Work-In-Progress: Exploring Student Learning Outcomes During a Ghana Learning Abroad Experience

Students in the U.S. experience common barriers to studying abroad, including finances, institutional support, cultural capital, racism abroad, and lack of information [1]. Engineering students go abroad at significantly lower rates than their peers, with only 8.9% of the over 2% U.S. student population studying abroad from the engineering field in the 2020–2021 academic year [2]. Although these barriers demonstrate significant challenges for students, an anti-deficit approach to studying abroad empowers students in their pursuit of a global engagement experience and informs administrators on how to develop empowering programs that deliver numerous benefits to these student participants [3]. Over the past three years at a large, urban, Minority-Serving University, efforts have been made by engineering faculty and the learning abroad office to decrease common barriers and empower students by highlighting the learning outcomes that students acquire during short-term faculty-led learning abroad experiences. However, there is limited research on the intersection of underrepresented and STEM students in study abroad. Therefore, the purpose of this preliminary study was two-fold: (1) to investigate the student learning outcomes that students express having been enhanced or acquired during a short-term learning abroad experience, and (2) to use those findings to encourage additional engineering faculty to develop programs. This study used photo-elicitation, a visual method that taps into participants' tacit knowledge and helps lessen the power dynamics between researchers and study participants. We asked participants to capture and submit photographs and a written response describing how the learning abroad experience impacted them as global citizens. We used thematic analysis [4] of participants' written descriptions triangulated with photographs that they submitted as our data analysis procedure. Through the analysis of nine student responses, we inductively developed two themes: the process of experiencing and connecting to culture and people and teamwork. We observed distinctions in the process of experiencing and connecting based on where students placed their value. Some students found value in the immersive experience, while others valued the comparison and connection to their previous cultural experience and knowledge. Students presenting teamwork focused on the engagement with other participants or people in Ghana to solve problems (small activities) and larger challenges. This preliminary study suggests that short-term faculty-led learning abroad experiences are viable for supporting students' development as global engineers and citizens. The results suggest that short-term experiences can significantly impact student perspectives, identity as engineers, and connection to people and the world. The work will be foundational for future qualitative studies that could include interviews and focus groups that render deeper inquiry into the themes identified in the preliminary study.