Developing the Team While Travelling: Infusing Elements of High Impact Practices into a Study Abroad Course for Student-Athletes

• Published in: Journal of higher education athletics & innovation no. 6; pp. 47 - 81
• Main Authors: Leupold, Christopher R, Weaver, Anthony G, Hall, Eric H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 18.02.2020
• ISSN: 2376-5267; 2376-5267
• DOI: 10.15763/issn.2376-5267.2019.1.6.47-81

Undergraduate institutions today are increasingly looking to adopt high impact practices (HIP) as a means to provide optimal learning experiences for their students. Study abroad courses are a particularly popular HIP offerings for students, as they provide opportunities to not only experience new cultures around the world but also to gain insights into their own cultural identities. However, because of the many demands placed on Division I collegiate student-athletes, they unfortunately are often not able to engage in such a global experience. This case study describes a credit-bearing, short-term study abroad course that not only taught Division I volleyball student-athletes about theories of culture and how to analyze culture at the individual, team, and national levels; but infused a variety of experiential activities and other elements characteristic of effective HIPs. As a means to make the course more personally relevant and meaningful to these students, special attention was given to present topics in a context specific to a collegiate athletic team. These student-athletes were introduced to a host of relevant validated models and theories of culture, and engaged in a number of individual assessments to gain insights into their cultural identities and their influences, as well as in formal assessments of as their team’s dynamics and overall effectiveness. In addition, the course included team-based activities and workshops that addressed the team’s weakest areas related to performance. identified areas in need of improvement. All of these activities were  aligned with a 10-day travel experience to Italy. Overall, this case study is an example of how an innovative course can be created to not only provide a study abroad opportunity for student-athletes, but also be tailored to address individual players’ and team needs and create a positive and lasing experience for all involved.