Exploring the impact of online study aboard on students' development of cognitive skills and L2 proficiency

第一年的目标是建立一个研究基金。因此，我首先收集和回顾了前人关于出国留学对学生学习影响的研究。然后我参加了两个SA项目：一个是在日本的在线项目，为期两周，另一个是在马来西亚/婆罗洲的现场项目，为期两周。我观察了来自四个不同国家的四个机构的所有在线SA课程，并记录了学习活动和课程特点。我还录下了学生们与老师和其他学生参与者互动的视频。使用电子文件夹，我收集了学生们在参加在线课程时关于他们学习经历的反思日志。在马来西亚/婆罗洲参加现场项目期间，我和学生一起参与了所有的活动，以便了解项目的特点，并观察学生对特点的反应。只要有可能，我就会记录下这些项目的特点和学生们的互动。我不时地对学生进行非正式的采访，以了解他们对自己的学习经历的感受，以及项目的特点与他们的关系。使用电子文件夹，我收集了学生在参加现场项目时的反思性学习日志。当我从马来西亚回到日本后，我整理了我从两个项目中收集到的一些数据，并进行了初步的分析。我在美国的一次会议上展示了分析结果。

The first-year goal was to build a research foundation. Therefore, I first collected and reviewed prior studies concerning the effects of study abroad (SA) on student learning. l then participated in two SA programs: an online program held in Japan for two weeks and an onsite program held in Malaysia/Borneo for another two weeks. I observed all online SA sessions delivered by four institutions from four different countries while keeping notes of learning activities and program features. I also video-recorded the students while they were interacting with the instructors and other student participants. Using an e-portfolio, I collected students' reflective journals on their learning experiences while they were participating in the online sessions.While attending the onsite program in Malaysia/Borneo, I participated in all activities with the students so that I could understand the program’s features and observe students’ responses to the features. I kept a record of those program features and students' interactions whenever possible. From time to time, I conducted informal interviews with the students to understand how they were feeling about their learning experiences and how program features may relate to them. Using an e-portfolio, I collected students' reflective learning journals while they were participating in the onsite program as well.Once I returned to Japan from Malaysia, I sorted out some of the data I collected from the two programs and conducted a preliminary analysis. I presented the findings from the analysis at a conference in the US.