What is the Paper About?
This paper looks at the student perspectives before and during a period of study abroad as part of their undergraduate degree program, seeking to understand how their concerns, apprehensions and expectations actually unfolded whilst studying abroad. This research is based on analysis of blogs written by the students as they prepared to study abroad and whilst they were studying abroad to uncover how their perspectives changed during the study-abroad programme and to see if their expectations of the lifestyle, academics, and culture were met.
Why is it Important?
By understanding what concerns and apprehensions students had before studying abroad and how they actually played out whilst they were away, it should be possible to provide this information to students potentially interested in studying abroad to help alleviate some of their concerns and better prepare them for the experience. Also by better aligning students expectations of the study aboard experience and previous students actual experiences it should be possible to reduce expectations that might be violated, and in turn provide students with a more positive experience.
Robin Bell 