DESCRIPTION

Study abroad courses ideally provide an orientation that serves to improve the students’ chances of having an enriching time during their program. A variety of resources are offered during the orientation, including information about language, geography, history, customs/manners, culture, and public transportation. To help students gain knowledge about their study abroad destination, instructors provide lessons on these topics, followed up by short quizzes. These quizzes are required to complete but are not-graded; they are untimed, self-correcting, and intended to be a stress-free way for students to participate in an orientation. Each topic also has an Open Discussion forum where students talk to one another and share thoughts and questions about the content.

PURPOSE

Study abroad students will have different interests and strengths, but well-chosen orientation topics can provide a solid overview of what they should know before heading to their destination. Anyone who has traveled abroad has a common regret after the trip is competed: not having prepared enough to appreciate or even understand what they underwent. This orientation is thus an opportunity for students to avoid such a regret and to have a more fulfilling experience. Each orientation topic stands on its own, but students will not be overwhelmed. During the semester, students proceed slowly thought these topics on a pre-determined schedule so that all are working on the same topic at the same time. Keeping students together on these topics and allowing them to work together also has additional benefits for the study abroad program: as students prepare together their shared adventure, they get acquainted with one another and their instructors well before the actual trip begins.

Resource provided by William Helling, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer and Associate Program Director, Library and Information Science