What did the students actually do?
In reality, 16 FOI students distributed in five (5) FOI teams solved project tasks in a virtual environment, together with 42 international students from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), while another 15 FOI students distributed in five (5) FOI teams did the same tasks in collaboration with 15 students from the Republic of South Africa, University of Pretoria (UP). The project tasks are aimed at getting to know other cultures and comparing cultural dimensions in human resources management, with a special emphasis on reflections during virtual meetings. The interesting thing about this year's COIL cooperation is the fact that several UP employees also joined COIL on their own initiative and volunteering based. According to the FOI students' reflections, this initiative contributed to the dynamics of the virtual team.
The COIL method of project-based collaborative online learning was implemented 2018 at FOI, at the course Negotiation in an international environment. COIL's first partners were students from Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, joined by University of Cincinnati, OH, United States of America, University of Pretoria, Republic of South Africa, University of Aegean, Karlovasi, Greece and Thapar School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, India.
The implementation of the COIL will be continued during the winter semester 2026/27 at the course Human resources management and career development, in cooperation with students studying in the USA, India and Greece. Since a large number of international students’ study at those partner universities, we expect stimulating discussions and a lot of international experience.
