Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): University of Bremen (Germany), GISMA Business School (Germany)
Project Overview:
This COIL project enabled the undergraduate students to work on the general quantitative methods for business, while the postgraduate students explored Machine Learning and its application in different business sectors and industrials.
11 topics including the applications of Artificial Ontelligence/ Machine Learning in retail, banking, marketing, transportation industry, sport industry and education sector were explored by the MSc students.
The students also learnt about the healthcare industry in USA, UK, Canada, Portugal and Japan, as well as the automotive industry in USA, France and Japan; waste management in India; telecommunication in USA; fashion industry in China and chocolate industry in Belgium.
As the outcome, three best presentations were selected by the supervisory team.
The whole COIL project was a great collaborative experience.
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering
Image: Project slide
Academic Year: 2016-17
Project Leader: Yuri Vershinin
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Institute of Control Sciences of Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia)
Project Overview:
This COIL project allows students to participate in practical laboratory sessions remotely via the Internet at anytime and anywhere in the world. Students can control a small education robot, electric motors, LEDs, microcontrollers and other equipment using their home computers, mobile-phones or other smart devices. This system is connected to the Moodle, thus students can submit results of their practical laboratory sessions to a lecturer via the Moodle. A lecturer can provide the feedback to students and can communicate with students via a built-in messenger.
This system can be very useful for universities which cannot afford to purchase expensive equipment (for example, for universities on the African continent, in Far-East countries, etc). Students in those universities can use the equipment (which is located in the Coventry University laboratory) via the Internet. The Remote Laboratory can be used for the On-line Teaching and Learning for part-time students in the UK and for the International Global Education. The remote-controlled laboratories well supplement traditional Moodle or Aula based education for the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) classes.
Online Tools Used: Email, Skype, Open Moodle/Aula
Remote controlled laboratories allow universities to enhance the intercultural engagement and internationalisation of the curriculum. The network of remote laboratories between universities in Germany, the UK, Russian Federation, Estonia and Finland was developed. This development led to a success of an international project VAPVoS (Virtual Academy Platform for Vocational Schools) which was financed by the European Union, (Leonardo-da-Vinci LLP Educational Project). This project includes 11 partner organizations from 9 countries.
This COIL project was shortlisted to the final three for the Coventry University “Staff Conference & Excellence Awards 2019” in the “Course Student Support Initiative of the Year” category.
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering
Academic Year: 2017-18
Project Leader: Yuri Vershinin
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Centre for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Mexico)
Project Overview:
Increased competition on the automotive market has forced companies to research into alternative strategies to classical passive suspension systems. In order to improve handling and comfort performance, instead of a conventional static spring and damper system, semi-active and active systems are being developed. An active suspension system possesses the ability to reduce acceleration of sprung mass continuously as well as to minimize suspension deflection, which results in improvement of tire grip with the road surface, thus, brake, traction control and vehicle manoeuvrability can be considerably improved.
In this COIL project, students design mathematical models of a car suspension system and do the system performance analysis. Additionally, they design control algorithms for an automotive active suspension system.
This project enables students to develop practical skills in areas related to control engineering and software design.
Online Tools Used: Skype, Email
This project is the part of the EU International Project “DIONICOS” (Dynamics In and Off Complex Systems), which includes 19 partner organizations from 12 countries. Several joint technical papers have been presented on international conferences in Russian Federation and France and published in proceedings of the IEEE and IFAC (International Federation on Automatic Control).
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Berlin School of Economics and Law (Germany)
Project Overview:
76 students from 15+ countries participated in online activities to help them develop a greater understanding of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on career and professional development plans. Drawing comparisons between the UK and Germany, the students were allocated into carefully selected cross cultural teams and used Zoom breakout rooms to consider the impact of the pandemic on their everyday life before discussing the effect on their professional development and career plans.
This COIL project formed a part of the assessment for the module. The Coventry students had to complete a diary entry reflecting on their contribution to the online interaction and also write 500 words answering the question ‘How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your professional development/career plans?’
Online Tools Used: Zoom
Things to remember:
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.
A COIL project can run on mandatory basis and be linked to assessment.
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Emirates Aviation University (United Arab Emirates)
Project Overview:
In this COIL project, the students studying at one of our partnership institutions in Dubai interacted with a member of staff on campus at Coventry University. Adopting a leadership role, they created a communication plan, responded to staffing problems facing the client, made real time decisions to resolve issues and delivered a presentation to tender for a refurbishment project.
This project enabled the students to demonstrate the use of a range of visual and verbal communication skills appropriate for project management within a specific simulated HR scenario as well as understanding the risks associated with managing a project. It was unique as the students had to work under time constraints to complete key deliverables appropriate for a real-life activity. They received real-time responses to each of the tasks and had to make quick decisions based on new information they were provided with.
Please note: This project description sets a very useful example for new COIL leaders
Faculty of Business and Law
School of Strategy and Leadership
Image: Day 1 with the VLOGS
Academic Year: 2020-21
Project Leaders: Rebecca Beech, Matthew Bennett
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (China)
Project Overview:
This COIL project ran with 2nd year Business and Management students at SSL, achieving in total 107 participants. During the project, modules were integrated which had relevance to the COIL. As the project discussed international trade and E-Commerce in China, two modules were incorporated – Contemporary Supply Chain Management and Management of E-Commerce. The synchronous COIL sessions were aligned to the modules content that specifically discussed the international perspective, which further increased student experience on the module and COIL as both sessions went hand-in-hand.
The project took place over three consecutive Mondays in March 2021, each 2-hour session was allocated at a time which suited both universities considering the differing time zones, which was 9-11am. As the sessions went on, the synchronous participation increased, the final session achieved 98 students in total. Each session covered a new topic. The first session was fantastic and can be a make-or-break session for students to continue on the virtual field trip. I believe that the first session was successful, as we provided students with the opportunity to speak to one another and to network. This was done via student pre-work, on the day the students shared their VLOGS of ‘a day of a life’ of them as a student in either Coventry or Guangzhou. Amazing stories were shared and bonded the group of students, so much so that a Wei Chat was created on the final session from demand of the students, so that they could keep in touch.
Alongside the synchronous sessions was an asynchronous platform, Open Moodle, which shared interesting content for the students to explore prior to the event, recordings of the sessions and further content to keep students entertained. A combined approach of both asynchronous and synchronous developed students’ experience and their willingness to contribute, network and have fun.
The purpose of leading this project was to deliver insights into the business world in China, expand students’ cultural awareness, provide an opportunity for students to connect, speak in real-time and make friends. Students further developed their interpersonal communication and team working skills during synchronous and asynchronous sessions. They received a COIL certificate as an output which demonstrates to employers their participation when working in an international project, cultural awareness and their status as a global citizen when entering the workplace. The students received points towards their Continuous Professional Development (CPD) module which further increased interest to participate.
I personally found leading the two projects very rewarding. I thoroughly enjoyed working alongside my colleague Dr Matthew Bennet, as well as our partners and building a professional relationship with GDUF colleagues, Fred Parker, Fred Macrowitz and Dan Liu. I very much look forward to collaborating in the future.
Online Tools Used: Open Moodle, Padlet, Zoom
Tips from the project leader:
It is important to ensure that the COIL project is integrated within a module, this provides module leaders with the opportunity to imbed an authentic experience into their teaching and to encourage students to take part in an activity that brings their learning alive.
The COIL project would further benefit in participation numbers from students by being a formative assessment within a module.
It is paramount that groups of students at both sides are the same size group, level of learning and the aims and objectives of the project are appealing to both parties.
Assembling students together to participate in the project can be a challenging task, I believe that it is important to showcase the COIL regularly on platforms that are open to the students by sharing appealing information about the partner university or country and the key skills that they will develop as a result of participating.
As a virtual field trip is online it is essential that the COIL leader is familiar with using Zoom or MS Teams. Be aware of all the functions and potential challenges that you may incur, as once you go live and you are set to a specific time, then you have to be able to manage the flow of the session with no flaws and if a problem occurs, be able to rectify it quickly to no cost to the student experience.
Things to remember:
Giving students the opportunity to get to know each other by engaging them in an ice breaker is an important part of a COIL project and should take place before both groups of students are ‘thrown’ into a COIL activity.
SSL (School of Strategy and Leadership) students have a CPD (employability) module in all 3 years of the 3 main courses with 15 points allocation for COIL participation. Please contact the COIL Team if you require more information.
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Finland), University of Paris-Saclay (France), UIC Barcelona International University of Catalonia (Spain)
Project Overview:
In the Spring semester of 2021 I set up and delivered a COIL project in collaboration with Laurea University in Helsinki, Saclay University in Paris and the International University of Catalunya in Barcelona.
In this project Business and Education students from the four different universities worked together in small groups to discuss international and cross-cultural business issues. They collaborated with each other to solve business problems and to study examples of business writing.
The students worked together very well in their discussion groups and I really enjoyed the collaboration with academic colleagues in different countries. The CU COIL team were also very helpful and supportive throughout the planning and the delivery of the project.
We are looking forward to running this project again in the spring of 2022!
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Hosei University (Japan)
Project Overview:
Since the end of 2019, the world as we know it came to a halt. Many things that we took for granted like travelling or simply going to classes were no longer possible or at least entailed significant health risks. This is supposed to be the new normal, but the world will eventually come back to the old normal and hopefully will have taken the right clues on how to minimize the risks of such pandemics to happen again.
To understand what was happening around us and to learn how countries responded to Covid-19 and developed strategies to deal with it, students from Coventry and Tokyo virtually joined forces.
The aim of this project was to gain a comprehensive overview of political responses to the Covid-19 pandemic around the globe. To do so we investigated the following:
What strategies are pursued and how affective are they?
Who are the key actors in producing responses?
Which ethical positions are taken by political decision-makers in producing responses to the pandemic?
Which people are affected by the pandemic most and what does this tell us about political systems and cultures?
What could political communities around the world do better to improve the situation?
Students participating in our project were asked to form groups to investigate responses to Covid-19 in a country of their choice with the aim to produce an online presentation. These presentations served as the basis for discussions during our weekly joint live sessions. Each group consisted of students from both universities and presentations were delivered as power-point presentations via Zoom.
Online Tools Used: Email, Open Moodle, Zoom
In addition to the presentations, the project leads wrote with several students a paper about the use of COIL projects for studying International Relations. This paper has been published as “Un(COIL)ing the Pandemic: Active and Affective Learning in Times of Covid-19” in PS: Political Science & Politics, an official journal of the American Political Science Association.
International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship
Image: Screenshot during the project
Academic Year: 2020-21
Project Leader: Kemi Chukwuma-Nwuba
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s):
The University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands)
Project Overview:
This project provides students with the opportunity to encourage the growth of their network. The online programme will include activities such as sharing personal/professional development as introverts or extroverts; some cultural issues to note in networking and how to successfully network for business and career purposes. Additionally, students will collaboratively work on improving their online credibility, visibility, social capital and brand building on LinkedIn in particular, as well as learn the etiquettes of other cultures which are important for successful personal and professional relationships. The project also involves a documentation of their reflective practices after each meeting.
The Business and Interpersonal Skills (BIS) project is our first COIL on the Developing Business Networking and Relationship Skills (A251IAE) module which is an Add+vantage. It is also the first COIL in ICTE’s (International Centre for Transformational Entrepreneurship) Add+vantage modules.
Despite the fact that the participants were at different levels of education (year 2 and 3 while also being on different programme studies) it was possible to design the programme to suit all the participants. This shows the malleability of COIL. The adoption of this teaching/learning approach in this lockdown era, made it possible for participants to engage, study and learn in a virtual international environment. Despite the over one hundred participants across the three universities, we were able to manage the project successfully by leveraging technology, and social media platforms to enrich our students’ knowledge.
Statement from a student who took part:
The COIL project has helped me find new ways to introduce my personal brand to different people from different countries. I was able to interact with people from different cultures and different interests easily through this project. My idea of networking has evolved because of this project as well. It has also helped me make new friends.
Partner University(s)/Organisation(s): Jose Maria de Fonseca Wineries (Portugal)
ProjectOverview:
At PG Marketing Course Direction, we were lucky to establish an excellent collaboration with a Portuguese winery, Jose Maria da Fonseca, based at Azeitão, a few miles south of Lisbon. The JMF Marketing Manager, Denise Madeira, presented us with full background information regarding three of their unique brands.
Because of the possibility of working with this fine international winery, PG Marketing Course Direction decided to explore avenues that could truly enthuse students with authentic marketing problems to be resolved. The Assessment Brief for Marketing Communications called for students to provide a situation analysis regarding the launch of one of the above brands into a country of choice. The teams had to make an advertising pitch of their ideas to the module leader. Finally, pitches were made to JMF Marketing.
During this process the Marketing Manager of JMF made a Conference Call on MS Teams to explain current strategy and to answer questions and was available for meetings with teaching staff.
The resulting work, a 1600-word individual report, constituted 100% of the student grade on that module. JMF Marketing and Direction considered the best pitches and chose one for the very successful CUMMAS Awards, held at the end of March 2021.
Online Tools Used: Email, YouTube, Microsoft Teams
Things to remember:
A COIL project can run on mandatory basis and be linked to assessment.
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