Study Abroad Programs

I enjoyed class last week when we got to think like study abroad designers - it made me reflect on my study abroad experiences. I have studied abroad a number of times and also led groups of students on study abroad programs. We don't always have effective ways of gathering the evidence that learning occurred yet we know that it did. Apart from any credits completed abroad, much of the evidence is anecdotal. From my own experience, I did not realize how much I had learned from my time studying in other countries until much later, sometimes years after the fact. It is hard to grasp the scope and depth of learning that study abroad experiences can instigate.

University of Hawaii is about to modify its study abroad requirement by allowing any student who completes a study abroad to use it to fulfill Arts & Sciences requirements.  UH is taking a bold, progressive step to allow the fulfillment of a requirement simply by participating in a study abroad experience. But I wonder if they will require a report from the student or some other "evidence?" What might be interesting to look at are the ways in which study abroad experiences, both of students and faculty directors who accompany students, gets translated back into the life of the home campus.