Essays --

Purpose The transition from teaching-centered to learner-centered paradigms has left few corners of higher education untouched, and study abroad is no exception (Vande Berg, Connor-Linton, & Paige, 2009). This focus on learning environments, assessment, and outcome-based learning has resulted in a call for robust quantitative research in study abroad that goes beyond traditional program evaluations and anecdotal feedback from students, faculty, and parents (Vande Berg et al., 2009; Graban, 2007; Engle & Engle, 2004; Sutton & Rubin, 2004). Whalen (2009) notes that the simultaneous trends of budgetary challenges facing U.S. higher education and institutional and national calls for the expansion of study abroad have placed paramount importance on the assessment of program learning outcomes to justify what was previously assumed to be the inherent educational merits of studying abroad. The complexity of international education and study abroad, however, creates challenges in conducting research with significant and comparable findings – especially in conducting research that goes beyond simple statistical evidence of the rapid growth of study abroad participation (Wisniewski Dietrich & Olson, 2010; Engle & Engle, 2004). These complexities include both the standardization of references to terms, program types, and learning outcomes being measured (Engle & Engle, 2003). The rise in study abroad research in the last decade (Vande Berg et al., 2009) has predominantly focused on measuring acquisition of intercultural skills, language proficiency, learning within a discipline, and specific program outcomes (Braskamp & Braskamp, 2009). However, several authors note the need for more assessment in study abroad on holistic student developm... ...ative measurement of factors that contribute to holistic development of students in study abroad programs using TQ scales. The emphasis on quantitative assessment of study abroad programs and participants in recent years has largely been led by research published in Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, making it an ideal candidate for submission for publication. Several issues are still at large in the development of this proposal. Several of the questions present in the TQ scale refer to campus-specific items, which may be confusing to students being surveyed in a third-party study abroad provider model, because they are neither currently studying on a campus, and enrollment in the program is derived from multiple institutions. Additionally, approval for the number of program participants and program locations to be surveyed is still pending.