A new, faculty-led development program at CPASS is setting a high bar. The program seeks to fulfill a big part of the College’s strategic international mission — increasing student engagement, opening up collaboration between multiple institutions, building an international dimension into existing programs and connecting students with opportunities across the world.
CPASS maintains a strategic priority of increasing student engagement in our international mission. The College continues to support major-specific study abroad trips. However, study abroad has limitations and reaches only a small number of students. In an interactive and global workforce, other academic innovations are needed to provide a higher percentage of students with international learning experiences.
In response to this need, CPASS has launched the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Mini-grant program. This new, faculty-development program supports the modification of existing major courses using the COIL framework.
“The COIL projects that will be implemented at CPASS represent out-of-the-box initiatives of how to internationalize the curriculum,” said Gonzalo Bravo, associate professor and CPASS International Committee chair. “Considering these COIL experiences will benefit many students, we believe it will help us to achieve our goal of internationalizing the curriculum. Therefore, the CPASS international advising committee fully supports these mini-grants,” he added.
Based on the concept of virtual mobility, the COIL framework incorporates the following principles: collaborative opportunities for students and teachers at multiple institutions; use of online technology to enhance connectivity; and inclusion of international dimensions and integration into already established learning processes.
This year’s recipients and their international partners are Scott Barnicle (Halmstad University, Sweden), Emi Tsuda and James Wyant (Biwako Sport University, Japan), and Dana Voelker (Federal University of Paraná, Brazil). Each mini-grant provides faculty with a summer stipend for course development, instructional design and technical support, ongoing professional development and priority access to distance education technology.
According to Tracey Beckley, assistant dean, Teaching and Learning Commons, COIL provides a teaching and learning framework that connects instructors and students from across the globe to share experiences, foster cross-cultural awareness and enhance collaboration to improve student learning.
“We are looking forward to partnering with [CPASS] and the Office of Global Affairs to explore innovative ways to internationalize our curriculum through COIL initiatives,” Beckley said.
This effort to internationalize at home will give students increased access and lower-cost approaches to global learning, strengthen institutional partnerships and promote study abroad and international recruitment. This program is offered in partnership with the CPASS International Committee, Teaching and Learning Commons, the International Center for Performance Excellence, WVU Online and the WVU Office of Global Affairs.