Short-Term Education Abroad and Global Competence

Assessing Student Outcomes and Program Impact

Authors

  • Lisa P. Chieffo University of Delaware (Retired), USA
  • Ravichandran Ammigan University of Delaware https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6265-219X
  • Meng Fan Human Resources Research Organization, USA
  • Rujia Wei Vanguard, USA
  • Noel L. Shadowen Skyline Psychotherapy, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/c15fjm84

Keywords:

Education abroad, short-term study abroad, global engagement, measurement scales

Abstract

This study examines the impact of short-term education abroad programs on the global   competencies of 829 undergraduate students at a mid-sized public university. Students participated in three- to four-week international education programs during the winter of 2023 and were asked to complete pre- and post-program self-rated measures of their attitudes, knowledge, and awareness in the areas of cultural engagement, diversity tolerance, ambiguity tolerance, knowledge of the host site, and perceived resilience. Results showed that across the duration of their short-term experience abroad students reported increased competencies in all areas except for perceived resilience. The combination of host-country language and language of instruction (English or another language) minimally influenced results in a few areas, including ambiguity tolerance and diversity openness. 

Author Biographies

  • Lisa P. Chieffo, University of Delaware (Retired), USA

    Lisa Chieffo, Ed.D., managed study abroad programs at the University of Delaware for 28 years, most recently as associate director. She has conducted research and published on outcomes assessment of short-term programs, presented at numerous NAFSA and Forum national conferences, and co-edited the third edition of NAFSA's Guide to Successful Short-Term Programs Abroad. Chieffo currently serves part-time as Senior Advisor, International Programs and Partnerships, for Global Academic Ventures. She holds a BA in Languages, an MA in German, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, all from UD. She spent her first year of graduate study in Germany as a Fulbright scholar.

  • Ravichandran Ammigan, University of Delaware

    Ravichandran Ammigan, Ph.D., serves as Vice Provost for Global Engagement at the University of Delaware. With 25 years of experience in the field of international higher education, he currently leads his institution’s internationalization strategy and global engagement portfolio. He holds a faculty appointment as Associate Professor in the School of Education, where his main research focuses on the student experience and institutional support services in higher education.

  • Meng Fan, Human Resources Research Organization, USA

    Meng Fan, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) specializing in psychometrics, causal inference, and program evaluation. He leads quality control for state assessments and studies the impact of educational interventions. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Statistics and Research Methods from the University of Delaware. 

  • Rujia Wei, Vanguard, USA

    RUJIA WEI, is a lead analyst at Vanguard. She earned her master's degree in Statistics from the University of Delaware, where she also served as global program assistant at the Institute for Global Studies.

  • Noel L. Shadowen, Skyline Psychotherapy, USA

    NOEL L. SHADOWEN, PhD, received her doctorate from the University of Delaware in 2018. She participated in a study abroad program to Italy during her undergraduate years of study and considers that experience formative in many ways. Email: nshadow@udel.edu

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Published

2026-04-26

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 2 (2026): Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education

Section

Education, Society, and Cultural Contexts

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Lisa P. Chieffo, Ravichandran Ammigan, Meng Fan, Rujia Wei, Noel L. Shadowen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Chieffo, L. P., Ammigan, R., Fan, M., Wei, R. ., & Shadowen, N. L. (2026). Short-Term Education Abroad and Global Competence: Assessing Student Outcomes and Program Impact. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 15(2), 17-34. https://doi.org/10.32674/c15fjm84