About this Site

The Embedded Education Abroad Faculty Toolkit has been designed with respect to two primary focus areas, global citizenship and academic development. Specific course objectives have been written for each focus area and are supported by an array of instructional tools that can either be integrated into course syllabi or facilitated as one-time activities.  While one will ideally select tools that align with course objectives, the Toolkit has been further categorized by phase of instruction, content thread and learning style. 

Primary Focus Areas

To further refine and extend the purpose, goals and objectives of embedded programming, the Toolkit has been developed and organized around two primary focus areas: Global Citizenship and Academic Development. Each focus area is sub-divided into interrelated domains with associated course objectives for each. Particular tools supporting each objective have been indicated, keeping in mind that a given tool can work toward multiple objectives.

The two primary focus areas are: 

• Global Citizenship
• Academic Development

Phases of Instruction

Recognizing that the international travel component can occur at any time during a residential course, tools have been developed and organized around three key phases of instruction: Pre-Departure, In-Country and Post-Study Abroad. It is important to note that particular tools can cross phases or can be revised to appropriately suit a particular phase.

Content Threads

The tools have been developed and organized around five broad-ranging content threads: Communication, Utilization of Technology, Primary & Secondary Research, Experiential Learning, and Culture & Identity. These threads have been chosen for their appropriateness to education abroad programming.

• Communication: Communication is inclusive of language learning and intercultural communication.
• Utilization of Technology: Utilization of technology includes computer-assisted instruction as well as popular forms of on-line communication such as blogging.
• Primary & Secondary Research: Primary or field research refers to collecting data in the international context through questionnaires, interviews or forms of ethnographic inquiry. These tools will typically involve supplemental secondary research.
• Experential Learning: Experiential learning refers to those activities that involve experience and reflection, such as journaling and similar forms of analytical writing.
• Culture & Identity: Culture and identity is inclusive of activities relating to cultural learning and identity development.

Learning Style

Particular tools can either be integrated into course syllabi or facilitated as one-time activities. It is especially important in education abroad programming to be attentive to the interplay between formal, non-formal and informal learning and to develop and implement programs that respond to different learning situations. For the purposes of the Toolkit, the terms are concisely defined as follows:

• Formal Learning is planned learning that derives from activities within a structured learning setting. It typically involves attending lectures, preparing coursework, engaging in seminar/tutorial discussions, etc.
• Non-Formal Learning is a distinction in learning between formal and informal learning. It is learning that occurs in a formal learning environment, but that is not formally recognized within a curriculum or syllabus. It typically involves workshops, clubs, student organizations, etc.
• Informal Learning is unstructured learning that derives from activities outside the formal learning and teaching settings. It has no curriculum and is not professionally organized, but is an ongoing process that occurs in its natural function as a tool for living and survival. Informal learning is likely most prevalent form of learning in an education abroad setting.