skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Designing an international research experience for graduate students
As a result of the ongoing globalization, international student experiences are becoming fundamental to advance students’ development and knowledge. Even though such growing importance, the body of knowledge regarding international interventions is dominated by subjective accounts and lacks contrasted results. In order to design an international research experience for graduate students, recommendations on the design and content of such experiences based on the review of literature were explored. A qualitative and bibliographical analysis of 40 studies evaluating the influence of international student interventions informed about the variables that such interventions should measure and the impact of such experiences on student development. Researchers especially measured the competencies intercultural development (83%), intellectual growth (58%), personal development (58%), professional development (50%), and academic development (15%). However, most of the studies failed to develop an appropriate research design that enables researchers to capture the breadth and depth of an international intervention. Results include addressing various competencies that students can gain during their experience abroad, using mixed methods to collect the data, whereby data should be collected at different time points including before, and multiple times after the international experience by different means.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1855799
PAR ID:
10431224
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Education
Volume:
8
ISSN:
2504-284X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Jazizadeh, F; Shealy; T, Garvin (Ed.)
    Globalization has led to increased demand for international education and education experiences by domestic students. However, the current body of knowledge regarding these experiences is scarce and mostly dominated by subjective accounts. This paper explores the research content and methods necessary to capture the impact of an abroad education and research experience. This ongoing study combines bibliometric analysis, literature review, and qualitative analysis of selected articles. Based on the body of knowledge in social sciences, student competencies impacted by an international academic intervention incorporate the following knowledge domains: (1) intercultural competence; (2) professional development; (3) intellectual growth; (4) academic development; and (5) personal development. A comprehensive review of existing approaches for assessing international student experiences was also contrasted against accepted research procedures. While a mixed-methods approach to collect data via survey instruments and face-to-face interviews can enhance the depth and breadth of the observations, collecting data at different points in time enables the capture of both immediate and sustained impacts on the student. Besides self-reported data, the evaluation of the students’ research advisors and peers should also be conducted. 
    more » « less
  2. With globalization, the demand for competent engineering graduates with international acumen increases. In order to respond to this rising demand, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the International Research Experiences in Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (IRECCEE) program to understand the impact of international research experiences on students through a multidisciplinary lens. The program provides Ph.D. students in civil engineering disciplines the opportunity to gain valuable international research experience and establish long-lasting collaborations with international researchers. The program funds students to travel and perform research work at an international research institution. For every student, such research experience becomes the intervention. This paper discusses the program and the corresponding research framework with the aim that the research community can leverage such framework. The mixed-method research framework was designed to comprehensively capture the immediate and sustained impact of the program on the students’ competencies. With a multidisciplinary approach, the framework captures impacts on students’ intercultural competence, professional development, intellectual growth, personal development, and academic development. The data collection includes survey designs and interviews. In order to capture immediate and sustained impacts, data is collected before and multiple times after the intervention. 
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    Undergraduate research and international experiences are often described as high-impact educational practices beneficial for undergraduate student success and for supporting the development of science identity and intercultural competencies. While several studies have investigated the impact of undergraduate research on students from minoritized groups, fewer studies have focused on their engagement in global experiences, and fewer still have explored their engagement in international research experiences. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Science Identity, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and the Intercultural Competence Model, this present study explores the benefits of participating in an international research experience for minority undergraduate scientists. Using a qualitative case study methodology, we examined the evolution of students’ science identity, research competencies, and intercultural competence after engaging in a three-month international research opportunity in France and Belgium. We found that after participating in international research, minority undergraduate scientists had: 1) Increased confidence in their science identity and abilities; 2) Gained and strengthened skills necessary to be a successful researcher, 3) Recognized the influence of international exposure on their growth personally and professionally, 4) Expressed how monumental this research opportunity is for all minority students to experience. Our findings suggest substantial benefits from an international research experience on the development of minority undergraduate scientists. 
    more » « less
  4. null (Ed.)
    Undergraduate research and international experiences are often described as high-impact educational practices beneficial for undergraduate student success and for supporting the development of science identity and intercultural competencies. While several studies have investigated the impact of undergraduate research on students from minoritized groups, fewer studies have focused on their engagement in global experiences, and fewer still have explored their engagement in international research experiences. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Science Identity, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and the Intercultural Competence Model, this present study explores the benefits of participating in an international research experience for minority undergraduate scientists. Using a qualitative case study methodology, we examined the evolution of students’ science identity, research competencies, and intercultural competence after engaging in a three-month international research opportunity in France and Belgium. We found that after participating in international research, minority undergraduate scientists had: 1) Increased confidence in their science identity and abilities; 2) Gained and strengthened skills necessary to be a successful researcher, 3) Recognized the influence of international exposure on their growth personally and professionally, 4) Expressed how monumental this research opportunity is for all minority students to experience. Our findings suggest substantial benefits from an international research experience on the development of minority undergraduate scientists. 
    more » « less
  5. The purpose of this work is to determine if global engagement interventions without extended international travel can help engineering students develop a global learner mindset and build towards the overarching goal of developing a holistic global engineering educational approach to meet the current and future needs of the engineering profession. The global learner mindset refers to how engineers perceive and interpret the global environment, and is assumed to be foundational in developing global engineering competence, how they define problems and formulate and implement solutions. This project has focused on assessing the global learner mindset elements, which include cultural humility, global citizenship, and critical reflection within the context of four distinctly different global engagement interventions. These interventions include international engineering case studies in a quantitative analysis course, intentional formation of multi-national student teams within a capstone design course, a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) research project in a fluid flow course, and an engineering short course coupled to a community engaged project. The PIs conducted pilot implementations of the four interventions during the spring 2023 semester and collected pre and post assessment data from the Global Engagement Survey (GES) and Global Engineering Competency Scale (GECS) instruments. The results have been used to determine a path forward to improve the next implementation of the interventions during the Spring 2024 semester. This path includes the development of a focus group with students participating in each intervention to obtain a deeper understanding through qualitative data, specifically targeting global engineering mindset formation that will help better contextualize the quantitative results from the GES and GECS instruments. This work aspires to expand the required development of global competencies in engineering beyond the current research focused on the development of intercultural competence in international or study-abroad experiences. Our focus is on the development of a holistic global engineering education process able to reach all engineering students even when institutions are not able to provide opportunities to fully immerse in other cultures, either because of global crises (such as a pandemic or violent conflicts), financial limitations, or the need for more sustainable methods of globally connecting. 
    more » « less