Session 2D [Poster 1] Using COILs to encourage subject engagement: A case study with a marketing class

Presenters

Dr Nilay Balkan – Lecturer in Marketing, University of Glasgow

Poster

Studies demonstrate links between the teaching approaches and student engagement (e.g. Harrington et al., 2016; Børte et al., 2023), increasing the importance of this sub-theme. Extra-curricula activities can provide motivated students with additional opportunities to bolster their learning and skills development, offering new avenues of investigation for research.

There is a growing recognition that Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) can support student engagement (eg. Quintana-Ordorika et al., 2024) because of the dynamic learning environment created and students participating in active and peer learning (Prakaschandra et al., 2024). These qualities were highlighted in the conference call as important within a learning environment. The benefits of COILs have increased interest in this approach and raised questions about how best to implement them (Garizurieta-Bernabe and Prakaschandra,2024). However, why COILs play a role in student engagement have been less explored (see Jones, 2024). Subject engagement supports subject matter knowledge, which is not only an important component of completing the degree but also recognized as essential for critical thinking and problem-solving (Milbourne and Wiebe, 2018). Yet, there is fragmented understanding of how the type of engagement encouraged by COILs develop subject matter knowledge (see Stanley and Zhang, 2020; Anazi and Shimizu, 2022). Further studies on COILs can provide insights for Higer Educations institutes to effectively implement COILs and support subject engagement.

The aim of this study is to explore how a COIL project encouraged student engagement and how this encouraged subject matter engagement. The poster is a summary of this exploration and can be used by educators to develop their learning and teaching approaches to fit with learner needs. The study intends to contribute to learning and teaching in two ways. One, support learning and teaching approaches to develop COIL projects better aligned to the student learning experience. Two, exploring how COIL as a learning and teaching approach may encourage subject matter engagement.

The COIL in this study is an extracurricular project about sustainability in marketing between two marketing MSc classes based in Scotland and Turkey. Data collection is underway at the time of abstract submission and will be collected from interviews with students and tutors, end-of-project feedback forms, and a weekly teacher diary structured using Gibb’s Reflective Cycle (1988).

References

Anazi, Y. and Shimizu, H. 2022. Challenegs and opportunities of COIL for foreign language education. Internationa journal for Educational Media and Technology. vol. 16, No. 2, pp 46-54

Børte, K., Nesje, K., & Lillejord, S. 2020. Barriers to student active learning in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 28(3), 597–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2020.1839746

Harrington, K., Sinfield, S. and Burns, T., 2016. Student engagement, Higher Education, 106., available at https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/5178/1/Harrington%20et%20al%20%20%282016%29%20Student%20Engagement%20%28chapter%206%20-%20proof%20copy%29.pdf

Garizurieta-Bernabe, J., and Prakaschandra, R. 2024. Using the COIL pedagogy as a strategy for improving the virtual international educational experiences of students: North-South hemisphere case study. Active Learning in Higher Education,. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874241256620

Gallego, Y., Elda,S., and Bruzzese, S. 2024. Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL). Advances in educational technologies and instructional design book series, 259-278. doi: 10.4018/978-1-6684-7813-4.ch012

Gibbs, G. 1988. Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford

Milbourne, J., Wiebe, E. 2018. The Role of Content Knowledge in Ill-Structured Problem Solving for High School Physics Students. Res Sci Educ 48, 165–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9564-4

Prakaschandra, R., Memela, M. and Orton, P.2024, Exploring COIL as an authentic learning pedagogy, African Journal of Health Professionas Education, Vol. 16, No. 4, doi.org/10.7196/

Stanley, D., & Zhang, Y. J. (2020). Collaborative learning in online business education: Evidence from a field experiment. Journal of Education for Business, 95(8), 506–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2019.1703097

Quintana-Ordorika, A., Edorta Camino-Esturo, E., Portillo-Berasaluce, J. and Garay-Ruiz, U. 2023, Integrating COIL in teacher training: An estimation of learners´ motivational attitudes, Froniers in Education, doi: 10.3389/feduc.2023.1141620

Vahed, A., and Rodriguez, K. 2020. Enriching students’ engaged learning experiences through the collaborative online international learning project. Innovations in Education and Teaching International. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2020.1792331

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