Curricular Integration
The Education Abroad Office works with faculty, department representatives and professional advisors to incorporate education abroad into the undergraduate experience at WSU.
What Role Can You Play?
Students usually have a pretty easy time selecting a study abroad program based on location, climate and recreational opportunities. Often, however, they flounder when attempting to find a program that will fit into their academic program. That's where faculty members and advisors come in. Your time and expertise can ensure that students consider academic fit and quality when choosing a study abroad experience.
As a faculty member and/or academic advisor, you may be the first person with whom a student wishing to study abroad broaches the subject. Your interest in the student's plans, willingness to review syllabi from foreign institutions, and awareness of the Education Abroad Office's procedures may make or break the student's resolve to study abroad. To gain a quick understanding of how Education Abroad works, please refer to our Education Abroad Cheat Sheet. Of course we hope you will feel free to call and talk with any of our staff for more information about the education abroad process at WSU.
Why is Education Abroad Important?
The integration of education abroad into the curriculum is important for many reasons. In Education for the Intercultural Experience," Michael Paige writes: "(Intercultural education) requires learners to reflect upon matters with which they have had little firsthand experience. Second, unlike more conventional approaches to education, which tend to emphasize depersonalized forms of cognitive learning and knowledge acquisition, it includes highly personalized behavioral and affective learning, self-reflection, and direct experience with cultural difference." In this manner, education abroad opportunities form an important piece of today's undergraduate education.
Education abroad also speaks to today's workplace. Increasingly career paths are international in nature, and employees need to be prepared to work effectively in diverse environments. A recent survey by the American Council on Education found that more that 90% of the public agreed that knowledge about international issues would be important to the careers of younger generations (Siaya, Porcelli, and Green, 2002). As they compete for the best students, universities will want to respond to these market factors.
Yet another reason to send our students overseas to study is that study abroad has been shown to enhance a student's on-campus study. Many students who return to Washington State University after studying abroad report that they now are more committed to their field of study and have a broader concept of how it fits into the world. These students also can bring new perspectives into the classroom and enhance the learning environment for their peers who have not had the opportunity to study abroad.
The Integration of Education Abroad into the Curriculum
One of the main barriers for students considering an education abroad program is the potential delay in time toward graduation. The Education Abroad Office is committed to working with departments to identify academic programs abroad that align with WSU's four-year academic plan. Borrowing the University of Minnesota model, the Education Abroad Office plans, over the next few years, to work with each academic department to determine five to seven programs that fit with the department's curriculum, educational philosophy, course progression, and student learning outcomes.
For more information on the Education Abroad Curriculum Integration initiative, please contact Candace Chenoweth at 335-6920.
More Information
For more information on the Education Abroad Curriculum Integration initiative, please contact Candace Chenoweth
- Phone: 509-335-6920
- Email: chenow@wsu.edu