injector and first-line wells. Production response shows encouraging results. Its interpretation is supported by a comprehensive fluid compositional analysis, which is the main objective of this paper. This paper describes the compositional analysis of produced fluids (gas, oil, and water) and the influence of the current flow assurance program. Geochemical simulations support the evaluation of scaling tendencies, and possible corrosion trends are based on iron and manganese concentrations following the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) standards. Crude oil analysis is based on conventional techniques (i.e., acid number, distillation curves, etc.) and biomarkers to infer possible thermal maturation changes in the produced oil. Results confirm predicted cycles of CO2 and H2S during the planning of the monitoring program. The solubility of both gases in water leads to their acidification and the formation of carbonate and sulfate scales characterized in production wells. The precipitation of solids was also influenced by the N2-based H2S scavenger decomposition downhole due to the water pH increment observed with the dosage increases. The scaling tendencies did not impact the productivity due to the high reservoir permeability. The precipitation of iron species made it difficult to interpret NACE standards to infer corrosion except for wells shut in for more than 2 months showing a higher concentration of Fe and Mn. However, a recent casing inspection job at one of the first-line producers shows no corrosion signs. Heavy metals such as nickel and vanadium were analyzed in water to infer the possible corrosion or thermal cracking of porphyrins in crude oil. Changes in the paraffinic fractions and biomarkers (i.e., methyl phenanthrene index, mono- and tri-aromatic steroids) suggest an increased thermal maturity of the produced oil. The robust monitoring program has provided important insights from the ISC process and flow assurance strategy supporting possible expansion plans. This study provides valuable guidelines for monitoring programs based on compositional analysis of produced fluids, including the influence of production chemistry. Lessons learned through the Chichimene ISC monitoring program can be valuable in interpreting thermal and potentially nonthermal EOR projects.

“It’s not just a picture”: The effects of an international two-week field experience on student geoscience involvement and persistence

Recruitment and retention are critical for geoscience and the need for innovative ways of building these bridges to the geosciences is growing. Field experiences are a common attractor for students to the field sciences such as geoscience, but many research- and field-based experiences are limited to those who are already majors. Innovative, experiential approaches to geoscience recruitment and retention could be a new way to attract more students to geoscience. International field and research experiences designed for undergraduates from any academic discipline aim to provide opportunities for students to explore their (geo)science interests and potential career paths. A single, exploratory case study approach with semi-structured interviews combined with quantitative pre- and post-survey results is used to highlight the experiences of four students and their plans for continuing in the geosciences. Students (including geoscience and non-geoscience majors) were found to have had inherent, pre-college, and college influences for participation in the field experience; all students indicated plans to continue in the geosciences. Two years after the experience, researchers followed-up with the students and found that three of the four were still involved in the geosciences. Many international geoscience field experiences are exclusively for majors, but experiential learning opportunities like these should also be considered for potential majors. These results are beneficial for departments interested in designing and adapting their recruitment and retention efforts to better train the next generation of geoscientists.

Developing the intercultural competence of early childhood preservice teachers: preparing teachers for culturally diverse classrooms

ABSTRACT This research reports on studies conducted in two early childhood education (ECE) teacher preparation programs focused on increasing preservice teachers’ intercultural competence through intercultural teaching and learning and diverse US and international field experiences. Study 1 took place at a large U.S. Midwestern university with the first cohort (n = 43) of preservice teachers to have completed the revised internationally focused program. Study 2 took place at a midsized rural university in the U.S. Rocky Mountain region with preservice teachers (n = 9) who completed an eight-month university-led program with Nepal field experience. The researchers used the same instrument to measure preservice teachers’ intercultural sensitivity – the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) – before and after completion of the respective programs. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used for the analysis of the IDI scores of participants; paired samples t-test yielded individual and composite results. IDI pre and post results showed statistically significant increases in the composite scores for preservice teachers’ levels of intercultural competence for most participants. Attributes of movement away from trivializing other cultures and toward recognizing cultural similarities, appreciation of and curiosity about cultural differences, and the ability to interpret phenomena taking place in a cultural context became evident.

Master of Science (MS) and Master of Arts (MA) Degrees in Global Health: Applying Interdisciplinary Research Skills to the Study of Globalization-Related Health Disparities

Graduate global health education has grown in popularity over the past decade. The Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health has defined global public health competencies for Master of Public Health (MPH) degrees, but there are no similarly established lists of learning outcomes for other types of master’s degrees in global health. The objective of this study was to examine the program goals, curricula, and applied learning requirements for non-MPH master’s degrees in order to understand how global health is being defined and operationalized by these programs. We identified the 14 universities in the United States and Canada offering Master of Science (MS) or Master of Arts (MA) degrees in global health in 2019. Their program descriptions typically emphasize applied research skills, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches, health disparities, and globalization. Both MS and MA degree pathways use a similar research-oriented core curriculum in which (1) foundational courses introduce the social and environmental determinants of health and global burden of disease trends in the context of globalization, global health ethics, and health systems and policy; (2) a research core develops competencies in biostatistics, epidemiology, and quantitative and qualitative research methods; and (3) a thesis or other written capstone project synthesizes and applies knowledge. Only 4 of the 14 programs require an international field experience, but most encourage applied experiential learning activities. Global health appears to be maturing as an academic discipline, with non-MPH graduate degrees in global health emphasizing similar knowledge areas, research skills, and competencies.

Learning to See Teaching as a Cultural Activity: U.S. Preservice Teachers’ Significant Experiences With Nepali Mentor Teachers During an International Field Experience

ABSTRACTPreparing educators to understand teaching as a cultural activity is a crucial element of teacher education programs. International field experiences have shown to accomplish this goal when combined with cross-cultural mentoring and critical reflection. This qualitative eight-month study used ethnographic methods to examine significant experiences of six U.S. preservice teachers while being mentored by five Nepali teachers at an early childhood center in Kathmandu. Findings illustrated how the preservice teachers negotiated their significant experiences around: 1) care routines, 2) adult-child relationship, 3) curriculum & materials, 4) mentor-mentee relationship, and 5) language differences. Findings indicated that the preservice teachers navigated significant experiences by using practices that tended to accept the Nepali school culture or, at times, by displaying perceived privilege and entitlement over the Nepali school culture. More specifically, the preservice teachers showed acceptance of Nepali cultural scripts related to the themes of care routines and adult-child relationships by following practices of the mentor teachers, but their perceived privilege and entitlement were evident when confronting the Nepali cultural scripts related to the themes of curriculum materials and mentor-mentee relationships. Implications focus on why intercultural conflicts might have occurred as well as recommendations to prepare educators to understand teaching as a cultural activity.

Training Globally Minded Pediatricians to Improve Child Health.

* Abbreviation: GH — : global health Incredible advances in international travel and information technology have resulted in the shrinking of our planet. Correspondingly, the health of children in all countries is increasingly influenced by how the world deals with infectious diseases, environmental threats, armed conflict, forced migration, and poverty. Sustainable solutions to child health problems in the United States are interlinked with efforts to strengthen health care and social stability in other countries. As pediatricians, we should seek to understand the global patterns of diseases, find solutions to the inequities between and within national health systems, and practice cultural humility. In response to these changes, most US residency programs offer international field experiences, and the number offering global health (GH) tracks continues to grow.1 Several studies describe a significant surge in GH training over the last 3 decades with surveys of pediatric residency program directors and recently graduated pediatric residents. In this month’s issue of Pediatrics , Chan et al2 shift the GH spotlight beyond the training period and report … Address correspondence to Suzinne Pak-Gorstein, MD, MPH, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, 6016 First Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107. E-mail: spakgor{at}uw.edu

Teachers as Students in the (Literal) Field: A Service-learning Internship within a Developing Nation

This paper provides an account of a recent research study that investigated an international field experience—labelled as a service-learning internship—for in-service teachers. Relying upon what we know to be the advantages and benefits of similar international field experiences for pre-service teachers to frame our investigation, we explored the impact upon in-service teachers, particularly as they relate to both professional and personal growth. Analysis of questionnaire responses revealed several prominent themes. Stories and accounts of professional growth were related to: 1) creating an engaging and safe learning environment, 2) (over)planning for the unexpected, and 3) teaching with (and in front of) others. Stories and accounts of personal growth were related to: 1) letting go of control, 2) facing fears and confronting anxieties outside of one’s comfort zone, and 3) recognizing privilege and the excess of possessions. Results from this study might be of interest to those who similarly share an interest in international field experiences, service-learning, in-service teacher education, and international or global education.

Are you ready? A systematic review of pre-departure resources for global health electives

BackgroundThere has been an exponential increase in the offering of short-term international field experiences in recent years in response to student demands for global health opportunities. Pre-departure preparation is an essential component to equip trainees with the adequate safety, wellness, and cultural competence needed to engage in a meaningful and mutually beneficial elective. This review seeks to quantify the plethora of pre-departure preparation training available to public health, clinical, and undergraduate trainees across the continuum of education for short-term experiences in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsWe performed a systematic review of Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid Global Health in February, 2018. A three-concept search was employed and included “global or international health”; “education or preparation of personnel/students”; and “field programs or travel.” The study teamed used PRISMA reporting guidelines to conduct title and full-text reviews and conduct data extraction and analysis.ResultsThe search returned 2506 unique articles. Of these, 55 met inclusion criteria and were included in the final review. Ninety one percent (91%) of articles focused on pre-departure trainings for medical students and residents. Nine thematic domains for short-term international field experiences emerged; culture, safety, and project-specific knowledge were the most frequently covered domains while mentorship, professionalism, and emotional wellness and culture shock were least common. Approximately half (53.3%) of studies specifically evaluated the pre-departure component of the international experience using a survey or evaluation form. Recommendations emerged from these evaluations including early engagement with international partners, inclusion of self-reflection exercises and site-specific content, and utilization of interactive approaches in learning. Some institutions face barriers to conducting pre-departure preparation such as lack of dedicated faculty, finances, and institutional support.ConclusionsInterest in pre-departure training for international experiences is growing but few programs conduct and publish evaluations of these trainings. Pre-departure trainings should be developed in partnership with receiving institutions and faculty and incorporate critical self- reflection throughout the experience. In addition to the experience itself, institutions need to evaluate these curricula to better understand how they influence trainees’ capacity to effectively engage in LMIC settings.

Minority-world professionals in majority-world early childhood contexts: How do international field experiences promote intercultural competence or reinforce “professional” ethnocentrism?

This colloquium problematizes the use of early childhood international field experiences as a tool for professional development with Euro-Western pre-service and in-service teachers. The authors critique experiences where minority-world educators teach or implement internships within majority-world contexts. It is critical for Euro-Western teacher education programs to provide pre-service and in-service teachers with opportunities to expand their global views of the early childhood professional through international field experiences. But how can this be done when conceptions of the “professional” are constructed in Euro-Western images, ideas, curricula, ideologies, and privilege? The authors make a call for early childhood teacher educators to reconsider, deconstruct, and re-examine themselves and their pre-service and in-service teachers’ rationale for engaging in international field experiences.

Learning from cultural engagements in community-based heritage scholarship

ABSTRACTThis article explores the intellectual and methodological values of cross-cultural and institutional engagements in community-based heritage initiatives, specifically a cultural exchange and university training program. The initiatives were situated in the Belizean villages of Crooked Tree and Biscayne. The cultural exchange took place between people of African Kriol and Mopan Maya descent who shared histories of engagements with archaeologists and community efforts to manage local environmental and cultural heritage resources. The university training example highlights engagements in an international community-based public history field experience. By discussing these case-studies and situating them in relevant disciplinary literatures, I demonstrate how interactions between groups embedded in community-based heritage initiatives provide valuable learning opportunities for a range of stakeholders and contribute to heritage scholarship. I discuss considerations in implementing cultural exchanges, share details about the process and results of community, academic, and institutional engagements in heritage projects in Belize, and conclude with some learned lessons about community-based heritage scholarship.

Examining the Pedagogy of Community-Based Heritage Work through an International Public History Field Experience

This article provides a model for an international community-based public history field experience, with a university student-engagement case study in two Belizean communities. This field experience involved experiential education, interdisciplinary research, and collaboration between American and Belizean university students; public history, cultural anthropology, and archaeology scholars; US and Belizean institutions; and community residents. Resulting products included an exhibit on local cultural heritage and educational materials. I explore the pedagogical and scholarly utility of the field experience to public history by discussing the educational process, project results, and student learning outcomes, highlighting in particular contributions to student training and engaged scholarship.

Mollenhauer’s Representation: The Role of Preservice Teachers in the Practices of Upbringing

Our recent research study investigated an international field experience for preservice teachers, labelled as a service-learning internship, a term often used to refer to a student teacher in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) program. Relying on what we know to be advantages and benefits of similar international field experiences for preservice teachers to frame our investigation, we explored the impact of a service-learning internship upon beginning teachers, particularly as it related to their professional growth as teachers. To gain insight into teacher education, we drew on the work of Mollenhauer (2014) to critically examine the foundations of how we prepare teachers in our BEd program. Analysis of questionnaire responses, tracked by a digital discussion forum via Moodle™, revealed two dominant themes: (a) gaining a deeper understanding of children, and (b) learning to be flexible regardless of curricular constraints. Results from this study might be of interest to those who share a similar interest in international field experiences, teacher education, and pedagogy. Keywords: pedagogy, Bildung; teacher education; international; field experience; service learning; global teaching

Uncovering cultural assumptions: Using a critical incident technique during an international student-teaching field experience

This research examined the critical incidents of 10 United States (US) early childhood student teachers during a three-week university-sponsored international field experience conducted in three urban preschools in Kathmandu, Nepal. The purpose of employing the critical incident technique was to allow the US student teachers to reflect critically on successful and unsuccessful intercultural interactions in an effort to identify cultural assumptions about teaching young children. The approach was used not only to make assumptions visible, but also to make conceptual and behavioral changes based on what was learned from the critical reflection. The student teachers wrote weekly critical incidents, which were then discussed during weekly individual interviews. Three group discussions, a research journal, and field notes were used to triangulate the findings. A qualitative thematic analysis revealed five types of written critical incidents: descriptive, hypothetical, resistive, reflective, and integrative. Illustrative critical incidents are presented to compare and contrast how the international field experience allowed for productive reflection of cultural assumptions for some student teachers while leading to resistance to cultural assumptions for other student teachers. The findings suggest that outcomes vary based on the student teachers’ ability not only to identify their cultural assumptions, but also to challenge their cultural assumptions with actions grounded in ethnorelative reflection when teaching diverse groups of young children in the US and abroad.

Can an international field experience assist Health and Physical Education pre-service teachers to develop cultural competency?

AbstractAn emerging focus of teacher education courses within countries such as Australia centres on the development of cultural competency. An international practicum experience or student mobility programme embedded within pre-service teacher education programmes is one way to provide such an opportunity. In subject areas such as Health and Physical Education (HPE) this is of particular relevance given the nature of teachable subject content relating to the impact of culture on the lives of young people in contemporary societies. This article examines the perceived value of an international sports-based field experience in assisting to develop HPE pre-service teachers’ cultural competency. In partnership with the Pacific in Union (PiU) Rugby for Schools initiative, 12 HPE pre-service teachers from an Australian regional university were linked with local schools in Western Samoa and required to facilitate a three-week sports-based, health and physical activity programme. The programme is referred to as t...

The Emergence of Undergraduate Majors in Global Health: Systematic Review of Programs and Recommendations for Future Directions.

Global health education has been expanding rapidly and several universities have created an undergraduate major degree (bachelor's degree) in global heath or global health studies. Because there are currently no national guidelines for undergraduate degrees in global health, each of these programs was developed along individual lines. To guide the development of future global health majors, we conducted a systematic review of undergraduate majors in global health. We identified eight programs and invited program directors or representatives to a symposium at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health 2016 conference to review their existing undergraduate major in global health and to discuss lessons learned and recommendations for other colleges and universities seeking to develop undergraduate degrees in global health. We noted significant diversity among the existing programs in terms of required courses, international field experiences, and thesis research projects. In this review, we describe these global health programs, their student characteristics, as well as the key educational competencies, program requirements, and core global health courses. Based on program reviews and discussions, we identify seven recommendations for the development and expansion of an undergraduate major in global health and discuss issues that have arisen in the curricular development of these programs that warrant further exploration. As the field of global health education continues to expand, following these students after graduation will be essential to ensure that the degree programs in global health both meet student needs and launch students on viable career pathways.

Think globally, engage pedagogically: Procuring and supervising international field experiences

Similar to society in general, globalization of the world economy has changed the landscape of the sport industry (Dicken, 2007; Neirotti, 2015; Thibault, 2009). As competition for the sport fan's discretionary dollar becomes more intense in America, the international market and associated financial opportunities will undoubtedly increase. As a result, it is important that sport management students gain experience both at home and abroad to be highly competitive for employment opportunities in the sport industry (Lee & Lupi, 2010). In order to prepare sport management students for the global marketplace, sport management educators to foster opportunities for students to complete international practicums, internships, and other forms of authentic experiential learning. Educators need to be aware of a variety of resources that can be used to supervise field experiences-particularly "distance" based international field experiences. The purpose of this presentation is to outline best practices associated with online supervision of international experiential learning experiences. Recommendations on creating and maintaining relationships with international partners, strategies for supervision, and methods of evaluation will be included. A step-by-step process model will be presented aimed at providing meaningful learning experiences for students and building enduring partnerships for the institution.

International field experiences promote professional development for sustainability leaders

Purpose– This paper aims to describe, explain and evaluate a graduate education program that provides international project experiences and builds competencies related to collaborative problem-solving, cultural capacity to work globally and sustainable development.Design/methodology/approach– Qualitative analysis of survey data from 28 students supplemented by observation and interviews conducted before, during and after a multi-week project and a ten-day trip to China in 2014. Supplemental data and contextual information were provided by a series of related projects and trips led by the authors in other cultural contexts including Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Turkey.Findings– Six pedagogic practices were perceived as effective by students and generate learning outcomes desired by faculty: authentic problems, learning cycles, shared inquiry, transdisciplinarity, exploration and engagement.Practical implications– The pedagogy was effective, especially the engagement pedagogy in which students interviewed peers, professionals, residents and others in China.Originality/value– These learning outcomes and pedagogies have been studied before, but not in this particular combination or as applied to a mix of business, non-governmental organization and government mid-career professionals seeking professional development in leadership for sustainable development.

Global Health Education in US Pediatric Residency Programs.

Despite the growing importance of global health (GH) training for pediatric residents, few mechanisms have cataloged GH educational opportunities offered by US pediatric residency programs. We sought to characterize GH education opportunities across pediatric residency programs and identify program characteristics associated with key GH education elements. Data on program and GH training characteristics were sought from program directors or their delegates of all US pediatric residency programs during 2013 to 2014. These data were used to compare programs with and without a GH track as well as across small, medium, and large programs. Program characteristics associated with the presence of key educational elements were identified by using bivariate logistic regression. Data were collected from 198 of 199 active US pediatric residency programs (99.5%). Seven percent of pediatric trainees went abroad during 2013 to 2014. Forty-nine programs (24.7%) reported having a GH track, 66.1% had a faculty lead, 58.1% offered international field experiences, and 48.5% offered domestic field experiences. Forty-two percent of programs reported international partnerships across 153 countries. Larger programs, those with lead faculty, GH tracks, or partnerships had significantly increased odds of having each GH educational element, including pretravel preparation. The number of pediatric residency programs offering GH training opportunities continues to rise. However, smaller programs and those without tracks, lead faculty, or formal partnerships lag behind with organized GH curricula. As GH becomes an integral component of pediatric training, a heightened commitment is needed to ensure consistency of training experiences that encompass best practices in all programs.