随着我们进入秋季学期, 十大赌博网站’s campus is filled with students, eager for what the year holds as they prepare for their future careers. Many students are returning after a busy summer—wrapping up internships, 工作, or study abroad opportunities through the Rinker Center for Experiential Learning.
本文最初发表于 高等教育内幕， PBA历史学副教授，博士. 伊丽莎白Stice, shares how trips abroad can enhance students’ confidence, 了解其他文化, 让他们在就业方面有优势. She also highlights how trips like these can help faculty better understand the students they serve and find new ways to enhance experiential learning.
在PBA，我们致力于全人教育. Study abroad trips empower students not just to see the world—but to use the knowledge, 智慧, and compassion they gain to better shine the light it desperately needs.
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“约翰·斯坦贝克的 《博彩平台网址大全》 是最伟大的旅行故事之一吗. It is an account of Steinbeck’s journey across the country with his dog Charley, 和一辆露营车在一起. Steinbeck set out to find out “What are Americans like today?他慢慢地开着车. 他在小城镇停留过, 与当地人交谈, had contemplative drinks around campfires and sipped his coffee in the morning. Steinbeck’s journey was about the opposite of my recent experience traveling overseas with college students.
My travels with college students took place in Greece and Turkey across the span of two weeks. 斯坦贝克有很多自己的时间. 我们几乎总是在一起. His companion was a dog who sometimes sighed and sometimes barked but largely kept quiet. Our bus contained students who could and did nap but were quite capable of expressing themselves verbally.
Steinbeck drove himself; we were driven. He kept his pace slow; we wore ourselves out. He was his own guide; we had professionals. He was somewhat indifferent to where his journey might take him; we had a packed agenda. He was in America; we were overseas. We got, in many ways, different things out of our trips. 但我们都从各自的经历中得到了启发.
A great deal of evidence demonstrates how much students benefit from travel study trips and study abroad semesters. Many students benefit from the more experiential learning style. Learning about Athens in the classroom and then walking around the Parthenon is a special and memorable opportunity. Students come back from overseas trips with more exposure to the rest of the world and often an increase in confidence. For semester-long programs, students can return with enhanced language skills. 出国留学可以提供就业优势. 学生出国留学的原因有很多. For faculty, the benefits are different but just as real.
教师 leading a trip overseas should already know quite a bit about the subject and location, but the experiential side of travel study for faculty cannot be had elsewhere. Typically, faculty and college students interact mostly in the classroom. 我们站在前面，或者在前面踱步. Even if we practice engaged learning, we are largely in control of the environment. 我们主要谈论我们了解的话题. 很容易陷入一种模式. We might even offer some of the same lectures and same examples year after year.
Outside of the classroom and outside of the country, the situation is different. 我们并不总是在控制之中, we do not always command the room or the bus and we cannot operate from a script. Travel study trips show us our own pedagogical limitations, 哪些可以隐藏在讲台后面. 旅行迫使我们更自然、更舒展. 他们也可以让我们对学生更真实. Something about being on a bus together all day and trying to scrounge up change for access to a bathroom rehumanizes, 或者至少加深了人的因素, 师生互动.
Travel study takes us out of the laboratory and into real life. That grounding is good, but the reality you gain is often the opposite of disillusioning. Seeing our students learn about Greece and Turkey in person and watching them get excited was a way to rekindle the enthusiasm I had when I first saw these places in person—at their age. Traveling with college students is a powerful reminder about some of the best things about working at a college or university. One of those things is the seeing and sharing the transformation that can accompany acquiring new knowledge and experiences.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character.” Travel study trips are excellent character-building opportunities for faculty members. When else will we need to comfort someone throwing up on a bus? More significantly, we can recapture some of the enthusiasm that should accompany learning. We can come away with a more realistic assessment of our teaching and ability to connect with students. We can also have our spirits lifted when we briefly look at the world through the eyes of younger people and consider what it is they are taking into the world when they graduate.”
图片来源:希腊卡瓦拉 艾比Lowtan, 詹妮弗·迈尔斯, 伊丽莎白·迈尔斯, 约瑟夫·斯坦西尔(后面), 伊丽莎白Stice, 莎拉•约翰逊, 莎拉·坎贝尔(坐着), 加里·坡, 凯特Melendy, 奥利维亚灰色, Johnna瑞安, 贝拉·蒂布斯(后排), 卡拉尼·勒布朗(坐着), 丽贝卡•汉森, 多琳有分, 布里特妮·纽瑟姆(坐着), 肖恩·迈克尔, 凯拉保林, 林赛Findlay, 对理查兹
