Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Projects and Approaches

Author: monikajozwiak (Page 3 of 4)

Leadership Roles for Intercultural Teams

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Marketing and Management

Image: CU project leader on the left, guest speaker on the right

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Omar Abou Hamdan

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): MindShift Training (United Arab Emirates), Gulf Modern Contracting (United Arab Emirates), PMO-Project Management Office(Canada)

Project Overview:

This project enabled Coventry University students to ask some important questions about intercultural teams, management and leadership from an HR perspective which were then addressed by the CEO of an innovative business consultancy and corporate training firm MindShift Training, Shadi Kuzam, who shared with the students his 15 years of leadership experience between Canada and United Arab Emirates.

Having participated in this project, the students were not only able to reflect on and evaluate such aspects as status differences or principles that shape team members’ interactions, but also explore some competencies which are developed while people shift between different cultures in the work context.

As a result, they enhanced their understanding of leadership roles and strategies for intercultural teams in terms of intercultural awareness and communication, as well as emotional intelligence.

Statement from a student who took part:

“Throughout the class and COIL project, I learned various types of leaders depend on the industry and considered what I can do to be a ‘good’ leader in the future”.

Online Tools Used: Email, Zoom, Padlet, Microsoft Teams

Financial Statement Analysis – Cross Country Comparison

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Economics, Finance and Accounting

Image: Project slide

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Mehul Chhatbar

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Hanson College (Canada)

Project Overview:

A COIL project was organized for PG students of Coventry University undertaking 7049EFA – Financial Statement Analysis with Hanson College where 21 students (12 from CU and 9 from Hanson College) were divided into two groups to analyse the financial statement of British Airlines and Air Canada.

Students in each group studied the statements using various analysis techniques and, using the PowerPoint slides, presented the financial position of both companies to represent the impact of covid. Interestingly enough, the students worked beyond expectations comparing the two companies with other leading airline companies within the industry in both countries and presented their findings. They enjoyed sharing their ideas and worked collaboratively overcoming various barriers such as different time zones and specific cultural dimensions.

Overall impact presents that 80% of students were satisfied with the COIL activity as it added to their skills such as critical thinking, team building attitude, confidence, time management, managing inter-cultural communication and enhancing prospective learning.

Online Tools Used: Open Moodle, Zoom

Collaborative Music Composition in a Globalised Environment

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Faculty of Arts and Humanities

School of Media and Performing Arts

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leaders: Adam Collis, Benoit Granier

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Accademia del Suono (Italy), Hong Kong Design Institute (Hong Kong), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

Project Overview:

Reflecting their global outlook, the Music Technology team developed a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project for their second-year students. They set up a 3-way partnership with HEIs in Hong Kong and Milan, Italy, working with colleagues to devise a challenging and fun brief – to collaborate and make a piece of music that reflected the interests and backgrounds of all team members.

Students worked in groups with peers from each of the other institutes after getting to know each other through some fun activities and challenges. Each team created exciting and original music based on their area of interest, cultural background and musical skills that reflected the diversity of the teams. The students shared their work in a Zoom presentation with each group explaining the process of creating their music. The music themes included New York, rock band and a singing cat.

Online Tools Used: Email, Facebook, Open Moodle

This COIL project won the prestigious Alliance Award for developing an internationally collaborative music creation project.

The Effect of Exchange Rate to International Finance and Trade

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Economics, Finance and Accounting

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Dimitris Serenis

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): University of Girona (Spain)

Project Overview:

Building on the changes in exchange rate levels, this project allowed the Coventry University and Girona University students to conduct a review and compare the effects of the exchange rate to relevant areas of the economy. Through a set of related questions and case studies involving exchange rate values between the two nations, students learned how exchange rates could affect them as well as the different areas of their nation’s economy.

Virtual live sessions allowed the students to interact, engage and relate these concepts to their taught material. By taking part in this project the students developed an understanding and appreciation of the effects of exchange rate movements on different areas of the economy.

Online Tools Used: Open Moodle

Strategic Management in Turbulent Times

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Strategy and Leadership

Image: Project leaflet

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Sathees Kunjuthamby

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): HRW Hochschule Ruhr West (Germany)

Project Overview:

Prof. Dr. Isabel Lausberg (HRW) and Sathees Kunjuthamby (Coventry University) organised and led this COIL project between November 2020 and January 2021, which offered students from HRW and CU a lot of scope to work jointly to achieve a common goal: the development of a virtual student conference.

Eight groups were formed consisting of German and UK students with the task of analysing a company of their choice using at least one key strategic analysis tool. The focus of the analysis was in relation to the current COVID19 pandemic. The findings were presented at the virtual conference “Strategic Management in turbulent times”, which was organised, hosted and led by the students. The virtual student conference consisted of two keynote speakers, eight presentations, roundtable discussions and two best – paper awards. Using HRW’s official Youtube channel, this event was streamed live to the public.

Online Tools Used: Email, Padlet, Microsoft Teams

Supporting URLs:

https://www.hochschule-ruhr-west.de/coil-conference/

Publications that emerged from this COIL:

Lausberg, I., Kunjuthamby, S. & Kaehler, K. (2021). ‘Mit COIL Studierende fit für die Zukunft machen’ in: Die Neue Hochschule DNH, Heft 2, Jahrgang 2021, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, S. 12 -15

Things to remember:

  1. Please contact the COIL Team if you would like an electronic version of your project leaflet.
  2. Project leaflet can be used to advertise your project to both Coventry University and partner university students.

Meet the Author-Critical Reviews

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Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

School of Life Sciences

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Bernard Burke

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Riga Stradins University (Latvia)

Project Overview:

My COIL is a session in which MSc students who are writing an assessed “Critical Review” of a published scientific research paper are able to “Meet the author” in an online Zoom session. The session usually last around 1 hour and the author normally gives an approximately 30-40 minute introduction to the research topic and describes the main aspects of the paper in question, including personal anecdotes about what life was like at that time for the researcher, work/life balance pressures, etc, as well as covering the scientific background and methods. The author asks a number of questions about the paper and tries to put the work into a broader context. The students are then able to ask whatever questions they want to about the paper and the academic area concerned. 

These sessions have been very popular with students (both informally and via the MEQ) and they find it invaluable to be able to ask questions directly to the author, as well as being given background information such as the state of research on that topic at the time, and how things have changed.

Online Tool Used: Zoom

Auditing COIL Project for Third Year Students

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Economics, Finance and Accounting

Image: RU students main picture, CU students laptop screen      

            

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Suliman Joosub

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Rhodes University (South Africa)

Project Overview:

This project allowed a partial simulation of a real world audit team. Using Skype, the students simulated an audit junior meeting with an audit senior. The simulation enabled them to get a better insight into the real world practical application of the auditing theory. They were expected to work in an audit team with a manager and ask the questions in order to be able to complete the audit working papers and generate the necessary evidence to provide an opinion on the financial statements.

The reason for this role playing was that the South African students were exposed to auditing for an entire year and were therefore more knowledgeable about this subject.

This COIL project was mandatory for the students and linked to assessment-the students were awarded 5% towards the coursework.

Online Tools Used: Skype

Things to remember:

  1. We always evaluate but not always assess-we evaluate every COIL project by implementing the reflective element at the end and gathering student feedback, however, we do not always assess the students.
  2. A COIL project can be either voluntary or mandatory for the students.

International Digital Tax Event (IDTE) 2020

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Economics, Finance and Accounting

Image: Newspaper article created for the students

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leader: Mark Holmes

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (Belgium), Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands), Henallux University College (Belgium), Bern University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland)

Project Overview:

As a replacement for the International Tax Week field trip the IDTE was an attempt to bring the same insights and activities of a field trip to a virtual context. The event involved the participation of 5 universities.

The event involved guest lecturers from academia and industry introducing key concepts as required to allow students to progress. The case study was focused on transfer pricing and the complexities or recognising the value of intangibles in the context of the videogame industry.

Students completed a number of tasks in mixed university groups to be able to address needs arising during the event. This included providing accurate calculations, reference to legislation and guidance as well as considering wider sustainability and CSR issues.

Online Tools Used: Email, Microsoft Teams

X-Culture COIL Project

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Faculty of Business and Law

School of Marketing and Management

Image: x-culture.org

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leaders: Sharon Southcott, Edward Turner, Tony Halkyard, Georgina Whyatt, Simon Cooper

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): X-Culture Organisation

Project Overview:

X-Culture is a global initiative that enables students from across the globe to address real business challenges. Students are placed into cross institutional teams and have to adapt to all the challenges of operating virtually within the global business environment. With weekly deadlines students must plan their time accordingly to submit weekly reports which combine into one final report, addressing the real business challenge they have identified. The reports are then sent to the organisations and awards are given for the best.

Within the School of Marketing and Management X-Culture has been embedded into multiple modules across the school. Students praise the fast paced nature of the project and the ability to work on projects that have real managerial impact.

Online Tools Used: Email, Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype

Global Communication Strategies, Stakeholder of an International Fashion Brand

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Faculty of Arts and Humanities

School of Art and Design

Image: Project winners

Academic Year: 2020-21

Project Leaders: France Leonard, Simone Gadagah

Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): KingPing (China)

Project Overview:

This year we had the chance to collaborate with a Chinese Fashion brand on a COIL project which gave the International Fashion Business students the opportunity to work on an industry live brief and produce a global communication strategy where they had to rethink/adapt the brand’s marketing and online presence to a new market. This was a great opportunity for them to receive insights and industry feedback, gain international work experience, apply their skills in a post-covid context, boost their confidence and add to their portfolio.

Based on the work produced, a selection of students has received the amazing opportunity to intern for the brand and see their ideas come to life.

Online Tools Used: Zoom, Open Aula

Things to Remember:

A COIL Project can also run with an institution other than university such as company or private business.

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