Chapter 7: An Initiative in Student Learning Outcome Assessment for Education Abroad

This chapter reports on an initiative at San Diego State University (SDSU) to assess the quality of short-term and mid-length education abroad programs following the decision to double the annual number of students it sends abroad. The assessment used student learning outcomes as measured by scores on the Global Perspective Inventory (GPI). The GPI uses survey questions across six scales to indirectly assess student gains along cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal dimensions of human development. Student outcome assessment was undertaken for all SDSU education abroad participants in 2016–2017 (n = 935). Using a quasi-experimental design involving pre–post format, the authors compared the results to those of a group of SDSU students who did not go abroad (n = 854). Responses were analyzed only if students completed both pre-and post-tests. Paired t-tests determined the statistically significant changes between the pre-and posttest scores. Students who studied abroad (n = 372) were found to have statistically significant growth on five of the six GPI scales. Students in short-term and mid-length programs showed statistically significant growth on three of the six GPI scales: knowledge, identity, and affect. In addition, students in mid-length programs showed statistically significant growth on the Social Responsibility Scale and the Social Interactions Scale. Students in the comparison group (n = 134) showed no significant growth on any of the six GPI scales. Moreover, students in the comparison group showed losses on the Knowing Scale and Affect Scale. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications for improving assessment.