Service-learning study-abroad and Europe’s migration crisis – a case study

ABSTRACT

The present article analyzes the service-learning experiences of US students during a short-term study-abroad trip to Germany in July 2017. The study identified a key, overarching challenge: the gap between students’ expectations and the actual study-abroad outcome. The overall service-learning study-abroad experience was deemed very positive for the students. Almost all students reported to have gained a significantly increased knowledge about Europe’s Migration ‘Crisis’ and a significantly increased understanding about integration processes in Germany. However, the analysis also pointed to a gap between students’ expectations and actual outcomes. The article suggests recommendations how this gap could be narrowed, if not overcome for future experiential/service-learning courses. The recommendations provide an innovative model for future short-term experiential/service-learning pedagogy.

KEYWORDS:

• Service-learning
• experiential learning
• study-abroad
• Europe’s migration crisis
• integration
• interculturality

Disclosure statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes

1. At or below 0.005 p-values

2. p-value of 0.006

Additional information

Funding

The authors did not receive any financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Sabine Hirschauer

Sabine Hirschauer is Assistant Professor of International Relations in the Department of Government at New Mexico State University. She publishes about critical security studies, gender, migration, and identity.

Regina Karp

Regina Karp is Associate Professor of International Studies and Director of International Programs in the College of Arts & Letters at Old Dominion University. Her research and publications focus on international security, security integration, and ontological security.

Michele Kekeh

Michele Kekeh is a faculty member at the School of Community and Environmental Health and associate director at the Center for Global Health at Old Dominion University. Her research focuses on applying systems approaches to the evaluation of public health programs.

Muge Akpinar-Elci

Muge Akpinar-Elci, MD, is a professor, associate dean and the director of Center for Global Health at Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA.  She has more than 20 years of experience in clinical and field research, working in respiratory health, environmental and global health.