Presentation Schedule
Pokes Across Oceans: Integrating Community Service into a Summer Study Abroad Program (105722)
Session Chair: Yan Zhang
Monday, 11 May 2026 10:45
Session: Session 1
Room: Room G410 (4F)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Short-term study abroad programs are widely used in international education, yet they often struggle to produce deep and lasting global learning outcomes. This study examines a community-based experiential learning framework embedded in the University of Wyoming’s summer study abroad program in Malaysia to analyze how intentional instructional design supports intercultural learning and global competence in a short-term context. The program was structured around four integrated components: community partnership co-design, hands-on experiential activities, guided reflection, and integrative meaning-making. Learning activities emphasized reciprocity, collaboration, and creative engagement rather than service as charity. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected from student reflective journals, faculty field notes, and feedback from local educators and community partners. The data were examined to identify recurring patterns of learning across multiple perspectives. Findings indicate that cultural and linguistic challenges served as productive learning conditions; collaborative, creative service-learning activities fostered intercultural empathy, communication, and mutual learning; and sustained institutional partnerships strengthened learning outcomes beyond the program's duration. Taken together, these findings suggest that embedding an intentional experiential learning framework within study abroad can transform short-term mobility into integrative international education, offering a transferable pedagogical model for educators seeking to align global learning outcomes with meaningful community engagement in diverse international contexts.
Authors:
Yan Zhang, University of Wyoming, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Professor YAN ZHANG is a University Professor/Principal Lecturer at University of Wyoming in United States
See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule
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