Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Fall semester online student enrollment exceeded 6 million in 2015 (Allen & Seaman, 2017). In 2013, 66% of chief academic officers at 2,800 colleges and universities reiterated the critical importance of online offerings to their institutions’ long-term success (Allen & Seaman, 2014). In addition, there is growing pressure in U. S. higher education to include study abroad programs (Rhodes, Loberg, & Hubbard, 2014), and to stress intercultural competence and global thinking (Karlberg, 2008). However, while the American Council on Education found that 50% of high school seniors expressed interest in study abroad (ACE, 2008), only 2% participated as postsecondary students (IIE, 2012). Clearly, there is a need for innovative program designs. The purpose of our mixed design course for undergraduate and graduate students is to expand their global and cross-cultural awareness through experiential learning outside of the U. S. while enrolling in an online Global Identity course that furnishes a more traditional pedagogical component. This design includes an 8-week online course with a 10-day study abroad component (led by the online co-instructors) at each end. The pilot launched in 2018, and focused on Costa Rica and Uganda. All involved deemed it successful, and it will run in 2019 with modifications for different destinations. This study includes a detailed description of our advance planning, course design and objectives, program development from concept to fruition, timeline, faculty involvement, administrative support, bumps along the way, and outcome assessment. Our goal is to share our work and foster discussion with other conference participants.