Abstract
Two similar study abroad trips were conducted, with one group of students required to post daily blogs in Australia and the other group completing handwritten journals in Argentina. Observations regarding the two writing modalities are described. The correlations between ratings assigned by faculty evaluators based on blog or journal entries of student achievement of student learning objectives (SLO) and scores assessed by the faculty leaders independently of blog or journal entries were inconsistent (-0.40 to 0.82). Consequently, blogs and journal entries may best be used in conjunction with other tools to determine whether students achieved the SLO. Blog and journal entries on day 1 were compared with entries posted on day 10 to determine whether students improved their use of spelling, punctuation and grammar; increased the amount of reflection evident; and showed more enthusiasm. Students on the Australian trip improved in each area (P ≤ 0.041), with the greatest improvement in enthusiasm (P < 0.0001). Students traveling to Argentina showed improvement only in reflection (P = 0.029). While student writing improved with blogging, students in Argentina demonstrated declining effort as they composed journal entries.
 12 Douthit_Sept2015 NACTA Journal-6.pdf | [ ] | 689 kB |
