2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Measuring the Impact of a Study Abroad Program on Engineering Students’ Global Perspective

Presented at International Division Technical Session 2

STUDENT Paper
Keywords: Study Abroad, Global Perspective, Undergraduate Engineering

As we move towards the new industrial revolution, the engineering workforce is becoming more global, diverse, and complex. With the increasing demand of engineers that have global competencies, students more than ever, are required to be creative and critical thinkers when solving complex problems. To prepare engineering students for successfully transitioning to the globally connected workforce, engineering educators need to explore different ways to help develop students’ understanding of global perspectives. One of the tools to develop these skills is through study abroad programs which are designed to help undergraduate students achieve learning outcomes pertinent to global engineering. This study describes students' global learning gains in one study-abroad program with the goal of increasing students’ understanding of the global perspective. Data were collected using the Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI) survey to measure global perspective of students participating in the program. GPI was collected across three different points: At the beginning of the semester when students take a global engineering practice class, at the end of the semester when the class finishes, and after the international travel.

The research question guiding this study is: How do students’ Global Perspective score change between pre-course, post-course and post-trip administration of the Global Perspective Inventory (GPI)?

The study abroad program in this study is located at a large research university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The participants are first year engineering students in their second semester and are part of the general engineering program in the university. Our study involved a total of 245 students who enrolled in the 2018 and 2019 cohorts of the program. A longitudinal survey was conducted where students completed the GPI via an online survey with the aim of measuring and comparing students’ Global Perspective scores at three different points in time. We analyzed data quantitatively using two different tests, Paired T-tests and Repeated Measures ANOVA to answer our research question.

The results from our study had several practical significance. Overall there was a significant increase in the GPI scores in most of the dimensions for both the T-test and Repeated Measures ANOVA from pre-course to post-course and post-trip. Overall, the program had a positive influence on the students’ understanding of global perspectives and further implications are discussed.

Authors

Mr. Tahsin Mahmud Chowdhury Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Tahsin Mahmud Chowdhury is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education and an M.S. student in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech (VT). Tahsin holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and has worked as a manufacturing professional at a Fortune 500 company. As an Engineering Education researcher, he is interested in enhancing professional competencies for engineering workforce development in academia and beyond. He is actively engaged in different projects at the department focusing on teamwork and leadership competencies in engineering. Tahsin’s long term goal is to bridge the engineering competency gap between industry demand and academic fulfillment.
Dr. Homero Murzi http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-3849-2947 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Dr. Homero Murzi is the Director of Engineering Education and Associate Professor in the OPUS College of Engineering at Marquette University and honorary Professor at the University of Los Andes (Venezuela). Homero is the leader of the Engineering Competencies, Learning, and Interdisciplinary Practices for Success (ECLIPS) Lab. His research focuses on developing engineering education practices that prepare graduate students and faculty members with the tools to promote effective and inclusive learning environments. Homero has been recognized as a Diggs Teaching Scholar, a Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence Fellow, a Global Perspectives Fellow, a Diversity Scholar, a Fulbright Scholar, a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, and was inducted into the Bouchet Honor Society. Homero serves as the Chair for the Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN). He holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (BS, MS) from the National Experimental University of Táchira, Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Temple University, and Engineering Education (PhD) from Virginia Tech.
Ms. Karen Martinez Soto http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7273-4666 Syracuse University [biography]

Karen Martinez Soto is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She received her B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and her M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering at Virginia Tech. Her research interests are focused on teaching and assessment for conceptual understanding, curriculum development for the middle years, and student cultural competencies.
Andrea L. Schuman Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [biography]

Andrea Schuman is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Cal Poly. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include experiential teaching and learning in ECE and global engineering.

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