This past weekend was the Forum on Education Abroad Conference. It’s a great event that is aimed to bring people together who share a passion for study abroad and international education. At the event there were various assessment tools used to measure intercultural development, study abroad outcomes, and many other competencies. One assessment was the Learning from Study Abroad survey which measures eight different outcomes:
The ability to reason by developing an understanding that:
1. Culture influences how one thinks and reasons.
2. There are differences between cultures that influence norms.
3. Without being judgmental, cultural similarities and differences can be analytically compared and contrasted.
4. Certain universals of human existence transcend cultural differences.Self-reflective insights that:
5. Allow one to understand that one’s culture has shaped his/her values or beliefs.
6. Allow one to continue the development of his/her personal identity (values, beliefs, goals, etc.) based on a multicultural perspective.A capacity for effective action, which includes:
7. The skills to operate effectively in multicultural and intercultural situations.
8. The motivation to address issues of contemporary global concern.
Inside Higher Ed has a great article about the actual conference and can be found here.