COIL: FOR AN ACTIVE AND AFFECTIVE LEARNING

Many recent pedagogical contributions to our disciplines confirm that active learning provides the most meaningful classroom experiences. Being able not only to read about politics but also to perform it trains “higher level skills like ‘apply,’ ‘analysis,’ and ‘evaluate’” (Gifkins Reference Gifkins2015; see also Rösch Reference Rösch2018, 68). In fact, students even develop a “multimodal literacy” (Holland Reference Holland2016, 176)—that is, a literacy that goes beyond textual competence, helping them to critique the current political status quo and to imagine politics differently. In doing so, students begin to take responsibility for their own learning (Lamy Reference Lamy2007, 112), which offers a highly self-motivational experience because they can observe in real time the growth in their knowledge, soft skills, and intellectual capabilities. In other words, active learning takes place specifically when students receive feedback through their own interactions because “the more students are actively engaged, the more they can learn” (Holland, Sliwinski, and Thomas Reference Holland, Sliwinski and Thomas2021, 263).

To achieve active learning, it is important to pair it with affective learning (Holland, Sliwinski, and Thomas Reference Holland, Sliwinski and Thomas2021; Rösch Reference Rösch2018). Emotions can help students to develop multimodal literacy because being stimulated emotionally encourages them to care deeply about their subjects (Steele Reference Steele2017, 212; see also Hutchison Reference Hutchison2021). Being able to learn actively enables students to empathize with people and objects that are affected by the issues they study. Many of these issues, including gender inequalities, genocide, and war, are unjust, challenging, worrisome, and even cruel, causing emotional reactions that range from sadness and anger to fear and anxiety. Addressing and critically reflecting on these issues and negotiating emotions about them, however, is not confined to individuals but instead happens in a collective exchange about these issues with peers, turning learning into a collective space of affection. Emotions therefore constitute “alternative forms of insight” (Bleiker and Hutchison Reference Bleiker and Hutchison2008, 118) that further raise interest, sustain (self-)motivation, and deepen students’ engagement.

There are multiple ways to create collective spaces of affection to facilitate active learning. In political science and IR, simulations have become the method of choice (Frank and Genauer Reference Frank and Genauer2019; Harkness and DeVore Reference Harkness and DeVore2021; Horn, Rubin, and Schouenborg Reference Horn, Rubin and Schouenborg2016; Mendenhall and Tutunji Reference Mendenhall and Tutunji2018). COIL constitutes another method, one that we argue offers profound active and affective learning experiences even during the pandemic. Before this argument is further expounded, we summarize what COIL projects entail.

Thus far, COIL has been used mainly in literature, education sciences, and cultural studies. Although there are many different ways to set up these projects, a recurrent set of elements can be observed (Villar-Onrubia and Rajpal Reference Villar-Onrubia and Rajpal2016, 78; Wimpenny and Orsini-Jones Reference Wimpenny, Orsini-Jones and Burgos2020, 5). First, they involve a cross-border element with students from universities in different countries working on a common project. To do so, students engage online with one another synchronously and/or asynchronously by using social media, video communication, and online learning platforms. Second, as students work in groups across universities and across borders, COIL provides an intercultural element to their studies. This enhances their global perspective to an extent that group work in individual classroom settings could not. Third, COIL projects allow students to take ownership of their own learning. Students must coordinate their groups, often continuing to work beyond scheduled classroom time. This tests their abilities to work in intercultural teams because they must critically reflect on their perceptions and deploy different communication strategies.

Organizing COIL projects enables an active and affective learning experience in two ways. First, because COIL projects can focus on everyday topics that are relevant to students’ lives, instructors and students can deepen their academic discussions by bringing them into the conversation. Although simulations also provide this opportunity, they often focus on institutions such as the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and European Union (Frank and Genauer Reference Frank and Genauer2019; Shaw Reference Shaw and Frueh2020), which are not (yet) part of students’ everyday experience. Embedding COIL in daily life, therefore, assures students’ interest, and the cross-border cooperation allows them to widen their horizons and deepen their understanding of the impact that politics has on their daily life.

Second, COIL projects also go beyond active learning in mere collaborative-learning scenarios because students not only must coordinate their work across space and time; they also must use different forms of communication. In classroom group work, they could simply talk to one another without further use of technology. Furthermore, to arrange their group work productively, students must take ownership of their own learning because it requires them to mitigate and negotiate intercultural differences in a way that can be voiced while not silencing their communalities. This means that in COIL projects, affective learning takes place because, while working on their projects, students build a common space of affection that fosters “collaborative, nonhierarchical, and reflexive scholarly communities” (Hutchison Reference Hutchison2021, 185). Cooperating with people whom one has only met virtually, with whom one must share a significant part of one’s private life, and with whom one often must communicate in another language takes particular emotional involvement. These emotions may range from anticipation and excitement to worry and fear. However, working together toward a common goal enables students to create a shared space of togetherness that allows them to develop empathy for one another. They may not develop close friendships, but it allows them to address their emotions collectively. They also learn to understand and acknowledge the positions of others as viable contributions to this process (Hutchison Reference Hutchison2021, 186; Rösch Reference Rösch2018, 74).

Before discussing our project, a word of caution is in order: although COIL can make for a particular active and affective learning environment, it has limitations. First, COIL requires significant preparation and commitment from instructors. Therefore, it works best if instructors know one another, as was the case in our project. Second, COIL projects cannot be simply imposed onto courses; they must be synchronized and encompass similar topics. At best, a COIL project is conceived of with the entire degree program in mind. This not only facilitates students’ cooperation; they also can relate it to their studies and see benefits to participating in the project. In this sense, it was easier for us because, due to Coronavirus restrictions, otherwise rigid curricula were relaxed. Third, like any other teaching method, the novelty of COIL fades if it is used too often. Having studied online for more than a year, we anticipate that students’ interest in further online teaching will be temporarily limited after all restrictions are lifted. However, incorporating COIL in an elective course adds to the learning environment by offering an experience that transcends normal classroom settings. Fourth, COIL is not a substitute for international student mobility. Having the opportunity to study abroad, finding one’s way in a new environment, making new friends, and perhaps even studying in a different language are not only intense active and affective learning experiences; they also instill intercultural competences to an extent that a COIL project could never achieve. However, before going abroad, COIL can be useful in facilitating students’ subsequent transition.

POLITICAL RESPONSES TO COVID-19: A BRITISH–JAPANESE COIL PROJECT

To further substantiate these claims, this section discusses the COIL project between the British and Japanese universities. Students participating in our project were asked to form groups to investigate responses to COVID-19 in a country of their choice with the goal of producing an online presentation. These presentations served as the basis for discussion during our weekly joint live sessions. Each group consisted of students from universities not only from Japan and the United Kingdom but also from other countries in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Because there were seven groups in total, the countries chosen by students did not encompass a comprehensive geographic overview; however, students chose African, European, East Asian, Oceanian, and South American countries and the presentations covered a wide range of responses to COVID-19. We learned about countries that managed to contain the virus relatively well (e.g., New Zealand and South Korea), but we also studied why other countries (e.g., Brazil) were seriously impacted by the pandemic. Students also prepared presentations on countries that pursued different strategies, such as Sweden. Other than general questions to help organize their work and structure the presentations, there were few specific instructions. Nevertheless, all groups covered a range of social, economic, and political contexts in their selections by following core themes that also investigated historical and cultural impacts of the different countries’ responses. In addition, inspired by Black Lives Matter demonstrations, the groups researched the specific impact of the pandemic on social, cultural, and ethnic minority groups ranging from homeless and Black communities to indigenous communities in their chosen country.

To coordinate the work on their presentations, students communicated both in person and online, using a combination of platforms. Both universities provided an Open Moodle platform to host the project and to serve as a research repository. Initial communication was conducted through emails, but students quickly opted for social media and messaging apps (i.e., Instagram, WhatsApp, and Line) because they provided an easier method for communicating. Moreover, many groups used live documents through Google Drive to share their drafts and facilitate immediate feedback. Some students participated in Zoom meetings within their groups to practice their presentations and to ensure that members felt comfortable with their delegated parts. This also allowed for constructive criticism within the groups, and members could practice their timekeeping skills to ensure that their presentations did not exceed the allocated time. In the month-long research phase, students were challenged by the daily changes in the situation and different responses. As a result, they relied heavily on digital secondary sources including news reports, governmental resources, non-governmental-organization publications, and magazine articles. Because of the changing situation and a limited amount of peer-reviewed material, they had to think critically about these sources. In the final month of the semester, the presentations were delivered via Zoom, followed by in-depth discussion. Each week, two groups presented their research results in an online/blended combination; one group decided to prerecord its presentation.

Working across borders on this project was not without challenges. Common hurdles reported by the groups were concerned mostly with communication, including language barriers, poor Internet connections, the nine-hour time difference, and the lack of familiarity among group members. Groups that opted for communication on social media also had to navigate differences in technological cultures to find a common platform. Although groups used social media to communicate more fluidly, doing so was hindered by the substantial time difference, which caused feedback delays. Coordination of work also was more difficult than in a typical project due to the short introduction time among group members. Furthermore, students had to balance the project with their other studies as their own lives were affected by the pandemic. Because participation in the project was almost entirely online, students had to stay motivated without in-person meetings to encourage commitment. While working on their projects, students experienced language barriers in their everyday communication, and they had to support one another in overcoming the fear of public speaking to deliver their presentation in a language other than their own.

ACTIVE AND AFFECTIVE LEARNING THROUGH COIL?

To test whether our COIL project enabled students to build an active and affective learning environment, we developed an online survey for students to take at the end of the project.Footnote ¹ The survey ran between December 16, 2020, and January 15, 2021, giving students one month to reflect on their experiences. Although there was space in the survey for students to express their thoughts, most of it was based on a five-point Likert scale to agree/disagree with a set of statements. Of the 59 students who participated in the COIL project, 41 (69.5%) took the survey. Although not all students answered the survey, the results do indicate trends about active and affective learning in COIL projects.

The results indicate that students took ownership of their active learning in COIL projects. Most students (92.3%) agreed with this statement in the survey, and 40 students (97.6%) thought it added positively to their student experience. In fact, one student highlighted “the freedom to do our own research” as being most beneficial about this project. Another student stated that their group:

This active learning took place as indicated by 39 students (95.1%) who agreed that the project helped them to understand different perspectives and that they could use different modes of communication. Most students (97.6%) also thought it enhanced their ability to learn online. Indeed, one indicator that students experienced active learning was the wide variety of communication channels that they used to arrange the group work. Zoom was used for the presentations and students communicated via various social media and messaging apps—most notable was Instagram (58.5%) and WhatsApp (56.1%), but also Line (39%) and Facebook Messenger (24.4%) were commonly used. Some students even used TikTok (7.3%), Snapchat (2.4%), and WeChat (7.3%).

Regarding affective learning, the survey results were overall positive. A majority of 35 students (85.4%) felt that their ideas were valued during the group work; only one student (2.4%) disagreed. Most (95.1%) responded positively to the statement that working in groups across continents improved their interpersonal skills and added to their intercultural understanding. They noted in their comments that working with students from a different university and different cultural backgrounds was challenging. However, they agreed that their interpersonal skills and intercultural understanding improved, which indicates that they were able to build a space of affection in which they learned together. Several comments further suggest this conclusion. One student remarked that by “communicating with students from other countries, I discovered differences in learning and culture.” Another one wrote that “coming together with different students” was the most enjoyable part of the COIL group work. Indeed, it is this intercultural aspect that students seemed to enjoy the most. For example, one student “liked to work with other students from a whole different background…and from the other side of the world”; another enjoyed “[b]eing able to connect with students across the world to come together for a common purpose.”