What do students want when they set out to explore the world?
That is a question university educators and administrators often ask when developing overseas study trips for students. So why do we not work with the students themselves to take guesswork out of the way?
The success of international study initiatives relies on students wanting to take part. But can students help us design productive trips that reflect what they want from exploration of the world – when they often do not know much about that world yet, at least from a higher education perspective?
Co-creation with students is increasingly popular in higher education, used to shape teaching, curricula and assessments. One of the biggest challenges of co-creation is to meet in the middle: educators know the academic subject, and students know how the subject fits with their broader lives and reality.
For most overseas study experiences, the only choice students can influence is where they go. When surveyed, our students said they wanted to add more potential destinations into the mix. But they seemed unable or unwilling to point to any new locations for overseas study beyond what I call “the usual suspects in the North Atlantic”.
Those are of course all fine locations and institutions but they will not offer our students the chance to encounter anything that differs dramatically from their home base – a Western country and education system, albeit one far from the North Atlantic.
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To be clear: I have nothing against my Australian students spending time in North America, Ireland, or the rest of Europe. For some students, going from Sydney to Glasgow is already a significant cultural difference, and I want to honour that. For most students, though, we can nudge them to expand their world view further and go somewhere more culturally removed from their day-to-day, and I believe we ought to.
So, how do we balance the desire to involve students in co-creation of these overseas experiences with us wanting to push students to select destinations that will broaden their horizons – and align to the needs of their academic programme at their home institution? There are three areas where we should focus efforts and work with students to promote positive change.
The type of overseas study experience
The traditional form of overseas study, student exchange, does not allow for much co-creation beyond choice of institution. But what if we designed other overseas experiences, led by students’ home institutions taking them abroad for short- or medium-term programmes?
Institutions in the US have a long tradition of doing so, and universities elsewhere could learn from this experience. In these programmes, students’ home institutions maintain a duty of care towards students, which creates a sense of security and thus greater freedom to experiment and see more of the world. And students can have more of a say in what they do at that location.
Further, for most students, overseas trips are not just a terrific opportunity for academic and personal growth, they also want professional development opportunities, our survey showed.
So, bundling international experiences with industrial training degree requirements or other work-integrated learning can give students more powerful incentives. It addresses student anxieties about whether they will have enough professional experience on their CVs when they graduate.
Destinations that support personal growth
Students often ask for locations that already have a firm place in their imaginations. But what if, instead of accepting these locations as if students were consultants, we engaged them in a conversation about why they prefer certain locations over others?
Reflecting on what they might get out of these study trips can create a pathway for them to discover that, in fact, they could have an amazing experience in many more diverse and enriching locations. And that these more “foreign” locations will grow their sense of confidence and belonging through the experience even further.
Support with funding
Students are very sensitive to the costs of international experiences and whether they are worth it, our survey showed. Concerns centred around the length of trips and missed opportunities at home in terms of paid work.
If we can work with students to alleviate some of the upfront costs, choosing less expensive locations, for instance, while involving them in fundraising efforts for themselves and future students, then we may go some way towards alleviating one of the biggest barriers to participation in overseas programmes. These outbound experiences can be powerful equalisers for diverse students who take part. Donors like to see the tangible value of experiences they have supported, and students are the best ambassadors for this.
Even if most students do not yet know the world as well as their university educators, they surely have a sense of what they are trying to get out of exploring it. I am trying to work towards co-creating better experiences with students, which cater to their ever-evolving world views and sense of self while productively challenging, rather than simply reinforcing, those views.
It is a difficult balance, and listening to them through a survey is only the first step. But it is a worthwhile exercise if we are to be able to convey and expand on the value of outbound international study programmes.
Lucas Lixinski is professor and associate dean (international) at the Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney.
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