This session, designed for participants interested in developing a COIL module, discusses a student-centered collaboration between a rural four-year college in West Virginia and an urban four-year university in Puebla, Mexico. The presenters of this session will discuss successes and challenges faced in an Introduction to Literature and an English as a Second Language COIL module. Two to four students will present via video conference to share their experiences.
"Building Cross-Cultural Connections in Online International Education"
Linda Gironda, Cesar Arias Martinez
This presentation will discuss various ways to foster cross-cultural connections for students participating in an online international course. An attorney from SUNY Purchase and a Biology professor from Universidad La Salle Morelia will discuss how they designed and delivered a COIL module on bioethics for undergraduate students. The COIL module was designed to enable students to gain a new perspective on intercultural education and bioethics—in particular, euthanasia—to inspire students to seek more intercultural opportunities, and to allow students to work in international groups to challenge their assumptions about bioethics and cross-cultural learning. The presenters will discuss how students were organized into cross-cultural teams tasked with various viewpoints on euthanasia including culture, religion, medicine and law. They will also share certain classroom activities and technologies used to build cross-cultural connections among the students. This presentation is designed for anyone who is interested in creating or teaching an online international course.