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Utilizing Terra Dotta for Research on Education Abroad


April Stroud
Associate Director, Education Abroad
University of Massachusetts Amherst

 

Terra Dotta software has undoubtedly made collecting data on student participation in study abroad and risk management much easier and accurate. However, it can be used for much more… including conducting research on Education Abroad.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I work as a study abroad advisor, implemented Terra Dotta software (formerly StudioAbroad) in 2009. At the time, I had recently completed a study on factors that impact intent to study abroad using data obtained from our institution’s CIRP Freshman Survey of incoming first-year students (Stroud, 2010). I wanted to continue to research factors influencing student participation in study abroad for my doctoral dissertation and decided that Terra Dotta software would be an excellent tool to collect the required data. UMass students considering studying abroad create an account using the secure login system and before scheduling an advising appointment with one of the study abroad advisors or selecting a program, they are prompted to complete a brief questionnaire (survey) which we call the “Study Abroad Profile.” Based on findings in prior relevant studies, I inserted relevant questions into the questionnaire, and the data obtained from the Study Abroad Profile combined with the integrated data from the University’s information systems provided a wealth of information about the population of undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who actively expressed intent to study abroad.

Specifically, my dissertation investigated who is more likely to study abroad and who is less likely and why students who intend to study abroad do not. To answer these questions, I employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods through convergent parallel design. Only one prior smaller-scale study (Booker, 2001) had explored the population of students who has actively taken steps to inquire about study abroad by visiting their campus study abroad office. Such a distinction is important. It is reasonable to assume that students who actively express intent through making an inquiry with their campus study abroad office are more interested in study abroad than students who express interest through a survey like the CIRP Freshman Survey, which is completed at the start of their undergraduate education--when they had little idea about what it means to be a college student. Learning more about what affects study abroad participation or, more importantly, non-participation among students who actively seek out information about study abroad is essential to expanding study abroad to more students. Such knowledge will help colleges and universities identify the steps to take to decrease the number of students from this group who either do not apply or drop out during the application process.

My research focused exclusively on the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a large research university in the Northeast. Prior research on study abroad has found differential intent to participate and participation in study abroad by institutional type.  Students who attend research universities, regional institutions and community colleges, are less likely than students at private, 4-year liberal arts colleges both to consider study abroad and actually study abroad (BaileyShea, 2009; IIE, 2014; Salisbury, et. al., 2009). National statistics confirm these findings (IIE, 2014). It is important to consider institutional differences in mission, focus, and structure when examining intent to study abroad because the types of opportunities, resources and support available to students can vary. Nationally, public four-year institutions enroll over twice as many undergraduates as private, non-profit, four-year institutions (Snyder & Dillow, 2011), so it makes sense to concentrate the efforts to expand study abroad participation at public four-year institutions. Only 2 of the top 40 doctoral institutions sending the highest percentage of students abroad are public institutions (IIE, 2014). The need for research focused on public research universities is essential given that study abroad participation rates at public research institutions are substantially lower than private research or non-research institutions (IIE, 2014).

I conducted binary logistic regression analysis on data obtained from UMass students’ Terra Dotta accounts. The dependent variable was the dichotomous representation of whether or not students who had expressed formal intent to study abroad through the completion of the “Study Abroad Profile” in their on-line study abroad account during the 2009/2010 academic year, actually participated in study abroad before graduating from UMass Amherst. Of the 2,728 students who created accounts during the 2009-2010 academic year, only 1,969 students completed the Study Abroad Profile and were included in the study. The choice to use students’ completed Study Abroad Profile as the criterion of students’ formal intent to study abroad is an important one. First, and most importantly, students who completed the profile followed the prescribed University steps to prepare for study abroad. These students presumably were serious enough about studying abroad to take the university’s required actions to do so. A second reason is that the data necessary to conduct this study were available only for students who completed the Study Abroad Profile.  Although database demographics, such as race, gender and major, are available from the university’s student information system for students who created study abroad accounts but failed to complete a Study Abroad Profile, critical data required for this study, such as participation in extracurricular activities or perceived obstacles to study abroad, would have been missing.

The logistic regression equation included a number of explanatory variables rooted in the literature on study abroad intent and participation. The independent or predictor variables were chosen based on theoretical concepts in BaileyShea’s (2009) decision to study abroad framework as well as findings in previous research. The independent variables are comprised of data points taken from students’ completed Study Abroad Profiles (e.g., financial need, prior travel abroad, interest in study abroad, chance studying abroad, college level foreign language, number of activities, varsity sport, Greek life, obstacle to study abroad, proximity of university to home) and data in the students’ study abroad accounts (e.g., gender, race, admit type, resident status, major, cumulative GPA, honors college membership). The information obtained from the Study Abroad Profile is static and reflects the students’ situation at the time of completion of the survey (i.e., the time that the students expressed formal intent to study abroad). The institutional data is updated automatically with the University’s student information systems on a daily basis and was captured for this study in March 2013.

The qualitative portion of my research included focus group interviews that were comprised of students who had completed their study abroad profile during the 2009/2010 academic year, but who had not yet studied abroad through a formal university program and were within one month of graduation.

Together, the results of the binary logistic regression analysis and focus group interviews provided an abundance of information on the variety of factors that influence participation among students who intend to study abroad. Positive influential predictors include GPA, honors college membership, prior travel abroad 3 or more times and having studied a foreign language at the college level. Negative predictors are identifying an interest in study abroad from University outreach, being a transfer student, citing money as the biggest obstacle to study abroad, citing “other” as the biggest obstacle to study abroad, citing not being able to graduate on time as the biggest obstacle to study abroad and indicating at the time of completion of the study abroad profile that there is only some chance that they will study abroad. Focus group findings reveal that cost, academic barriers, and not wanting to miss out on time at the University deterred students who had expressed interest in study abroad from actually doing so.

Using and if necessary, modifying, existing questionnaires or software to track student study abroad queries is a simple and effective way to collect information about intent to study abroad. With more colleges and universities utilizing Terra Dotta software, a wealth of data is more readily available to researchers wishing to explore factors that influence study abroad participation at their institutions. Such research can provide institutions with valuable data that can lead to important changes in policies and curriculum that will help expand study abroad participation. Because the data collected for this study is a few years old, I plan on replicating this study with more recent data to see if institutional and curricular changes that have occurred since this study took place have impacted the variables associated with study abroad participation.

Similar studies conducted with populations at other types of institutions, for example private colleges and universities, more racially diverse institutions and institutions outside of the northeastern United States are required in order to determine whether or not student characteristics are related to study abroad participation in similar ways.

Have you harnessed Terra Dotta software for research purposes? If so, contact me about the possibility of collaborating on a proposal along with Terra Dotta for the 2016 NAFSA Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in multi-institutional studies on this and other topics related to Education Abroad or if you have questions about research you would like to conduct with Terra Dotta software.

April Stroud, Ed.D.
Associate Director, Education Abroad
University of Massachusetts Amherst
astroud@ipo.umass.edu

 

References

BaileyShea, C. (2009). Factors that affect American college students’ participation in study abroad. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest. (3395372).

Booker, R. (2001). Differences between applicants and non-applicants relevant to the decision to apply to study abroad. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.

IIE: Institute of International Education. (2014). Open doors report 2014. Retrieved from https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data

Snyder, T.D., and Dillow, S.A. (2011). Digest of Education Statistics 2010 (NCES 2011-015). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.

Stroud, A. H. (2010). Who is (not) studying abroad? An examination of intent. Journal of Studies in International Education, 14(5), 491-507.