Collaborative Online International Education (COIL): QC-CUNY and University of Abuja: Module 1: Economic History of West Africa:
How can two professors in different countries connect their classrooms, explore a common topic, and enable students to collaborate in small international research teams?
This case and the attached teaching guide describe the pilot collaboration linking Abuja, Nigeria and New York City, USA.
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In our first 10-week collaboration, 30 Queens College, CUNY students and 30 University of Abuja students came together to explore the economic and social history of West Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. We began with icebreakers, followed by introductions and asynchronous team-building exercises. Next, each student submitted a short paper responding to their team’s unique research prompt. For the final projects, all 10 teams produced 3-6 minute videos outlining their team’s collective research findings, with one American and one Nigerian speaking for each team. Students also posted responses to the work of their peers. Finally, students helped the instructors plan a virtual class party to debrief and celebrate their COIL journey. Overall, the two faculty partners, and the students, overcame the 5-hour time difference, and other challenges, to complete final research projects, discovering commonalities across cultures and forging new friendships. See our second COIL collaboration, on the theme of diplomacy, for another teaching guide
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