The course has four components, each worth 25% of the total available points for the course. Details for each of the assignments below will be provided via the syllabus once the student is enrolled in the course.

1. Pre-departure on-line assignment
       a. Students are provided with sources to navigate and discover information pertaining to the cultural, political, economic, and environmental dimensions of their destination country and community. Students may select from a variety of prompts and resources that reflect their interests and academic field of study.

       b. Self-assessment to consider how the information retrieved relates to their cultural awareness of the destination community and how it influences their expectations in light of their own cultural context.

2. Participation
       a. Experiential learning requires a commitment to fully and positively participate in all programs, projects and activities. Participation will be evaluated by the on-site GIVE lead guides.

3. Reflective Journal
       a. Students shall keep a double entry journal noting key observations and their interpretation of those observations. These notes will be shared as part of regularly scheduled group dialogues. The notes and group discussions will enhance the students’ ability to process and reflect on their experience. Each student will generate a reflective journal. Reflection is a critical dimension of experiential learning. Exemplar quotes from the journal will be shared with the instructor.

4. Final Project
       a. The culminating project synthesizes the assignments above into a presentation that communicates the students’ experience and its present and anticipated future impact on their development personally, academically, and professionally. The students may select from a variety of mediums (video, annotated PowerPoint, paper) to convey their findings.