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Preparing for the STUDENTS ! What, when, who?

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Preparing for the STUDENTS ! What, when, who?

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Students need support around specific areas

What to expect with an international, intercultural, team based project and exchange ?

What’s in it for me? How can I succeed? How can I prepare to be a digital professional?

Where can I access the information?

There are lots of resources you could include in a student COIL orientation.  Here are a few...

SUNY COIL Student Orientation https://sunyolis.libguides.com/sunycoil/start

Redundancia Game

For native language speakers to experience what it is like to speak a second language

Cultural exchange area

A dedicated section for cultural exchange could be added to your online work place to encourage students to share aspects of their own culture and learn about their peers' cultures. This could foster deeper cross-cultural understanding.

Language guidelines section

Given the emphasis on language and communication, maybe a section of the online project space outlining language guidelines, including expectations for using the shared language(s) and strategies for inclusive communication, could be beneficial.

What is Culture?
https://whatisculture.org/?page_id=71

Intercultural Modules for Orientation
for students before a COIL collaboration
https://www.purdue.edu/ippu/cilmar/learning/pim.html

Survey/ Assessment
Will you use an assessment tool to capture data about doing COIL? Here is a pre and post survey questions tool, free to use from Perdue University  https://www.purdue.edu/cie/globallearning/ASKS_version3_combo.pdf

Start a new post and list the 3-5 orientation / reflection elements that are most important to be shared with your students? Click the plus sign below to create your post.  Read and respond to your colleagues' posts.

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This SUNY COIL Student Guide provides information and resources to help students succeed in COIL courses throughout SUNY. Here you will find information about the benefits of participating in COIL; tips on cross-cultural communication, collaboration, and expectations; and recommended resources for research as well as some research tips.

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Guides: SUNY COIL Student Guide: Welcome

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Information and online resources for students participating in SUNY COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning). An overview of this guide and COIL

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Create a PROFILE + Connect with a colleague

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Create a PROFILE + Connect with a colleague

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Maybe you have a colleague in mind with whom you have worked before.  Perhaps your university has relationships through which they will help you find a partner.  Or perhaps you don't have anyone in mind yet.

One thing to bear in mind is that COIL collaborations can work well in related disciplines, and between quite unrelated disciplines.  Focus on what you want students to get out of the collaboration, including the process as well as the content, and you may find that an interdisciplinary pairing would work very well.

A  key to having an effective partnership is for you to understand how they work and communicate with a partner, and to be clear about what they are looking for in a COIL partnership. Examples can include language proficiency, comfort with ambiguity, teaching style, communication style, expectations for interaction with students, flexibility, subjects or topics of study, etc.

One way to get this clarity is to create a partner profile. This can be useful even if you have someone in mind, but is particularly important if you need to find a partner. The SUNY COIL Center creates partnership bulletins to help interested professors  find COIL partners. Each professor  needs to create a profile to be included in the bulletin.  Profiles should be fairly specific but not too narrow,  and are built from prompts.

Here is an example of a strong profile - complete, indicating some flexibility. https://bit.ly/2ZXdnax

Here is an example of two weaker profiles - one too specific, one too broad.

https://bit.ly/3jK9ca3

After looking at the examples, identify what you think makes a strong profile.  What information is important to include? What would you look for in a partner's profile?

Click the + sign at the end of the column to start a new post, and write your COIL partnering profile.

Provide feedback to your colleagues.

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Remember the Padlet tip: hover on this post, click on the three dots and select 'expand post' to make it easier to read on a desktop or tablet.

Social Presence (SP) is defined as:

The means by which online participants inhabit virtual spaces and indicate not only their presence in the online environment but also their availability and willingness to engage in the communicative exchanges which constitute learning activity in these environments (Kehrwald, 2008).

The teachers’ SP during the planning phase of a COIL course and while the exchange itself is going on  usually has a huge impact on its success.

Unfortunately, the importance of SP is often under-estimated. Social presence is about the professors and the learners’ ability to establish a relationship with each other despite barriers of time, distance, technology, etc

In online teaching and learning contexts like COIL the following tend to be lost:

- immediacy (feeling close)
- salience (being noticed and noticing others; highly dependent on non-verbal clues such as gestures and gaze)
- real time.

This can happen even in exchanges involving synchronous (real-time) sessions – depending on the online tool or application that is used for the synchronous meetings.

However, SP is not a quality of the technology used, but a quality of the participants involved and depends on the teachers’ and learners’
- skills with the technology
- personal/cultural disposition towards a particular communication that is going on
- interpretation of the SP cues projected by others into the online environment.

In asynchronous exchanges (such as this!), the teachers can and need to model the sending and receiving of social presence cues for the students. They also need to discuss with the learners, at the beginning of a COIL collaboration, why doing the following during an exchange is important for establishing SP and also for the overall experience:

1. explicitly recognizing partners’ contributions (“I really like what you have said about ….”)

2. mirroring words and expressions, i.e. using words and expressions your COIL partners have used in your reply to their contribution to a forum

3. prompting by ending your contribution to a forum thread with an open question or a comment such as “I am interested in finding out what you think of …”

4. meta-commenting, that is, asking for clarification of unclear remarks or of emotional tone and intent, or commenting on the general interactions in the forum, and, if necessary, suggesting changes to the rules of forum contributions. A separate, general  forum like our Water Cooler column here can serve as a space for meta-commenting.

5. summarizing or “weaving” comments, that is, grasping in one contribution the pattern found in a number of previous comments. To write weaving comments, the teacher or another learner must go carefully over a discussion, identify the theme(s), and make connections between contributions. In this way you acknowledge several participants and their contributions at the same time. If the learners take on responsibility for weaving the responsibility needs to be shared and time needs to be allocated to learning how to do this.

Trying out these “techniques” in the exchanges among the teachers during the design stage of a COIL course is crucial. Only then will it feel natural to model recognizing, mirroring, weaving, etc. for the students and draw their attention to the impact of these techniques on establishing Social Presence online.

TO DO

Based on your animal type (s) which of these NOTED behaviors do you think you will try with your students/partner doing COIL?

Or Tell us your strategy for being online together?

Going forward, please bear these techniques in mind as you're responding to your colleagues.

You can go back to the responses in the previous columns to see how these techniques may have been used by participants in this workshop.

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Here is a Example to visualize how to organize your COIL project. Think about this example as the structure to integrate the cultural connection of COIL: the essence of your COIL project.

https://padlet.com/jojimene2/clon-de-transmedia-derechos-humanos-s88lqkulogjmyez5

Here is another course in English.

https://padlet.com/sunycoil/4ya1s0oi0c9cx535

Take a look. Consider all the sections.

1. What section(s) is important?

2. Anything surprising you?

3. What do you think you won't need?

4. What do you think is missing?

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Professor Gilly Salmon has come up with the following “typical” behaviors of students in asynchronous online environments: forum, chat, discussion lists, etc. (scroll down and click on the image/table to make it larger).

Look at the behaviors and choose one or two which best reflect your own online behavior and think about the reasons.

Reflection is a key component of COIL work. We encourage you to build self-reflection into your COIL collaborations, and here we invite you to reflect on your own behaviors and beliefs. This will put you in the position your students. Like you, they have and will display their own way(s) to behave and interact online.

Once you've thought about which behavior(s) best describe you, please share in a post below. Click the + sign to start a new post. Don't forget to add your name if you aren't signed into Padlet. Please give feedback to your colleagues.

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Before we get started, let's review the basics of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).

Can be created in any discipline; interdisciplinary collaborations work well

Encourage active student learning and teamwork

Include an emphasis on cross-cultural interactions and understanding

Can be 5-15 weeks long

Are a graded activity in each participating class

Can use any technology tools that serve the learning goals

COIL is developed by you with your COIL teaching partner, and therefore can be designed to meet the overall learning objectives of your class. COIL enhances your class, supporting the outcomes you want for your students.

As an enhancement to an existing class, the COIL collaboration can take place throughout the entire course, or, more commonly, as a module that lasts for several weeks during the course.  Typically, most COIL activities happen outside of class, as projects and assignments, with periodic check-ins during class time. Interactions between students can happen synchronously, through live chats or video conferencing, and asynchronously, in a wide variety of ways. Most COIL Collaborations are built around asynchronous communications with some synchronous sessions, particularly if there are time differences between countries.

For more information on COIL, see https://online.suny.edu/introtocoil/suny-coil-what-is/

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SLIDE DECK

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18g5TkUbzoOFwDF0WUVcnQrsio36Hd4uWdMOAK330IsE/edit#

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RECORDING

SLIDE DECK

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BXrJjLnfUl-nY4JNXpgb4mT-cCrVpr6erz2ZekxcvZc/edit#slide=id.g2d01b562415_0_29

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To receive the COIL ELEMENTS certificate for the course, you need to participate in ALL of the YELLOW BOX activities ... posting your ideas, peer responses, curriculum activities and reflections.

You will receive the certificate once you have posted and we can acknowledge your participation in the online course space in addition to your wonderful presence in our ZOOM meetings...

Please email coilinfo@suny.edu when you are ready for your certificate.

As you know, we are just mirroring what YOU as instructor, would observe and note the work of your students.

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If you have not made an account with Padlet, please be sure to post your name!

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Cultural and Institutional Factors - Preparing your students for intercultural teamwork

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Cultural and Institutional Factors - Preparing your students for intercultural teamwork

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How receptive your students will be and how well they will do with team projects is based on a range of cultural, institutional and personal factors.

Examples:

1. Your students’ cultural orientation to work and trust is generally relationship-based.  When doing group work, students expect to get to know all team members before starting on the assigned activity. In carrying out the work, all team members will be concerned not just about the success of the team’s project, but about the well being of all team members. Your institution does not offer a lot of project based learning options. Classes tend to be lecture format with students mostly listening and not asking a lot of questions, so while students likely will have done group projects, it’s not common.

2. Your students’ cultural orientation to work and trust is task-based and they tend to be very direct in their communications.  Students expect to focus on the work that needs to be done, and expect that team meetings will focus on dividing up tasks among group members and then reporting on progress on the assigned tasks. While group work is fairly common at your institution, students often complain that it’s unfair that they are graded as a group and not on their individual work.

As you think about developing a COIL collaboration, consider how you will address team formation and cultural considerations.

For example, will you have

- a discussion,

- show videos,

- put something in the syllabus

- have each team mitigate expectations by preparing a version of this Student Team Table

- share a set of guidelines or have the students develop a team agreement?

Here is a Team Contract How-to. There are many including Brave Space contracts.

Does it depend on the cultures involved and/or the topic you’re working on?

Think about the factors above when considering how to prepare your students for working on an intercultural team.

Click + to start a new post, and answer the following questions:

1. What cultural aspects are likely to impact teamwork?

2. What are some institutional factors you need to consider?

3. What expectations do you have of your students for their team-based projects (behavior, participation and outcomes)?

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The importance of reflective practice in COIL

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The importance of reflective practice in COIL

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Reflection is a key element in a COIL Collaboration.

When?

Ideally, you will have reflection opportunities throughout the collaboration, for example, after discussions or other activities, or during a weekly check in. Reflection is key in helping students understand how to work in intercultural teams. It is also really important for you, as the professor, to help ensure you reach your learning objectives and that students clearly understand the purpose of doing a COIL Collaboration. You could start by taking 10 minutes during a class to debrief your icebreaker and team building activities, helping students identify differences, develop curiosity or theories about these differences, and prompt them to take some action - perhaps asking questions of the other students or generating ideas for good communications.

How?

Reflection can be done individually, in small groups, or in a large group; it can effectively be a written assignment or a discussion. You can do reflection activities with the combined group, though it also usually a good idea to have some opportunities for reflection that are either individual or with just your local class, particularly if a conflict arises or there is frustration with cultural differences in one or both classes. This gives students the opportunity to process conflicts and frustrations without worry of escalating the issues.

Why?

By guiding students to reflect on their experiences, you can increase their understanding of what’s going on, allow them to problem solve issues that commonly occur during COIL collaborations, help them see the cultural basis of people’s approach to work and communications, and help them develop skills in reflective practice that they can use in future situations.  In short, reflective practice empowers both you, as the professor, to guide student learning without being responsible for mediating cultural misunderstandings, and empowers students to analyze situations and develop options to move forward..

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Let’s use the Describe - Analyze - Evaluate/Apply model (What? So what? Now what?) on a scenario that comes up often in COIL collaborations.

DO THIS ACTIVITY

1. Read through the scenario
2. Click + at the bottom of the column to start a new post

3. Describe: What’s happening?

4. Analyze: Why is this happening? What cultural differences are contributing to this? How do you think the students are feeling about their collaboration?

5. Evaluate/Apply: What would you do if this situation was presented to you?  Are there things you could do to prevent this from happening?

Scenario

One group of students:
"They want to build trust by talking about personal things. We like to build trust through delivering work. We felt they were too relaxed and maybe a little lazy. We didn't know if they were doing anything. When they delivered their part of the work, we were caught off guard, because we never reached an agreement on the approach. Now it looks like we are lacking."

Their COIL partner students:
"In the beginning getting to know each other was tricky. We did not know anyone, and it was large leap of unknowingness which dazed us, and we did not know what to expect. We feel as if it also happened vice-versa."

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Creating Engaging Activities - COIL Examples

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Creating Engaging Activities - COIL Examples

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COIL Collaborations can be successful between classes in the same or related disciplines as well as classes across disciplines. In fact, interdisciplinary pairings often result in some of the most creative and engaging collaborations. One of the great opportunities of a COIL Collaboration is to infuse the courses with interactive, intercultural activities. This does not come naturally to everyone, so it helps to brainstorm ideas.

Let’s look at a few examples:

COIL Title: Cultural influences on Management Style

Classes: Entrepreneurship (Lebanon) and Business Management (US)

Summary: Students reviewed a few case studies in small groups, discussing the cultural basis for different behaviors and interpretations. These groups then did online interviews with either employees or managers in each country about what makes a good manager.  Groups presented their assessment of cultural contributions to expectations of managers to both classes.

COIL Title: Raising Public Awareness of Domestic Violence

Classes: Television broadcasting (Mexico) and Gender Studies (South Africa)

Summary: Students discussed issues of domestic violence in the cities where each university is located, focusing on prevention efforts. Students were placed in two groups and each group was tasked with writing, developing, and filming a public service announcement to be shown on local TV stations.

COIL Title: Coverage of Controversies in the Press

Classes: Journalism (US) and Sociology (Brazil)

Summary: Students were asked to find coverage of controversial topics in print media.  Discussions centered on why the issues were controversial in that society, and the way in which the press covered them.  Students were then placed in groups to write articles on global issues that could be printed in both countries.

COIL Title: Smart Technologies for Everyone

Classes: Artificial Intelligence (Mexico) and Spanish (US)

Summary: In small groups, students were given a smart technology to focus on. They worked together to understand how the technology worked, and were then asked to write articles about their smart technology in both Spanish and English.  Articles were combined into a newsletter that was distributed on both campuses to explain smart technology for those without a technology background.

COIL Title: Photographic evidence

Classes: Forensic Science (Turkey) and Photography (US)

Summary: Students explored the role of photographic evidence in building a criminal case. Students worked in small groups to develop scenarios that were then filmed by  photography students.  The photos were presented to other groups of students who were asked to reconstruct the scenario based solely on the photographic evidence.

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Creating teams of students for your COIL Collaboration helps increase interaction and participation. It also gives space for students to take on different roles, make decisions, problem solve and apply what they are learning both about the content of the course and about working interculturally. There is no magic formula when it comes to creating effective student teams, but the following guidelines will help ensure you have a good foundation for the teams:

Teams should be created by the professors.  If students select teams, they will likely pick people they already know and who are like them. This will make group work between students from different countries more challenging, because students think they already know their peers from their class and will make assumptions based on existing relationships.

Teams should be diverse on both sides. You will have diversity between the students from different countries, but also pay attention to diversity of teams from the same class.  Diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds generally means richer discussions and more ideas for project work.

Teams should have a range of skills.  Depending on the focus and length of your project work, it can be particularly important to ensure you have students with different skills and experience on each team. You and your teaching partner could create a short survey for students before your COIL Collaboration begins and form teams based on the responses.

Balance the numbers from each side as best you can.  Ideally you would have 50% participation from each country on each team, but teams can work well even if your classes are very different sizes. Try to organize the teams so you have at least a 25%-75% mix of students between the partnering classes. Avoid creating teams where there is only one student from one of the participating countries.

Teams shouldn’t be too big or too small.  A good team size is 5-8, which helps ensure that all students can and need to participate. Large teams are usually less effective, and you will need to establish very clear guidelines and roles. You may need to be flexible with team size to meet the other guidelines, however, pairs should be avoided for team projects.

Students need to know they are accountable for their work. Be clear with your students about your expectation and how their teams will be assessed. Will students be asked to provide feedback on their teams? A self-assessment? Will participation be graded along with the product? Will it be different for students from different classes?

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There is no particular or recommended COIL technology platform. Successful COIL collaborations happen using many different technology tools, both synchronous and asynchronous. The most important criteria for selecting the online tools for COIL collaborations is their alignment to learning goals. Before considering a particular tool, be explicit about what you need to successfully complete the activity, and look for the least complex option that meets your needs.

Although the alignment to learning outcomes is the most important consideration, there are additional aspects you need to consider when selecting a technology tool.  Some key considerations:

University policies

Before you begin considering tools, check with your instructional designers or educational technology department to find out if there are guidelines or restrictions for your university.  For example, does your university LMS allow guest accounts?  Does your university have licenses for certain tools (such as Padlet or VoiceThread) that you can use?

Privacy and data security

Most countries have laws around privacy and data security, some that apply specifically to education records. FERPA in the US and GDPR in Europe are examples of these strict rules.  Some tools that may be familiar to you may not meet the required security and privacy standards. If you're in doubt, seek advice from tech-savvy staff at your institution.

Ease of use

Unless a complicated new tool is really necessary for student learning, keep it simple.  Use tools that students are already familiar with or that have an easy to learn interface.

Immediacy

Will the tool be used to provide rapid responses, or to provide a space where posts could take place over several days or weeks?  Will you hold synchronous sessions?

Bandwidth

Given the uncertainty of the immediate future for remote teaching and online learning, you need to consider student access to the internet if they are not on campus. In some locations, internet access on campus can be limited and/or students may be paying high cost for mobile data. You and your partner will need to discuss bandwidth and internet access issues when considering technology tools.

Availability

Not all technology tools are accessible from every country. Discuss this with your partner.  Be aware that China blocks access to many technology tools and platforms, so if you partner with a

Chinese institutions, be clear about the technology needs you have for your COIL activities so you can find a platform that will work for both groups of students.

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Welcome to the COIL workshop!  By the end of this  3 week workshop, you will have a better understanding of what makes a compelling COIL Collaboration, roles of students and professors, online behavior, creating active student teams, matching technology choices to activity design,  and developing your COIL resource bank.

All you need for this workshop is included in this Padlet or via a link. If you have not used Padlet before, watch the video.

Content for each week is labeled when TASK is due in the column header.  There are generally 2-3 topics/activities per week.

Posts with activities you need to complete are highlighted in yellow.

This workshop includes asynchronous work and one synchronous meeting per week, requiring about about 2 hours per week.  Keeping up with the activities and providing feedback to your peers are important to both creating community and to understanding what works and doesn't work from a participant perspective, so we really encourage you to participate actively.

That being said, being flexible is one of the main ingredients for COIL success!  If you fall behind, jump back in and catch up as soon as you can.

Please ask any general questions you have, anytime, by posting them in the Water Cooler column (the last column all the way to the right).

Here is the What is COIL website to familiarize yourself with the basic COIL process https://online.suny.edu/introtocoil/perspectives-on-coil/

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One of the key first steps in a COIL Collaboration is to develop trust among students.  Helping students gain a sense of who they are as people goes a long way towards team building.

For many people and cultures, finding something they have in common with others they work with provides the foundation for trust.

Let's try that here - let's see what we have in common.

Click the plus sign and tell us about some things you like to do outside of work.

Be as specific as you can, for example, I like to tend a flower garden, or I like to listen to jazz music.

Don't forget to add your name!

Comment on your colleagues' posts and build on what they say.  Let's see if we can find 3 things we all have in common.

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How would you describe the prevailing approach to teaching at your university or in your country? What is your personal teaching style?

For example, prevailing styles at many universities can be described as lecture style, while at others the prevailing approach is project-based. In some cultures there is a strong respect for authority and questions in the classroom are rare.  In other cultures, debate and open disagreements are the norm in classes. As you move through the development of your COIL collaboration, you and your partner should address these issues so you have an agreed upon approach to  facilitating your COIL collaboration.

Think about your teaching style and your students’ learning styles in relation to the roles and responsibilities outlined above.  Do you see any potential challenges?  Are there additional expectations you would have of yourself or your students?

Click the + sign below to start a new post.

STEP 1

Read the above and watch the video.

Summarize your personal teaching style and the style of learning that most students at your university expect:

1. Do they listen and take notes?

2. Question the professors?

3. Apply learning through projects?

4. Have in-class discussions?).

5. Work well in teams?

STEP 2

How do your teaching approach and the learning expectations of your students strengthen a COIL Collaboration?

STEP 3

What challenges do you foresee?

How might you address these challenges?

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Effective COIL collaborations follow a recognized progression through specific phases.

1. The team building phase includes introductions and icebreakers, along with discussions and activities designed to help students get to know and feel comfortable working with one another online and across cultures.

2. The discussion phase includes comparative discussions and organizing the project that teams of students will be working on. This phase continues to build student teams, but focuses the work on the course topics to prepare students for effective collaborative project work.

3. The project phase is the main activity for the collaboration. This is the time that students apply their knowledge, create something together or have substantive discussions around the topic of the collaboration.

4. The concluding phase includes presentation of work completed, in any format agreed upon by the collaborating professors, final reflections, and concluding.

Please note that for maximum benefit, reflection should happen throughout the COIL Collaboration.

For more information on COIL, see https://online.suny.edu/introtocoil/suny-coil-what-is/

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Send your Certificate request to hope.windle@oneonta.edu

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Send your Certificate request to hope.windle@oneonta.edu

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To receive the COIL certificate for this course, you need to participate in ALL of the YELLOW BOX activities ... posting your ideas, peer responses, curriculum activities and reflections.

You will receive the certificate once you have posted and we can acknowledge your participation in the online course space in addition to your wonderful presence in our ZOOM meetings.

As you know, we are just mirroring what YOU as instructor, would observe and note the work of your students.

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Hi everybody! Welcome welcome! I am so glad that you’re here.My name is Hope Windle. I will be the facilitator for this course. A little bit about myself... I like to sit on a big ball while I work instead of a chair it keeps me focused. I really like dark chocolate. I have a cute dog named Bagel and we go on big walks every day in the woods near where I live. We walk a couple times a day so that I can breathe in the day and nature, even just to hear birds and see the trees. I don’t think the dog gets sick of it. He likes to chase frogs. I love to meet people from different places. There is something about it that gets me so excited! Especially when we first meet through technology, I love reading about each person and then to meet you on ZOOM is so fun. An added bonus is to meet in person.. like at a conference or visiting each others' schools. The whole process is so exhilarating! I don't live near the ocean but I love the sounds, smells and floating in water of any size, either to swim or kayak or just walk alongside a river or creek.

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Maybe you have a lot of experience with reflective practice and have an approach that works for you.  If so, great!  Feel free to use that in your COIL Collaboration.  If you don’t have a lot of experience with reflective practice, a model and technique that works well is Describe - Analyze - Evaluate.

Describe

What happened?  Describe the situation without adding emotion or evaluation, as if you were an outside observer.  Who did what?  What was said?  Where did this take place?

Analyze

This is where we really try to understand what’s going on. Why do I think this happened?  What do I know about the cultures involved and how they are influencing the situation? Can I make connections to situations I’ve encountered before?  Try to generate theories or ideas about what’s going on and why.  If I don’t really understand why something happened, how do I become better informed?

Evaluate/Apply

What did I learn from this?  What does it mean going forward?  How do I apply what I learned from this situation next time?  Are there generalities I can take from this?

An easy way to remember this is:

What? = Describe

So What? = Analyze

Now What? = Evaluate/Apply

Note that in a situation where emotions are high, you may also want to add a short time for students to react.  This will acknowledge their feelings, but keep the focus on What- So What - Now What.  If you add a reaction time at the beginning, students should use "I" statements and keep the reaction focused on their feelings, not on what they perceive as happening.  For example, "I was really frustrated" or "I felt disrespected" without assigning blame allows students to express their emotions before moving onto the reflection prompts.

At the top of this post is a video about the What - So What - Now What reflective practice in education.

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What is a Critical Reflection? Introducing the “What, So What, Now What” Model

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Below are two COIL pairings, which include course names, countries where the universities are located, and one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the professors would like to focus on for their COIL Collaboration.

1. Choose one or both of the pairings.

2. Create a new post

3. Give at least one possible title and a short description of an activity they could do, as in the examples we just looked at.  Respond to your colleagues.

Civil Engineering (Netherlands)

Political Science (US)

COIL Collaboration on SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Introduction to Psychology (US)

Organic Chemistry (Morocco)

COIL Collaboration on SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

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Think of an activity that you might want your students to do during their COIL collaboration.  If you don’t have an activity in mind, pick one of the activities you suggested for the sample pairings in the Exercise your Creative Muscle column.

List the types of interactions you want the students to have.  Consider the relative importance of student interactions (communications tools), a collaborative space, and other aspects.

What are the desired outcomes and outputs (product, portfolio, presentation, etc.) for this activity?

What technology tool characteristics would facilitate these outcomes and outputs?

Attached is a document that lists many online tools that are available - this list is certainly not comprehensive and you can feel free to use a tool that does not appear on the list.

Select a tool that you think could be effective and take a deeper look. Do a bit of research into the particulars of your tool. By reading through the website of your tool and doing a quick Google search you should be able to find information and user feedback that will help you understand how well this tool aligns with your needs.

Click the + sign to start a new post.  Tell us which tool you selected, why you picked it, and how well you think it would work for your purposes. Please give enough context from the questions above to help others understand your needs.

Read through what your colleagues have learned about their tools and comment, share your experience if you’ve used the same or similar tech tool, make suggestions about how they could resolve any concerns they have.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q66u1rKxEWU93ThmsKwP46sxIpVtTBYyrQUuY0V8Pf0/edit?usp=sharing

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Please share your email or WhatsApp and or LinkedIn

to connect as partners or just stay in touch !

Here is mine

hope.windle@oneonta.edu

WhatsApp

+152 845 658 3676

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hopewindle/

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Padlet  is a tool for sharing and collaborating. Click anywhere in this column to be able to scroll down the column.

To expand posts, which may make them easier to read on a computer screen, hover over the upper right corner of the post and click on the three vertical dots that appear.

To start a new post, click on the "+" sign at the TOP of the column.

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# data[].attributes.body
Please share your email or WhatsApp and or LinkedIn

to connect as partners or just stay in touch !

Here is mine

hope.windle@oneonta.edu

WhatsApp

+152 845 658 3676

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hopewindle/

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Low-Context for Clarity? High-Context for Sincerity?

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Low-Context for Clarity? High-Context for Sincerity?

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Should we be looking at this in a slightly different way?

Are there parts of the COIL project where low-context communications are preferred (e.g. student assignment instructions) and other parts of the project where high-context is preferred (e.g. getting to know each other Ice Breaker activities)?

What do you think?

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Cite this guide: Oxner, A. & Bandy, J. (2020). Teaching International Students. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-international-students/.

International students enrich higher education by bringing their languages, cultures, and perspectives to their peers and, in so doing, heighten social awareness, cultural literacies, and broad intellectual development for everyone (Wong 2018; Luo and Jamieson-Drake 2013). However, while international students contribute much to their classrooms and campuses, they also confront many challenges. Adjusting to higher educational settings is a challenge for students from any cultural or academic background, but international students often face additional difficulties. While they, like any student, must find ways to succeed academically and socially, they also must do so often in a foreign language and within legal systems and cultural landscapes that may be unfamiliar. The resulting cultural alienation and confusion, in addition to financial and cultural pressures to succeed, can cause their college experience to be riddled with uncertainty and anxiety. The classroom experience is also challenging, since international students often confront a culture of teaching and learning in higher education that is substantially different from that to which they are accustomed.

For educators to aid international students in negotiating their lives in higher education and thereby to enhance a multicultural and cosmopolitan campus culture for all, it is imperative for instructors and staff to better understand the challenges of international students and how to develop inclusive spaces of teaching and learning. In recent years, the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching has hosted a series of conversations with international students and faculty. The following guide represents many of the concerns raised in these discussions and suggestions for how educators may best support international students, and in so doing, enhance their campus. This guide also explores inclusive teaching practices that can be incorporated into classrooms across a wide array of disciplines and teaching contexts.

Terminology

Throughout this guide, we use the term "international student" to encompass a wide variety of experiences, but we recognize that this is imprecise and that students who may fall into this category are highly diverse, with varied experiences of language, formal visa status, citizenship, and cultural familiarity. Some international students were not born in the U.S., but may have attained U.S. citizenship and be heritage English speakers, and thus may not see themselves as international students. Others may have competencies in English as a second language (ESL) and a student visa, but may be less familiar with American culture, thus identifying clearly as an international student. These students and many others we refer to as international students for the sake of addressing some common experiences, but we recognize that they may prefer to identify as an English language learner (ELL), someone using English as an additional language, immigrant, bilingual student, another term, or some combination. In what follows below we will attempt to address teaching and learning issues with some precision, even as we hope this collection of insights will support international students from across many experiences with highly varied identities.

Teaching Techniques

Class Discussion

Class discussions can provoke anxiety in any student, but international students and English language learners may feel uncomfortable speaking in front of others due to language barriers, a lack of familiarity with social or cultural cues, differing educational backgrounds, and other factors. You may consider generating discussions that meet the following goals:

Transparency. Due to cultural differences across educational systems, some international students may be accustomed to a teacher-centered classroom (i.e., the instructor directs most classroom activities, often through a lecture-based model). When they enter classrooms that emphasize modes of self-directed or collaborative learning, such as student-led discussions, they may need additional help understanding the rationale and structure for participation.

Clarify expectations. If categories such as "discussion" or "participation" appear within your syllabus or grading policy, it is important to define your expectations at the beginning of the course. What does participation look like in your discipline or in your particular classroom? Communicate with your students about why you require active participation, especially by describing the benefits you think it brings to the learning process. It is also helpful to be very practical and transparent about what goals you have for discussion and what skills you are assessing through student participation.

Incorporate multiple forms of participation. If verbal full class participation is not essential to your course goals, consider offering alternative participation strategies such as small group discussion, think-pair-share, individual meetings with the instructor, informal blogs, discussion board posts, after-class email exchanges, or other assignments that allow students to demonstrate their engagement with course content.

Distribute questions. Providing potential discussion questions before class gives students time to reflect and formulate more complex responses.

Group Work

Research shows that collaborative practices and learning communities benefit traditionally underrepresented students by encouraging engagement between learners of diverse backgrounds, leading to increased multicultural competence (Soria and Mitchell 2015). You may consider the following techniques as part of a strategy of realizing these practices:

Diversify group work. Asking students to turn to a classmate or form a group can create opportunities for peer education and can be a helpful discussion strategy. However, students sometimes can self-segregate or gravitate towards other students like themselves, so consider organizing group discussions or projects intentionally to promote more diverse groups and dialogues throughout the course.

Organize study groups. If students have an assigned group and meet frequently either in-class or for study sessions, they may form a classroom community and develop closer relationships with other students, aiding their learning. They can ask their peers for additional help rather than having to approach the instructor if they feel intimidated. Implement a check-in or other way to regularly assess the effectiveness of the student groups. This is particularly useful for international or ELL students who may need more assistance developing proficiencies in language or cultural competencies.

Group projects. High stakes group work may be difficult for international students. If a grade is attached to group work or collaborative projects, a student may feel like a burden if they do not understand how to contribute. Consider using group work for low stakes brainstorming so that students can build a rapport with their classmates and even potentially practice language learning in an informal setting. Also, consider giving individual students, particularly international students, clear roles (e.g., facilitator, devil's advocate, notetaker) and assignments as part of their group work. Learn more about using roles in group work.

Assessing Student "Engagement"

If a student looks disengaged or is not participating verbally, that does not necessarily indicate passivity or a lack of engagement or understanding. In many cultures, students are accustomed to high degrees of deference to faculty, and thus may be habituated to listening actively but quietly, avoiding eye contact, and not initiating dialogue. For faculty who are more accustomed to students who make eye contact or who challenge with questions or critique, this can appear to be disengagement. Rather than reading these cues as disengagement, instructors could determine student understanding through:

Classroom assessment techniques. Incorporate activities such as minute-papers on what they have learned and/or their remaining questions or issues that are still unclear (i.e., "muddiest points").

Guided prompts. Instructors could use reading notes, digital social reading assignments, quizzes, discussion boards, blogs, and reflection papers that are tied to a prompt that requires application, critique, and/or synthesis. Rather than participating verbally, students would thus be given the opportunity to respond to course content through a variety of mediums.

One-on-one meetings. Faculty can require individual check-ins with all students to ensure they are engaging and developing towards the learning objectives. However, because international students may be unaccustomed to this as a teaching practice, it may help to clarify their function and what may be required of the students.

Instructor Presentation/Performance

International students or English language learners may need to translate language in their head as the instructor speaks, or they may need extra time to take notes in another language. In order to communicate effectively with all students, instructors can develop a clear teaching or presentation style that incorporates slower speech, accessible questions, and pauses for reflection. These techniques are elaborated below:

Speaking style. Experts in any discipline may unconsciously speak quickly because they are familiar with their subject and they may extemporaneously pursue tangential subjects with cultural references that are unique to their home culture. International students can best understand these topics more easily if the instructor uses slower speech, clarifies culturally specific references, and pauses periodically for reflection and note-taking time. It is worth noting that changing your speaking style too much may be unnecessary and/or insulting, since it may appear patronizing. Consider clarifying and slowing your speech, and then check in with students a few weeks into the course to evaluate whether your presentation style is effective. This could be done through an anonymous Google Form or poll that is distributed to all students.

Question format. It is useful to check in during instructional time in order to gauge understanding, but students often feel uncomfortable asking or responding to questions in front of their peers for a variety of reasons. They may respond more willingly to open-ended questions such as: "What part of the previous explanation is still unclear?" These types of questions invite students to acknowledge gaps in understanding (rather than asking a question such as, "Are we all ready to move on now?"). More specific questions that intentionally assess student understanding are far better than general ones designed to simply move class along. Pause for 10-15 seconds before transitioning to the next topic. This will provide students with the time necessary to process, reflect, and respond, especially if they have less language or cultural familiarity with the subject. Instructors could also create a "questions/feedback" discussion board or quiz on their course management system, in Google Docs or Forms (note: in China the Google platforms are not accessible), or encourage/require individual office hour check-ins.

Explanations of major assignments. Provide both written and verbal instructions for all assignments. International students or English language learners may have to translate the instructions as the instructor speaks, so they may miss some material. Restate important ideas throughout the lesson and vary the phrasing/terminology as information is presented.

Closed captioning. If PowerPoints, Google Slides, or other slideware are being used during a class period, consider providing closed captioning for this content. Some English language learners might be more familiar with written language than with spoken words. With captions, students also have the opportunity to go back through the slides later to read through what they may have missed, or to translate unfamiliar concepts/phrases when they have more time.

Curriculum Design

Curricula appears differently across diverse cultural and educational contexts. International students should not have to do all of the work of adjusting to the U.S. classroom-the instructor can adapt some of their course materials to better support students from a range of backgrounds. Some suggestions for a culturally responsive curriculum design are provided below:

Varied assignment structure. Implementing a variety of assignments and building some student choice into their subjects/formats can help students from different backgrounds find relevance and meaning in the course through multiple or personalized access points. For example, an international student may not be comfortable taking timed quizzes or exams in a second language but might perform well on an untimed written assignment. Additionally, a student may not feel comfortable writing an essay on American history events but might feel more engaged if they could choose a historical event from another cultural context. Assessing students through multiple forms is likely to also assess multiple skills and abilities, so instructors may benefit from using different formats (papers, tests, quizzes, projects), media (written, audio/video, digital), and both formative and summative assessments throughout the course. However, if you offer students choice, it would be helpful to be exceedingly clear with all students, international or domestic, about what range of options might be available, with examples.

Consider the limitations. Interrogate popular/traditional assignments within your discipline and assess their effectiveness for international students. For example:

Oral presentations. Public speaking can be daunting for students from any background, and international students may be especially uncomfortable speaking in front of the class due to language barriers or unfamiliarity with the practice. Alternative presentation formats could help students access the material more easily. For instance, instructors could consider assigning group presentations with specific roles that require different levels of public speaking (i.e., one student could design the presentation while another conveys most of the information to the class).

Off-campus work. Some courses require internships, community service, volunteer work, or service learning. These requirements can pose issues for international students who have limitations based on their work visas. Moreover, some international students may not have a driver's license, understand the city bus system, or have access to other forms of transportation. Check in with your students to make sure they are all able to participate in these activities, and arrange alternative assignments if necessary.

Language expectations. Consider grading based on content more than grammar/mechanics. Also, be mindful that English language learners may not be as familiar with academic English, disciplinary jargon, or local/colloquial language.

Writing assignments. If English is their second language, your students may be spending quite a lot of time at the Writing Studio, the English Language Center, or other campus centers. Consider offering extra credit if they provide evidence that they are using campus resources. Reach out to them to offer additional support if they seem uncomfortable taking advantage of these resources for whatever reason.

Models. Using academic articles or other professionally written examples could intimidate or discourage students. Providing approachable, but effective student examples of major assignments could serve as more inclusive models, alongside clear language about how the models are exemplary and how they might be improved.

Syllabus design. The syllabus serves as the introduction to your course for many students. Offer clear expectations or directions for each component of your course such as discussion, participation, and major assignment descriptions. Examine your textbook or reading selections and assess whether these course materials reflect a diverse array of cultural reference points. Consider including an inclusivity statement or list of community guidelines, particularly if you are teaching a discussion-driven course.

Rubrics. Consider using rubrics to clarify criteria by which assignments will be assessed, and expectations for different levels of performance. Rubrics can have any format or content you want to provide, but should be intentional in their representation of the criteria of assessment you will use. Transparent rubrics can be helpful to all students as they seek to do their best on assignments.

Special considerations for online curriculum design. Faculty can help to ensure that international students who are learning online (especially from other countries) can receive equitable treatment.

Discussions. In hybrid classes especially, faculty may privilege in-person dialogue over those participating via video conferencing (such as Zoom). When international students are disproportionately participating online, this privileging may have the effect of excluding them (and their online peers) from conversation. Please endeavor to give time and opportunities for online students to contribute to the discussion fully, and not include them marginally (e.g., only at the end of the dialogue). Also, in online or hybrid courses, please be attentive to time zone issues as international students may be contributing to the discussion late at night or early in the morning, which could affect their participation. International students need rest to keep up with their assignments and maintain good physical and mental health. Therefore, you may choose to set alternative sections for international students. Another solution is to not make synchronous sessions mandatory, and instead create equitable opportunities for asynchronous class participation, for example through discussion forums, notetaking documents, and video.

Asynchronous materials. It is good practice to offer course materials that students can access asynchronously so that they have more control over when (and how) they view the content. For example, consider providing transcripts of your lectures or links to reading materials that you discuss verbally. Also, consider transforming any presentational elements you currently perform in synchronous meetings into asynchronous materials that students may review independently. This can have the added benefit of focusing synchronous discussions on the forms of teaching for which they are best suited, namely interactive dialogue and collaborative learning.

Accessible online platforms. Avoid selecting an online platform that may exclude international students. Google platforms, for instance, are not available in China, so others may be worth using if Chinese students are participating in the course. Check-in regularly with all students to ensure they have the resources needed to succeed.

Scheduling. Consider offering office hours, exams, and synchronous class meeting times in time slots that are convenient to both you and your international students in different time zones.

Online testing. Learning management systems (Canvas, D2L, etc.) provide instructors with tools to create tests and quizzes that students complete through the online platform. Some limitations exist in these tools:

Many testing tools have built-in plagiarism detectors that can pose challenges for international students (see the "Academic Integrity" sections below).

When creating an online test, faculty can typically choose between several question formats (multiple choice, long-form response, short answer, etc.). For each type of question, the instructor should clarify their expectations in terms of length and content. Some question formats may be unfamiliar to students who have not previously enrolled online.

Instructors also should consider the benefits and drawbacks of imposing a time limit on quizzes or tests. Consider your course goals and determine whether or not speediness is a desired learning outcome. Research shows that white students are more likely to succeed in a timed exam than minority students (Henderson 2004; Curcio, Chomsky & Kaufman 2014) and that women's performance diminishes on exams with time pressures (Ayshford 2020). Eliminating time constraints can help students who need to translate questions, identify definitions for unfamiliar terms, or otherwise engage with the course content on their own timeline.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity refers to the exchange of ideas and knowledge that is honest, trustworthy, fair, respectful, and responsible (International Center for Academic Integrity 1999). Practically and most frequently, the term denotes work that is undertaken honestly without plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, or cheating. Plagiarism or academic dishonesty appears differently across academic institutions and cultures. International students may not be familiar with U.S. plagiarism policies-in some cultures, borrowing or repeating someone else's ideas can be viewed as a form of flattery (Scollon 1995; Simpson 2016). Additionally, some Asian cultures "encourage collectivism, memorization, and group work," so students studying in Western countries "may face difficulties when adjusting to academic standards that encourage individualization" (Simpson 2016). Offer an overview of plagiarism or academic integrity within the context of your course and your culture, or use that provided by Vanderbilt's English Language Center, which you can see here:

Assess the penalties. If you know or suspect that a student has plagiarized, invite them to participate in a conversation about academic integrity. Consider allowing the student to re-do the assignment or revise the plagiarized sections, rather than failing them for the assignment or the course.

Plagiarism software. If using a plagiarism detector like TurnItIn or SafeAssign, explain this process to students and justify your use of these programs. You may choose to enable the setting that allows students to view their own TurnItIn/SafeAssign reports so that they can see how frequently they are integrating research or outside sources.

Defining plagiarism. Invite a member of the the English Language Center, Writing Studio, or Office of Student Accountability into your classroom to discuss plagiarism or academic integrity, since this could be beneficial for all students. Again, the ELC has created this useful tutorial on academic integrity that draws insight from across Vanderbilt's campus community.

Getting to Know Your Students

Our diverse students bring with them many perspectives that can become part of campus academic and social life, but only if we understand them and integrate them into our work as educators. To help students find belonging and contribute to our classrooms and campus life, U.S. students and faculty need to gain familiarity with each other's cultural backgrounds and perspectives. To help all of your students through this process of multicultural exchange, you can integrate getting-to-know-you strategies throughout your course. Activities like those listed below can help generate a classroom community in which students recognize and value the personal and intellectual contributions of others:

Icebreakers. Icebreakers can be a useful way to introduce students to both the instructor and their classmates. However, instructors should strive to create ones that are culturally inclusive. For example, if asking about students' origins, be conscious of phrasing. Rather than asking, "What's your name and what city/state are you from?" instructors could simply ask, "What is your name and where are you from?" In this way, the instructor is not assuming that all students are from the United States, and students from different countries do not have to offer additional explanations about their origins. During the icebreaker activity, instructors can also avoid questions that require students to speak in front of the class for long periods of time in case they are uncomfortable with public speaking or are unfamiliar with this practice.

Unconscious bias. As you learn more about your students' unique identities, avoid making assumptions:

Some students will not identify as an international student, even if they are not from the United States. While their cultural background does affect their life as a student, it may not always shape or define their classroom behaviors or student identity.

If a student has a less common accent, discloses that they are from another country, or does not communicate in the way to which you are accustomed, don't assume that they will not succeed in your class or understand the material. Simply check in with them throughout the course, as you would other students, to make sure they are on-track.

Some international students find that faculty members are unwilling to learn more about them because it requires extra effort or because the instructor assumes that they will not have enough in common with the student. Demonstrate your interest in your students' individual backgrounds and perspectives by valuing their contributions during class discussions, conversing with them during office hours, or researching their country/culture.

Be willing to admit when you have a question about a student's background or experience. Acknowledge that you want help if you experience a misunderstanding but avoid expecting the student to do all of the work of teaching you about their culture-do the necessary research for yourself as well.

It is useful to incorporate current events into your course; however, the expectation that international students will know about U.S. popular culture can result in exclusion and miscommunication. Instructors should try to be mindful of not presenting the U.S. experience as a universal experience, and consider providing extra context for the cultural references used in class.

Recognize that some international students may need to spend a great deal of time conducting additional research to fill in any contextual gaps. If you are teaching an American history course, for example, students from different cultural backgrounds may have to do extra work to keep up with the course material. Consider checking in with students at the beginning of the semester to gauge their background knowledge, and provide resources that may help them succeed.

Names. Take the time to learn your students' names and pronounce them as correctly as possible. Avoid making jokes about how "impossible" their name is to pronounce, or how you will "never remember that name." If they prefer to use an English name, respect that decision and use the appropriate/preferred name. If you need assistance in learning how to pronounce their name, do not hesitate to ask upon your introduction to the student.

Information sheets. Consider distributing a student survey or "student information form" that asks students relevant questions about how you can help them to feel comfortable and thrive in your course, including, but not limited to, their prior educational experience, their interests in the content of the class, things that would help them to succeed in the class, preferred names and pronouns (see the English Language Center's pronoun guide), or anything else they might care to share. This could help you to get to know not merely your international students, but all students, and can guide your teaching in ways that are more personalized and meaningful.

Office Hours

Approaching instructors for help can be intimidating to many students, but international students may not be accustomed to meeting individually with perceived authority figures due to differing cultural practices. Visiting an instructor's office or asking questions without being prompted might feel disrespectful to some students. Encourage students from all backgrounds to seek individualized attention when needed:

Offer multiple forms of help. Rather than reserving office hours for course-related topics, use this time to have general conversations with your students. Learn about their interests and experiences and check in with them about their emotional well-being.

Alternative terminology. Consider using a term such as "Student Hours" or "Conversation Hours." Framing it this way might reduce the anxiety students feel from approaching authority figures in their own space.

Manage personality expectations. Be patient with students who resist being familiar or chummy. International students, as well as students who are simply reserved or introverted, may express themselves differently when speaking individually with a faculty member, or may not know what relationships are appropriate. Consider providing students with clear guidelines on what you believe to be the appropriate professional relationships you wish to establish with students Some students may also regard Office Hours as remedial-consider requiring all students to attend Office Hours once or twice throughout the semester so that individuals do not feel singled out or penalized.

See the Center for Teaching's Office Hours guide for additional resources.

Cultural and Social Awareness

Cultivating a culturally responsive classroom can enhance learning outcomes by generating support and awareness for international students' unique experiences. Instructors can demonstrate their commitment to student success by considering:

Sense of belonging. Maintain a list of international student clubs and other campus resources (a preliminary list can be found in the next section). If an international student appears isolated, recommend these resources so that they can feel socially connected to campus communities. Please see the English Language Center's weekly digest with a list of campus events and resources for international students seeking engagement and belonging.

External factors. Recognize that international students might face additional stressors:

Their families might be very far away, making it difficult to travel home for holidays or family emergencies. This can lead to feelings of isolation and/or guilt.

Health insurance coverage. It is more expensive for international students (versus U.S. citizens or domestic students) to seek financial assistance for medical attention and mental health needs.

The onus for integration is often placed on international students. They are pushed to integrate into U.S. culture or are tasked with teaching others about their cultural values and educational tenets. Domestic students can reach out to international students rather than placing the majority of social burdens on them. Domestic students could attend international student events on campus, invite them to participate in small group discussions, and specifically ask them to share their opinions or experiences. Faculty can normalize this effort in their courses by being intentional with how they organize and facilitate group work, assigning and discussing texts from a variety of cultural origins, offering extra credit to students who participate in culturally diverse events on campus, and incorporating activities on unconscious bias into their curriculum.

Campus Resources

The Provost's Office for Inclusive Excellence (OIE) serves Vanderbilt's communities of undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty. Working to create and assess progress towards inclusive excellence, we are committed to embracing our diversity and achieving a more equitable Vanderbilt through partnership and collaboration. The OIE prioritizes the various needs of our diverse groups by building opportunities for more voices to be heard and valued within the Vanderbilt community-at-large.

The English Language Center (ELC) offers contextualized noncredit English language courses, workshops, language resources, and one-to-one Academic Speaking, Academic Writing, and Pronunciation consultations to students and faculty who use English as an Additional Language, regardless of their level of proficiency. The ELC strives to help international students achieve their academic, professional, and social goals.

The Global Education Office (GEO) is committed to preparing global citizens by providing innovative and high quality international learning experiences that build on Vanderbilt University's commitment to academic excellence, global engagement and community service.

The International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) fosters the education and development of non-immigrant students and scholars to enable them to achieve their academic and professional goals and objectives. ISSS provides advice, counseling, and advocacy regarding immigration, cross-cultural, and personal matters. ISSS supports an environment conducive to international education and intercultural awareness via educational, social, and cross cultural programs.

The Office of Leadership Development and Intercultural Affairs - Dean of Students initiates, develops, and implements multicultural education in the areas of policies, services, and programs for the entire student body.

International Student Council. Vanderbilt University's International Student Council (ISC) is a non-political and non-profit student organization. The goal of ISC is to unite all the undergraduate and graduate international students on campus, and acts as a programming platform to promote cultural diversity to the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities. ISC dedicates to promote mutual cultural and intellectual sharing among international students and American students, to promote the welfare of international students, and to work as a liaison between ISSS and international students.

International Student Organizations provides information on organizations sponsoring programs and offering support systems for international students at Vanderbilt. Includes social events that bring multicultural awareness and increase international/domestic student connections on campus.

Acknowledgements

We would like to extend a special thanks to Tanushree Sarkar, Qinyuan Gu, Elianys Martinez Rodriquez, Mohammad Meerzaei, Iriza Baranyanka, Adriana Calderon, Aya Abou-Jaoude, Yuki (Chengxin) Hu, Dr. Akshya Saxena, Ben Tran, Rahn Huber, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, Tiffany Green, Xiu Cravens, Lijun Song, Hoaxiang Luo, the staff of the English Language Center (particularly Susan Barone and Jim Cracraft), the staff of the Writing Studio (particularly John Bradley), as well as Vanderbilt's the International Student Council, Asian Studies Student Association, Undergraduate Chinese Association, Korean Undergraduate Student Association, Association of Latin American Students, Middle Eastern Student Association, African Student Union, and others who participated in interviews and panels, shared their perspectives, and contributed to the information provided in this guide.

References

Ayshford, Emily. " Making Science More Equitable, Starting with 101." Symmetry (2020).

Curcio, Andrea, Carol Chomsky, and Eileen Kaufman. "Testing, Diversity, and Merit: A Reply to Dan Subotnik and Others." University of Massachusetts Law Review, vol. 9 (2014).

Henderson, William. "The LSAT, Law School Exams and Meritocracy: The Surprising and Undertheorized Role of Test-Taking Speed." Texas Law Review, vol. 82 (2004).

International Center for Academic Integrity. The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity. October. (1999).

Luo, Jiali and David Jamieson-Drake. "Examining the Educational Benefits of Interacting with International Students." Journal of International Students vol. 2, no. 3 (2013).

Scollon, Ron. "Plagiarism and Ideology: Identity in Intercultural Discourse." Language in Society, vol. 24 (1995).

Simpson, Denise. " Academic Dishonesty: An International Student Perspective." Higher Education Politics & Economics vol. 2, no. 1 (2016).

Soria, Krista and Tania Mitchell. " Learning Communities: Foundations for First-Year Students' Development of Pluralistic Outcomes." Learning Communities Research and Practice vol. 3, no. 2 (2015).

Wong, Alia. "Should America's Universities Stop Taking So Many International Students?" The Atlantic, 28 June 2018.

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This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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by Alex Oxner and Joe Bandy Print Version Cite this guide: Oxner, A. & Bandy, J. (2020). Teaching International Students. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-international-students/. Terminology Teaching Techniques Curriculum Design Academic Integrity Getting to Know Your Students Office Hours Cultural and Social Awareness Campus Resources References International students enrich...

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The Community of Inquiry: About The Framework

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The Community of Inquiry: About The Framework

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I have used this in developing a blended learning format for students

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An educational community of inquiry is a group of individuals who collaboratively engage in purposeful critical discourse and reflection to construct personal meaning and confirm mutual understanding.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework theory, methodology, and instruments were developed during a Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities research funded project entitled "A Study of the Characteristics and Qualities of Text-Based Computer Conferencing for Educational Purposes" project which ran from 1997 to 2001. Central to the original study was the creation of a model of a community of inquiry comprised of three essential elements of an educational experience: Cognitive Presence, Social Presence, and Teaching Presence.

Outcomes of the original project were published in peer-reviewed journals which, in turn, have resulted in hundreds of research studies applying and extending the original CoI theory, method, and instruments. The seminal paper "Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education" (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000) has been cited more than 7000 times (as reported by Google Scholar, July 2021) and provided the foundation for valuable empirical research in learning theory across multiple disciplines and in varied educational settings.

The Community of Inquiry theoretical framework represents a process of creating a deep and meaningful (collaborative-constructivist) learning experience through the development of three interdependent elements: social, cognitive and teaching presence.

The Community of Inquiry survey or questionnaire is a stable instrument that can be used in a variety of studies, including large scale inter-institutional or cross-disciplinary studies.

Shared metacognition (MC) exists at the intersection of the cognitive and teaching presence constructs and goes to the heart of a deep and meaningful educational learning experience. The Shared Metacognition Questionnaire (SMQ) has been developed for the study and practice of shared metacognition in a community of inquiry.

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework theory, methodology and instruments were developed during a Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities research funded project entitled "A Study of the Characteristics and Qualities of Text-Based Computer Conferencing for Educational Purposes" project which ran from 1997 to 2001. Central to the original study was the creation of a framework of a community of inquiry comprised of three essential elements of an educational experience: cognitive, social and teaching presence.

Outcomes of the original project were published in peer reviewed journals which, in turn, have resulted in hundreds of research studies applying and extending the original CoI theory, method, and instruments. The seminal paper "Critical Inquiry in a Text-Based Environment: Computer Conferencing in Higher Education" (Garrison, Anderson and Archer, 2000) has been cited more than 2800 times (as reported by Google Scholar August 2015) and provided the foundation for valuable empirical research in learning theory across multiple disciplines and in varied educational settings.

In the following interview for the Reflective Teaching in a Digital Age podcast, Dr. Randy Garrison describes the history of the CoI framework, including its role in the thoughtful design of online education, and practical ways of helping students learn through active participation and shared meaning making.

Your browser does not support the audio element.

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The Community of Inquiry: About The Framework

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A research community for studying the Community of Inquiry

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We want you to have a workable plan for your COIL Collaboration by the end of this workshop. You may not have all the details in place, but you should have at least a blueprint for your collaboration that you can continue to refine. You and your COIL partner will work on completing your COIL Collaboration Plan throughout this workshop. You should have one unified plan for your collaboration, so please fill this out together.

It is available in Word below (save a copy for yourself), or in Google docs (this is a read-only version, so please make an editable copy: open the document through the link, under the File menu, select Make a copy). We will use this Plan document throughout the workshop.

Here is another option in Spanish and English.

Also available in Google docs as a read-only version, again, make an editable copy: open the document through the link, under the File menu, select Make a copy).

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RESOURCES

Infusing Play and Humor into your COIL Collaboration

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11ML2L5KeRPpE3QGkZrOSrhXXJRvLShLyb3a1SQct5yI/edit#slide=id.g1ef44c8525c_3_164

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SUNY COIL & FIU COIL Webinar Series | January 16 

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50 ways to leave your teacher-centered lecture for student-centered alternatives in online teaching and learning.

https://www.slideshare.net/alexandrapickett/50-alternatives-to-lecture

Web page of Activity approaches…https://oscqr.suny.edu/standard29/

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50 alternatives to lecture - Download as a PDF or view online for free

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Team formation and cultural considerations

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Team formation and cultural considerations

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Teams go through recognized stages, beginning with coming together, then developing a sense of team (which can include going through a period of disagreement between team members, hopefully resulting in a shared understanding of how the team works together), leading to effective teamwork.  A frequently cited model of team development was theorized by Organizational Psychologist Bruce Tuckman: Forming - Storming - Norming - Performing - Adjourning. Though this model was developed largely from examination of groups in the United States, it has been shown to be applicable to team formation in different countries and cultures worldwide. If you are not familiar with this model, here’s a short video describing the stages:

https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/c.php?g=379280&p=2568609

The behaviors and expectations of people at different stages of group formation vary from culture to culture.  It’s important to recognize, particularly during the phases where students are forming a sense of team and disagreeing, that behaviors can be misinterpreted, and that this has the potential to negatively impact your COIL collaboration. This is where students’ understanding of cultural differences and their ability to suspend judgement will benefit the group formation process.

If you have participated in the COIL Foundations workshop, you have examined different culturally based communications styles and different ways that people build trust. You can now see how this overlays the team development model. Developing trust during the Forming stage will look different if you are working with two primarily task-based cultures, when you would likely ask teams to focus on the purpose of the team and the end product, than if you are working with two relationship-based cultures, when you would likely encourage teams get to know each other through more social interactions. If you are working with a task-based and a relationship-based culture, students need to understand the different expectations of the other students’ culture.

Cultural differences can become even more important and apparent during the Storming stage of Tuckman’s model, as disagreement or discontent can be expressed very differently from culture to culture.  For example, some cultures (low-context communicators) would assume that silence indicates acceptance. If you don’t say that you disagree, then you must agree. For other cultures, silence could mean that I don’t agree, but disagreeing openly or verbally would be disrespectful to you, so it’s better not to express my opinion.

Attached are some tips developed by the University of Minnesota for the participation of students from different cultures in class discussions, which also apply to student participation in teams. This was written for US professors.

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Remember to get your partners' and your students' names correct! 

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Remember to get your partners' and your students' names correct! 

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So important to pronoun peoples' names correctly! Thank you Naomi Sigg. For virtualexchange, remember to share this with your students. microaggressions like these add up to no trust and not good team work. Everyone wants to make a COIL project work so keep this in your toolbox!

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Language as cultural expression vs means of communication

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Language as cultural expression vs means of communication

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We have considered the cultural basis of communication styles. What about language?  Language and culture are closely related. The words we have in our language help us describe the world around us and help us organize our thoughts to make sense of it. Vocabulary can both reflect culture and define it.

Among people who speak the same language, slang, idioms and accents create a sense of group identity - whether that’s a national, regional or local difference, or identity in a group defined in other ways, like ethnic groups, organizations, social class, etc. Using language as cultural expression can be a way to include people in a shared identity, but can also exclude those who don’t have the shared frame of reference.

In a COIL Collaboration, we need to help students think about language as cultural identity and as a means of communication. This is particularly important if the language of the collaboration is the primary language of only one group. To get students introduced to the idea of language as identity and communication tool, you can have your students greet the other students in that group’s language as part of the icebreaker. Students can then talk about greetings, for example, how they would greet a teacher, a grandparent, a close friend, a stranger.

Attached is some advice from the University of Kansas about communicating with people if proficiency is unequal. These tips can be helpful to share with your students, and can be helpful reminders for yourself if you and your COIL teaching partner don’t have the same level of proficiency in the language you will use for communications.

Another technique that COIL professors use is to have posts in the dominant language of both groups. That is, if the primary language of one group is Spanish and the other is English, students have to post in both languages.  If they don’t have proficiency in one of the languages, they need to use available tools, like Google Translate, to assist.  This can help give all students the perspective of communicating in a language that’s not primary to them and generate conversation about language and communication. You can do this for one or more discussions, even if you agree on one language for the collaboration. It does require some guided reflection to help students unpack the experience and apply learning going forward - more on that next week.

Click the + column to start a new post.  If you have experience communicating across languages, share some stories, tips, challenges and success you’ve had that could help your students and your colleagues as they prepare their COIL collaborations.  If you don’t have a lot of experience, do you have concerns, questions, things you’re looking forward to?

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I see myself being good with meta-commenting (as I would be able to read other contributions in my on time and give my feedback) and mirroring words/expressions.

I believe most of these require some practice... as a relatively new lecturer I am still building confidence in my skills, so I will definitely need to work on the prompting & weaving.

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Name: Emad

E.mail: emad.elhenawy@nmu.edu.eg

Institiution: The college of medicine, new mansoura university

Languenge: english/arabic

academic descipline: pharmacology

details of teaching: i teach pharmacology courses for under and postgraduate

Coil course idea: exchange different language and cultural teacher candidate

experience

Additional informations: welcome other collaborations ideas

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i like fishing

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I am Suzy, a workaholic person, but I greatly enjoy handicrafts, though I rarely find time for them. I do crochet and knitting, and I also do needle embroidery. I also enjoy sports such as volleyball and table tennis, and I love green gardens and nature. I also love raising animals of all kinds. I currently have a very naughty dog named Rocky who loves to play with anyone he meets and travels with me by car during my weekly commutes to and from work. The most enjoyable moments for me are when I hear words of thanks and love from my students, and some of them even gift me drawings of my portrait that they have created.

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Name: Prof. Suzy Fayez Ewida

Email: suzy.ewida@nmu.edu.eg Institution: New Mansoura

MBBCH., MD., PhD.

Director of Medicine and Surgery Program.

University Country: Egypt

Language Preference for COIL Collaboration: English

Academic Discipline: Physiology (Open to cross-disciplinary collaboration)

Detail of Teaching/Research Interests: I teach physiology and am interested in interdisciplinary collaboration that enhances personal skills, communication, and cultural exchange. My focus is on the development of international collaboration among health team members and understanding health and educational systems of mutual interest between medical and applied medical sciences students.

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Hi everyone. My name is Carl Nelson. My wife and I have our hands full raising two daughters and Ozzy the cat, who you can see above, stealing my home office chair and looking very pleased with himself. My kids are 9 and 12, so when I'm not working, much of my time is spent with them - one is obsessed with horse riding and the other loves art and crafting (none of which I can help them with...). We love to go on days out as a family, exploring a new city, or the crumbling ruins of a castle. I'm a fan of various sports (particularly cricket and football), so when I have time I try to follow my favourite teams, but playing sport doesn't go beyond our back garden with the kids these days! I'm looking forward to finding out more about COIL and more about many of you in the coming weeks!

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Hi all i am Hala, i am grand mom, my best time now is what i spend with my grand kids i have 2 boys 7ys and 22 months 2 girls 8 and 4 ys old , i am enjoying playing with them, listening to how they communicate and even fights with each other. i didn't have much time with my kids when they were their ages . i like playing tennis for which i won 2 championships in high school and medical school, but didn't play since ages, now i just watch matches on TV . when i also like pen palling i also like talking to my patients , having conversation with them how they manage their life with their sick kids.i established this subspeciality in my medical school , building every thing from scratch, both teaching to my fellows and all the needed facilities to have stae of art technologies in this domain

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Name Hala

Email hala.marsafawy@nmu.edu.eg

Institution: Medical school, New Mansoura University

Language English

Academic Discipline Pediatric cardiology for under and post graduates of medical school

Details of teaching I teach cardiac problems both acquired and congenital in pediatric age group ;how to diagnose them clinically , how to use advanced methods like Echocardiography and cardiac catheterization in diagnosis and management of these diseases, also diagnosis and management of fetal heart problems

Coil Course Idea: exchange ethics in management of pediatric age cardiac problems in different cultures

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+1845-658-3676

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+39 3405586924

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+44 7549941595

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Email: khaled.elkoomy@nmu.edu.eg

institution: Faculty of Medicine, NMU

what's-app: +201156185406

I'm Khaled , Lab specialist at Faculty of Medicine, New Mansoura University. I'm a science graduate Environmental Science program , Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University. Biochemistry Diploma, 2020. Bioinformatics Diploma student at Nile University.

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+447845785878

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Carl put the link to the MS Team meeting in the SHAREPOINT site.

FACE TO FACE - Synchronous Connection

First meeting is one hour long.

Second meeting is one and a half hour long.

We will always meet at this MSTEAMS link

Mark your calendar.

MEETING 1 - 5 June - Wednesday

MEETING 2 - 26 June - Wednesday

We will meet at the following times: `

8am EDT(UTC-4) SUNY COIL, New York

1pm  CEST(UTC+2) NTU UK

3pm  ET(UTC+3) NMU Egypt

Check this Time / Date Meeting Planner to make sure you have the right time. I will also send you calendar invitations.

Each meeting will prepare you for the synchronous part of your COIL project.

All meetings will be recorded and posted on the Padlet platform.

Carl put the link to the MS Team meeting in the SHAREPOINT site.

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+44 7971 299418

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The behavior that best describes me is Squirrels when I have plenty of tasks to do, and sometimes I act like an Elephant according to what I am doing online

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My teaching style is interactive and adaptive. I strive to engage students through a mix of activities that cater to diverse learning preferences.

I provide structured lectures with clear outlines and key points highlighted. I use visual aids and real-time annotations to help students follow along and take effective notes.

I often pause to invite questions and encourage critical thinking and even start my lecture with case scenario to be discussed and solve the problem in it.

I use educational games sometimes in my classes.

I design activities that require teamwork and collaboration. Group projects and peer review sessions are common, helping students develop teamwork and communication skills.

Addressing Challenges to enrich COIL collaboration experience for all participants.

Coordinating synchronous activities across different time zones can be difficult. I can use asynchronous tools (discussion forums, recorded lectures) to complement synchronous sessions and ensure all students can participate fully.

Establish clear communication guidelines. Encourage open dialogue about cultural differences and their impact on collaboration to overcome Variations in students' communication styles and academic expectations.

Offer training sessions and clear guide on the technology used and ensure all students have access to the necessary resources. Provide alternative ways to participate if technology issues arise.

Use a variety of interactive tools and activities to maintain interest. Regularly check in with students to address any issues and provide support.

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From the short period you've known me, do you think I have a squirrel-type SP style?

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Name: Jody Winter

Email: jody.winter@ntu.ac.uk

Institution: Nottingham Trent University

Discipline: Microbiology

Teaching: I teach microbiology, immunology, host-pathogen interactions and supervise research students.

COIL ideas: I'm interested in One Health and interdisciplinary/multi-sector approaches to tackling global health problems such as antimicrobial resistance. It would be interesting to have students compare their knowledge and experiences on the drivers of AMR and infectious diseases such as climate, living conditions, access to antibiotics and critically analyse different approaches to preventing infections and tackling AMR.

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Name: Elisa Tonoli

Institution: Nottingham Trent University

Country: UK

Language Preference for COIL Collaboration: English

Academic Discipline: Bioscience

Detail teaching/research Interests: I am involved in teaching at Foundation, Undergraduate and Postgraduate level in the bioscience department (e.g., Introductory Science for Biologists, Introduction to Biochemistry, Research Methods and bioethics). I have a particular interest in understating and tackling the difficulties international students must face when they transition to the UK.

COIL Ideas: Have the students collaborate in mixed groups, to reflect on public health issues (e.g., antimicrobial resistance, mental health, infectious diseases, …) highlighting similarities and differences between the two countries and work together to present their work by making a video or a presentation to share with the other groups. This will enhance their communication skills, teamwork, digital proficiency, and employability.

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I used  ChatGPT to answer that question 

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I used  ChatGPT to answer that question 

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I used ChatGPT to answer that question and it gave my a wonderful techniques and strategies to use with my students and I realized that my SP is more squirrel type than an elephant, however using both types is perfect.

Her is ChatGPT answer for me:

As a squirrel and sometimes an elephant, you have a unique blend of traits that can be leveraged to enhance Social Presence (SP) in your COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) activities. Squirrels are often seen as energetic, quick, and resourceful, while elephants are known for their strong memory, wisdom, and a sense of community. Here’s how you can apply these qualities to the noted behaviors for establishing SP:

Techniques to Enhance Social Presence

1. Explicitly Recognizing Partners’ Contributions

Squirrel: Use your energy and enthusiasm to actively acknowledge and appreciate contributions. For example, you could say, "I really enjoyed your perspective on… Your example was very insightful."

Elephant: Tap into your wisdom to provide thoughtful feedback that shows deep understanding. For example, "Your thoughts on… remind me of a significant study I read, which also found that…"

2. Mirroring Words and Expressions

Squirrel: Quickly pick up on the key phrases and terminology used by your partners and incorporate them into your responses. For example, if a partner mentions "collaborative synergy," use that phrase in your reply to reinforce their ideas.

Elephant: Use your strong memory to recall specific terms or expressions your partners frequently use and reflect them in your discussions, demonstrating attentiveness and respect.

3. Prompting with Open Questions

Squirrel: Keep the conversation lively by ending your posts with open-ended questions that invite further discussion. For example, "I am curious to know, how do you think this concept can be applied in…?"

Elephant: Ask questions that require deeper reflection and draw on your wealth of knowledge. For example, "Considering the historical context of…, how do you think our current practices can evolve?"

4. Meta-commenting

Squirrel: Use your agility to quickly address any ambiguities and maintain a positive tone. For example, "Could you clarify what you meant by…? I found it intriguing but want to make sure I understand correctly."

Elephant: Provide comprehensive insights and suggest improvements when necessary. For example, "It seems our discussion is veering off-topic. Perhaps we could focus on… to maintain coherence."

5. Summarizing or “Weaving” Comments

Squirrel: Swiftly weave together comments from various participants to highlight connections and common themes. For example, "It’s great to see how many of us agree on…, and I noticed that several of you mentioned…"

Elephant: Provide thorough and well-organized summaries that capture the essence of the discussion. For example, "In reviewing our discussion, it’s clear that the main themes are… This synthesis helps us see the big picture."

Strategy for Being Online Together

Given your dual animal types, your strategy for being online together could involve:

Balancing Energetic Engagement and Thoughtful Reflection: Use your squirrel side to keep the discussions dynamic and engaging, ensuring that everyone feels involved and heard. Simultaneously, draw on your elephant traits to offer deep, reflective insights that add substantial value to the conversation.

Creating a Supportive Community: Use the elephant's sense of community to foster a collaborative and supportive environment. Encourage participants to share their thoughts openly and ensure that everyone feels valued and respected.

Adapting Quickly and Thoughtfully: Leverage the squirrel's agility to adapt quickly to new tools and technologies, ensuring seamless interactions. Combine this with the elephant’s thoughtful approach to guide meaningful and productive exchanges.

By integrating these techniques and strategies, you will enhance social presence, fostering a rich, collaborative learning experience in your COIL courses.

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I am definitely a squirrolf/wolferrel (don't know which one sounds worse!): as I am getting closer to the deadline for a task, I complete all work in one setting and then pass on to other things, so I am not likely to engage daily!

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Quick intro: I graduated from university in Italy about 12 years ago and the system there, at least at the time, was definitely old style "information transfer" for the majority of subjects, especially at undergraduate level. I never thought there was a problem with that, I liked it (it was a familiar style from high school) and worked well for me. Since I started lecturing in the UK a year ago, I found out how much more there is to it, as well explained by Prof Manzur!

Now I have been trained and currently implement flipped learning in my teaching activities, group work (Team Based learning and SCALE-UP), promote reflection and asking questions, as well as interactive quizzes to check understanding mid-way a lecture.

Students at NTU are encouraged to take notes and have access to recorded lectures.

There is always a chance to ask questions, both during a face-to-face lectures and sometime we use Padlet so that they can write instead of speaking up, which might work better for the shyer students or those less confident.

All students go though final year research projects to apply their learning and gain further soft and practical skills.

We promote assessed/not assessed group work, as we recognise this is a very important skills for future employers.

I think COIL collaboration will be strengthened by making clear from the start what we think the students will gain in terms of skills/employability, so that their expectations are met by the end of the project. Making sure that they can feel our social presence especially during asynchronous sessions should keep them on track. Ensure an open communication line, encouraging questions and peer-instruction to enhance their learning experience.

The biggest challenge I see is low engagement, especially if the sessions are not timetabled and integrated in the curriculum.

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I found this section really interesting to read and then reflect on what I consciously and unconsciously already do in online exchanges. I certainly wasn't conscious of the terminology before(!), but I think I already used techniques such as recognising and weaving, though not always consciously. Others, such as mirroring and meta-commenting, are perhaps slightly higher level skills that I may need to work on developing!

In relation to my animal types, I can see that more frequent visits to a padlet/thread may be required to better support our online learners. I therefore need to move myself more towards the elephant or rabbit end of the spectrum if possible! The definition of SP certainly refers to availability, and if someone is only turning up occasionally they those sharing that space may not feel that that person is particularly available.

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I did the mistake of reading the other proposals before trying myself and got stuck on the one Suzy suggested, couldn't think of an alternative collab between Organic chem and Psychology!!

So as a smart lecturer trying to incorporate genAI into the curriculum (ಥ ͜ʖಥ) I used CoPilot to help me with some ideas, and I got one which I liked a lot!

Title: Analysing Brain Imaging Techniques

Classes: Intro to Psychology (US) and Organic Chem (Morocco)

SDG Focus: SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Activity Description: Collaborate on understanding brain imaging methods (e.g., fMRI, PET scans). Students can explore the organic chemistry behind contrast agents used in imaging. They can discuss how these techniques reveal brain activity patterns related to emotions, cognition, and mental health conditions.

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Title: Chemistry and Psychology in Health: Understanding Health from Various Perspectives 

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Title: Chemistry and Psychology in Health: Understanding Health from Various Perspectives 

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Courses: Organic Chemistry (Morocco) and Introduction to Psychology (US)

SDG Highlight: SDG #3: Optimal Health and Welfare

Description of the Activity:

Students will work together to investigate how various organic compounds might affect psychological well-being and how their imbalance can have detrimental psychological effects in order to investigate the relationship between mental health and chemistry. In addition to discussing case scenarios that highlight these consequences, they will study the scholarly literature on the subject. Each group will provide a presentation on the relationship between chemical chemistry and mental health disorders, as well as the ways in which cultural beliefs affect the acceptability and efficacy of therapies for these imbalances. Students in groups will create posters and an awareness campaign about these mental illnesses and the accompanying chemical imbalances within their universities and will display photos of this campaign.

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At the end of the project, each student will submit a self-assessment report, discussing their own contributions, challenges faced, skills developed, and how they collaborated with their teammates. This report will help students introspect and will be part of their individual assessment. Also complete an evaluation form, rating their participation, reliability, communication, and contribution to the project.

A portion of the final grade will be allocated to participation, ensuring that students who are actively engaged are recognized.

The final project will be evaluated based on predefined criteria such as quality, creativity, and relevance to the course objectives.

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What cultural aspects are likely to impact teamwork?

1. Do students from both sides stating their opinions and feedback clearly?

2. Do students believe they should have a leader in their team, or they prefer that all team members are seen as equals?

3. Are they strictly adherent to schedules or have a more flexible approach to time and deadlines

What are some institutional factors you need to consider?

1. will students have more accustomed to educational activities with teamwork and collaboration or not?

2. Do both institutions provide resources such as teamwork training, conflict resolution workshops ...etc.?

3. The availability and familiarity with digital tools for communication and collaboration.

What expectations do I have of my students for their team-based projects (behavior, participation, and outcomes)?

I expect students to treat each other with respect, valuing diverse perspectives and backgrounds and actively participate in team discussions and activities and the outcome of their work will demonstrate quality and meet the academic standards.

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Support students to create EQUITY in communication, language and across COIL collaboration.

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Support students to create EQUITY in communication, language and across COIL collaboration.

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Conduct orientation sessions for students to stress on accepting language difference.

and assure non-native students to freely express themselves without being shy of their accent.

Organize workshops, training sessions, or technological tools that facilitate language equity and support.

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Describe: What’s happening?

One set of students believes that their COIL partners would rather develop trust through in-person interactions than through doing quality work. Because they failed to observe any overt development, they believe that their partners seem laid back and probably even lazy. The partners' unexpected delivery of their work, which showed a lack of previous agreement on the method, was exposed.

Conversely, their COIL partners first found it difficult to get to know one another. They were unprepared and felt paralysed by the unknown. They think that both parties felt this way.

Analyze: Why is this happening?

The difference in communication styles between students, one team is task oriented, and the other is relationship oriented.

Evaluate/Apply:

Help them find common ground where they can blend both personal connection and task-oriented approaches to build trust. Ensure that communication channels are clear and open.

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Well, it’s been interesting but yeah, let’s wrap up this workshop! 

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I feel like I am starting  to get an idea of how to do this! Ready for the project! . 

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I want to see what Suzy comes up with!! 

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One more week and we will all meet together.

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Redundancia: A Foreign Language Simulation

As a result of this activity, participants will be able to: 1. Experience and empathize with the challenges of those communicating in their non-native language. 2. Develop strategies and skills in order to assist non-native speakers with communication.

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Redundencia

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Redundancia: A Foreign Language Simulation

As a result of this activity, participants will be able to: 1. Experience and empathize with the challenges of those communicating in their non-native language. 2. Develop strategies and skills in order to assist non-native speakers with communication.

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I love sitting and watching sea water and sun set , Also, I'm love watching anime.

+201156185406

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The 5 orientation / reflection elements that are most important to be shared with COIL students

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The 5 orientation / reflection elements that are most important to be shared with COIL students

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As critical reflection is about WHAT is the information provided in these three weeks of COIL learning event and, SO WHAT I have learned from it, and NOW WHAT we are going to do for our students in the next phase.

I will emphasize on these points:

1. The value of cultural sensitivity.

Invite students to talk about their personal cultural experiences and origins during the ice break.

2. Successful Communication Techniques:

Highlight the value of attentive listening in cross-cultural interactions. and talk to students about the difficulties caused by language limitations and offer solutions; provide translation programs, slow down and use simple language ...etc

3. Competence in Digital Tools: Students should be encouraged to experiment with new digital tools and abilities like Padlet or other platforms used.

4. Teamwork & Collaboration: Establish the team's roles and responsibilities.
Talk about techniques for resolving conflicts and working as a team.
To keep the team unified, encourage regular updates and check-ins.

5. Reflective Techniques:
Include reflection exercises on a regular basis to give students time to think through their experiences. and encourage sharing their reflections with colleagues.

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being a clinician there is different ways of teaching depending on the number, place of tutoring; giving lectures to large numbers of medical students ( hundreds ) in large theater in limited time doesn't allow too much interactive but allowing questions and of course answers at mid and end of lectures which are well structured supplied with all needed audiovisuals. Another type is clinical rounds with smaller number of students (40-50) which allow interactive learning, giving and receiving questions, third type is bed side teaching to 6-8 students how to communicate with patients, parents, examination, interpretation of their diseases. during all these different settings students are ell encouraged to ask and answer questions, take notes, they assigned to projects 10 students maximum with team leader , preset dates for preparation and the final one for discussion could be online or face to face. i think Coil project collaboration will enlarge scope of experience being exposed to different cultures and backgrounds.

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I would provide some of the materials suggested here, like the video introducing COIL and interviews to students.

I am not so sure about the "Portable Intercultural modules" (PIM) from Purdue University... I find them interesting but seems like access is not very straightforward.

A survey would be ideal to measure impact and success/failures of this project (although I could not find the ones mentioned above in the Purdue University website)... we could easily make our own.

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I selected WhatsApp because I am very familiar with it, easily allows to create groups to chat, share files, can be used online for those who prefer a big screen instead of using their phones (WhatsApp Web), can be used for both voice&video calls.

However I recognise the big disadvantage of having to share a phone number, and not everyone might be happy doing that.

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Describe: the two groups don't collaborate efficiently, have a negative impression of each others way of doing things.

Why: differences in communication leading to reciprocal biases and misunderstandings. Seems they did not take the opportunity to talk transparently and put effort in understanding each others.

Evaluate/Apply: during the synchronous meeting I would try to ask questions to both groups to help them clarify misunderstandings. Keeping a shared self-reflection moment during each meeting would be useful to ensure an open & welcoming environment for sharing opinions

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Sharing idioms could be a fun way for students to explore their language and cultural differences. Do English and Arabic speakers have any idioms in common? Do they translate well or do they need explanation?

For example: if I am worried about an approaching deadline and try to ignore it... I might "stick my head in the sand" about it. Is there a similar saying in Arabic?

How about if I ask you to "spill the beans"?

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I used AI

Civil engineering ( Netherlands) and political science ( US)

Civil engineers often work on projects that require government approval, funding, and compliance with regulations, making an understanding of political processes and policies important. Students from both countries will discuss how infrastructure is planned, funded, managed, and regulated to meet the needs of society while considering political priorities and constraints. In Egypt there is on going building of new cities with infrastructure that meets all the recent necessitates with consumtion of gtreat portions of national income

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Both Telegram and WhatsApp offer unique advantages as chatting and learning platforms. The choice between the two depends on the specific needs and preferences of the users. In my opinion, WhatsApp is more user-friendly and widely adopted, making it ideal for quick communication and smaller group interactions. However , I think that telegram may be better as Telegram uses cloud storage, making it easier to access messages and files from multiple devices. In addition it supports much larger groups and allows sending much larger files (up to 2GB) compared to WhatsApp's.

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Name: Ragy

Email: ragy.nader@nmu.edu.eg

Institution: Faculty of medicine, New Mansoura University

Country: Egypt

Language Preference for COIL Collaboration: English

Academic Discipline: Medical Microbiology and Immunology (welcome cross discipline collaboration)

Detail of Teaching/Research Interests: I teach Medical Microbiology and immunology courses and am interested in antimicrobial resistance research and Infection Prevention and Control

COIL Course Idea: As a part of my academic interest, I think it would be a great chance for our students to shed light on global public health issues like antimicrobial resistance and to share knowledge and experience regarding the causes underlying such problem, mechanisms by which it occurs and spreads, and how to overcome and solve this problem focusing on the role infection prevention and control strategies.

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I love listening to music, especially Eastern and Coptic melodies. Since childhood, I've passionately pursued fishing as a hobby. I also enjoy playing table tennis, shooting, and sitting by the sea. Therefore, I've often dreamed of living in a coastal town. Today, I work at the new Mansoura University, directly overlooking the sea.

+201006757592

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Hi, I am Aya. I have a deep love for everything in nature, This love often entails feeling at peace in natural surroundings, finding beauty in natural diversity, and being inspired by the harmony and wonders of the environment. I like meditation, I admire helping anyone who needs help. I dont like selfish people. Cooking is my passion. I'm always eager to learn about anything new, whether it's diving into a new book, exploring different cultures, or discovering the latest scientific advancements. Curiosity drives me, and I find joy in embracing life's diverse experiences. +201151961726

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For me, i think meta-commenting and weaving comment will work better

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There is a shortage in knowing each other.

1- weekly meetings to share thoughts and activities to ensure they find background interests with each other.

2- make funny activities.

3- let them discuss with each other within a time frame to detect each one role and must be given.

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The 5 orientation / reflection elements that are most important to be shared with the students

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The 5 orientation / reflection elements that are most important to be shared with the students

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As discussed in our 2nd meeting on 26 June, Hope is happy to meet with the group again as you embark on this COIL collaboration.

Fill out the survey and if you do want to meet, add dates in the comment section.

You will have access to the Padlet for 3 more months.

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Would you like to meet with Hope one more time? 

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Meeting again is not necessary, we are all set.

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Support your students to create EQUITY in communication, language and across your COIL collaboration.

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Support your students to create EQUITY in communication, language and across your COIL collaboration.

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What can YOU as professors do to create equity within your international COIL projects?

1. FOR NATIVE language SPEAKERS:
Read the article (also noted below) to become aware of inequities between professors and students from the Global North ( ie technology, resource & capital rich) and Global South (less resources and money, more likely to suffer from poverty, and political violence). How can you support your instructors and students to create equity?

2. FOR NATIVE language SPEAKERS:
Provide a local orientation specifically for native language speakers to include activities and reminders about language equity and support. See image above 👆 for pointers. Remind your students throughout the collaboration. We forget. ;0)

3. FOR NON_NATIVE language SPEAKERS:
Consider inviting an EFL/ESL course that perhaps includes the students in your course to follow your COIL project to provide additional opportunities to discuss concepts and practice speaking/writing about topics.

TIPS

Clarity and Simplicity: Use clear language and avoid jargon or complicated expressions. Simplicity aids better understanding, especially when there are differences in language fluency.

Use of Translation Tools: Take advantage of translation tools like Google Translate to enhance mutual understanding. However, be mindful of their limitations and verify the accuracy of translations.

Respect for Cultural Differences: Be aware of cultural differences in communication. What may be acceptable in one cultural context may be interpreted differently in another. Cultural sensitivity is key.

Practice Active Listening: Foster active listening to fully comprehend messages. Ask students to repeat or paraphrase to ensure they have understood correctly.

CHALLENGES

Language Barriers: Differences in language proficiency can be a challenge. Some students may feel insecure expressing themselves in another language, affecting participation.

Cultural Understanding: Understanding cultural nuances in communication can be complicated. Cultural misinterpretations can lead to misunderstandings and impact collaboration.

Differences in Speaking Speed: Speaking speed can vary significantly between native and non-native speakers. This can affect comprehension, especially in real-time discussions.

Time Coordination: If there is a time zone difference, coordinating real-time meetings and discussions can be a challenge. Careful planning is essential.

SUCCESSES

Cultural Enrichment: Linguistic diversity adds cultural richness to collaboration. Students can learn not only the language but also customs and perspectives of others.

Development of Intercultural Communication Skills: Collaboration in a multilingual environment develops valuable skills for intercultural communication, essential in a globalized world.

Overcoming Challenges: Facing and overcoming linguistic challenges strengthens students' resilience and adaptability, crucial skills in diverse workplace environments.

Building Bridges: Successful collaboration in different languages can build lasting bridges between people of diverse cultures, fostering understanding and mutual respect.

DO THIS ACTIVITY

1. What do you do to create equity locally, on your campus? Can you request or include support of these campus approaches for your COIL program, your instructors and in your classrooms?

2. How will you apply those ideas/activities to your instructors' COIL collaborations?

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Unfortunately the google doc link doesn't work for me. But in general I think students get on well with WhatsApp groups for chatting and keeping on track with group projects, and they can also call the group for a meeting as required. Shared files through Google Drive or Microsoft One Drive can be very useful for generating outputs from group projects efficiently.

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This is a suggested plan of collaboration.

Prof. Dr Suzy Ewida

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Email: suzy.ewida@nmu.edu.eg

Whatsapp: +201223896607

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Low context vs high context communication

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Low context vs high context communication

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Low-context communication is direct, explicit, and relies less on shared experiences and assumptions. It is particularly useful in situations where clear, unambiguous instructions are essential. Examples within the COIL project might include: Student assignment instructions, project timelines and schedules, and technical instructions.

High-context communication relies more on shared understanding, and the context surrounding the interaction. It is more personal and can be more effective in building relationships. Examples might include: getting to know each other (Ice breaker activities), team-building activities, and reflective activities.

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Low context vs high context communication

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During a collaborative project under the Belt and Road Initiative, I served as an international trainer in Harbin, China, where I trained postgraduate PhD. students from 26 different countries for one month in year 2019.

Despite the language barrier, we managed to create an engaging learning environment using visual aids, videos, and interactive activities. This approach helped motivate participants and facilitate effective communication despite the linguistic differences.

Utilize images, videos, and other visual aids extensively. These can transcend language barriers and convey complex concepts effectively.

Incorporate hands-on activities and group discussions. These not only enhance understanding but also encourage participants to communicate and collaborate despite language differences.

When explaining complex ideas, use simple and clear language. Avoid idioms, slang, or culturally specific references that may not translate well.

Understand that language barriers can cause frustration. Encourage patience and create a supportive atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable asking questions and seeking clarification.

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Telegram is a way to run a high-quality nationwide teaching training program. In this presentation, They share the findings regarding the effectiveness of this app in Teacher Training programs.

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Telegram as a tool for remote teaching training

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Students will need to communicate effectively both synchronously and asynchronously. Telegram will serve as the primary tool for real-time chats, file sharing, and quick updates.

Telegram groups will act as virtual meeting rooms where students can brainstorm ideas, share resources, and discuss project milestones.

Encourage cultural exchange through multimedia content sharing (photos, videos, links)

Telegram allows for instant messaging, voice notes, and file sharing, facilitating quick exchanges and updates.

Telegram offers end-to-end encryption for enhanced privacy, which is crucial for sharing sensitive cultural and personal stories.

Finally, telegram is a User-Friendly Interface.

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i used to do online teaching during Covid 19 epidemic, but after reading this sector it gives more enlightening and depth; i used some of these techniques from my experience as long time teacher to medical students but not weaving for example

think i will modify my approach , having reading this sector

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Describe: what is happening:

In this scenario, two groups of students collaborating on a project have different approaches to building trust. One group prefers discussing personal matters, while the other builds trust through consistent work delivery. The first group perceives the second as possibly lazy due to their focus on personal interactions. This led to surprise and feelings of being unprepared when the second group delivered their work without a prior agreement on the approach.

Analyze: Why is this happening?

Cultural differences and different communication Styles: The second group might value informal, personal communication, while the first group prefers formal, task-focused communication.

Evaluate/Apply: What would you do?

1. Initiate open communication at the beginning of the collaboration to establish expectations and work styles.

2.Provide training or resources on cultural competence to help students understand different cultural approaches to work and communication.

3.Implement mechanisms for regular feedback and reflection, allowing students to voice concerns and adjust their collaboration strategies as needed.

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When engaging in international teaching collaborations with different cultures, it’s essential to focus on orientation and reflection elements that promote understanding, respect, and effective communication. The 5 key elements I would like to share with students are:

1. Understanding cultural differences and respect to diversity

2. Effective communication by active listening and empathy: Train students to practice active listening and empathy in their interactions.

3. Regular Reflection and feedback: Encourage students to regularly reflect on their experiences and interactions

4. Teamwork and collaboration: encourage learning from each other's

5. Flexibility and adaptability to different Work styles: Teach students to be flexible and adaptable in their work approaches. Understanding that different cultures may have different ways of approaching tasks