Virtual Exchange Collaborative Practices Using Project and Research-Based Learning: Embracing the Complexities and Challenges to Maximize Students' Global Intercultural Competencies

Introduction

The resolution in 2015 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set the agenda for member states to intensify their efforts to achieve these goals by 2030. The pandemic has impacted the fourth SDG, quality education, and heightened the demand for more innovative approaches to provide students with learning opportunities that will equip them for the challenges of the 21^st century. Project-based (PBL) and research-based learning (RBL) approaches have proliferated alongside sophisticated technology that has revolutionized learning. The nature of teaching and learning (TaL) has been moving away from a more traditional model to a constructivist approach of TaL. Before March 2020, many higher education institutions (HEIs) were questioning the traditional learning models and migrating to flipped and blended teaching and learning models. This led to the rise of platforms such as Moodle and Blackboard. COVID-19 is now driving pedagogy, evidenced by the burgeoning use of Zoom and Microsoft Teams, among others. These platforms are now firmly integrated within existing learning infrastructures to deliver collaborative learning to domestic and international students.

Recent developments in pedagogical practice have led to increasing calls for developing intercultural and global perspectives as an actual necessity (Leask, 2013). Learning has moved towards further engagement, increased interaction, and collaboration across diverse cultural contexts (Kahn & Agnew, 2017). These interactions may reshape worldviews and challenge stereotypes (Olson, Evans, & Shoenberg, 2007). Virtual Exchange (VE), is an umbrella term encompassing collaborative online learning. This chapter contrasts COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning), a new learning and teaching paradigm, with a traditional PBL (project-based learning) approach. COIL supported by technology, has the potential to develop cross-cultural awareness and is a tool for expanding access to international education (Jie & Pearlman, 2018). COIL moves beyond the traditional classroom setting and can be a more cost-effective strategy when international travel for education abroad is unavailable. An earlier report in Australia outlined the importance of developing intercultural competence in business education precisely because business professionals need to engage in global and multicultural environments (Freeman et al., 2009).

Katre (2020) in an empirical study, demonstrates that learners can acquire an intercultural mindset when engaging in cross-cultural education settings. Further, it provides students with more place-based international learning opportunities and cultural competencies (the SUNY COIL Center, 2021). Students in COIL courses can collaborate with peers in the partner institution on one or more projects facilitated by their instructors, through which they increase intercultural and diversity awareness. Students participating in this learning type can develop cross-cultural awareness and improve intercultural understanding as they engage in joint projects that address globally relevant issues. In doing so, they apply communication skills that lead to rapport building, explore their self-awareness, and gain an appreciation of cultural diversity instead of ethnocentricity (Rubin, 2017).