ERIC Number: EJ1140001
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-3297
EISSN: N/A
"Pushing the Boundaries": Participant Motivation and Self-Reported Benefits of Short-Term International Study Tours
Bretag, Tracey; van der Veen, Robert
Innovations in Education and Teaching International, v54 n3 p175-183 2017
Short-term overseas study tours serve as a means of developing students' global competencies. The authors conducted pre-departure and post-return focus groups with three groups of students at an Australian university who had participated in short-term study tours to Asia to explore their motivations for participating and their self-reported benefits following completion of the study tour. Students' key motivations revolved around the allure of a challenge, the desire to complete coursework quickly, experience cultural immersion, expand their networks, develop their "soft" skills and to set themselves apart from other graduates in the future. The main self-reported benefits of the study tours centred on increased confidence from "pushing the boundaries", enhanced intercultural understanding, improved interpersonal skills and the perception that career goals, particularly in relation to working overseas, had been clarified.
Descriptors: Student Participation, Student Motivation, Student Surveys, Student Satisfaction, Student Attitudes, Global Education, Focus Groups, Pretests Posttests, Study Abroad, International Educational Exchange, Student Educational Objectives, Educational Benefits, Student Mobility, Qualitative Research, Interpersonal Communication, Multicultural Education, College Students, Foreign Countries, Semi Structured Interviews
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; Asia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A