2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Exploring the Relationship Between Student Characteristics and their Transformative Experience from Short-Term Study Abroad Programs

Presented at Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED) Technical Session 4

Literature has consistently pointed to the significant role of personality in students’ decisions to participate in study abroad programs. Studies have highlighted how such experiences are impacted by key personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism, and social traits such as social information processing, social skills, and social awareness. Yet there remains a notable gap in the limited examination of students’ personality attributes and their impact on study abroad outcomes. To address this gap, this study investigates the effects of students’ personality attributes and demographic attributes on their transformative learning experiences during their study abroad programs using Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. The research integrates quantitative data collected through instruments. Qualitative insights gathered from open-ended questions in the survey to comprehensively investigate important associations between student attributes and their transformative learning experiences during study abroad programs. Results showed that personality traits, particularly openness and agreeableness, and social skills (a social intelligence scale construct) had a strong correlation with different phases of the journey of transformation. Additionally, the results indicated a potential association between students’ academic majors and the likelihood of experiencing shifts in their epistemic dimension of habits of mind during their respective short-term study abroad programs.

Authors

Sukeerti Shandliya http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-1346-0845 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Sukeerti Shandliya is a doctoral student in Engineering and Computing Education and a GRA in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include engineering workforce development, DEI in STEM, experiential learning, development of global competencies and cultural competencies in higher education and the workforce. She has completed her bachelor's in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Banasthali University, India, and has an MBA from NIT Trichy, India.
Dr. Cedrick Kwuimy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2949-3000 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. Cedrick Kwuimy is a dedicated educator with a passion for revolutionizing engineering education to attract and retain a diverse range of learners. His primary focus centers on the untapped potential of engineering education to deliberately create transformative learning experiences for all students through experiential learning. Dr. Kwuimy is particularly interested in practical approaches for implementing these transformative learning experiences within engineering education. Cedrick earned his Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Dschang in Cameroon and subsequently completed his Ph.D. in Applied Physics at the University of Yaoundé 1, also in Cameroon. Currently, he holds the esteemed position of Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. So Yoon Yoon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1868-1054 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. So Yoon Yoon is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati, OH, USA. Dr. Yoon received her Ph.D. in Gifted Education, and an M.S.Ed. in Research Methods and Measurement with a specialization in Educational Psychology, both from Purdue University, IN, USA. She also holds an M.S. in Astronomy and Astrophysics and a B.S. in Astronomy and Meteorology from Kyungpook National University, South Korea. Her work centers on elementary, secondary, and postsecondary engineering education research as a psychometrician, data analyst, and program evaluator with research interests in spatial ability, STEAM education, workplace climate, and research synthesis with a particular focus on meta-analysis. She has developed, validated, revised, and copyrighted several instruments beneficial for STEM education research and practice. Dr. Yoon has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings and served as a journal reviewer in engineering education, STEM education, and educational psychology. She has also served as a PI, co-PI, advisory board member, or external evaluator on several NSF-funded projects.

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