Natalie Sylvester and Lauren Berg are among the students who are taking full advantage of Penn State Abington’s courses that require short-term study abroad, writes Regina Broscius for Penn State.
The pair recently completed a ten-day stint in Germany, which was Sylvester’s third and Berg’s second time traveling abroad with their class.
The students worked on concepts from their design thinking course along with students and faculty at Hof University near Dresden. Design thinking helps develop the skills required to balance what is desirable, equitable, technologically possible, and sustainable, all while fostering innovative solutions to challenges.
The contrasts between the American and German mindsets, as well as the differences in higher education systems, provided valuable learning experiences for the two students. They were particularly impressed by the 24/7 access to Hof’s facilities.
“The European perspective is very different,” said Berg. “In America, we are given step-by-step instructions while in Germany, the students are given a task and expected to follow through and figure it out on their own. That’s how we worked at Hof. It was hard, but now we are using it here.”
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