Abstract:

The commitment to promote actions that foster internationalization is evident in most universities. In recent years, therefore, the number of initiatives that go beyond traditional mobility (incoming and outgoing) has increased. In this context, the concept of Internationalization at Home is particularly relevant, aiming to ensure that all students have the opportunity to benefit from an international experience as part of their education. One such initiative is participation in a COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) project. Through this teaching methodology, students from two or more universities in different countries learn collaboratively through an international educational experience. In this context, the use of new technologies plays a key role by facilitating interaction between groups in synchronous or asynchronous ways, enabling an international experience without the need to travel.

The COIL project presented in this contribution was carried out collaboratively and on a voluntary basis by students from the University of Girona (UdG) and the University of Zagreb (UNiZG). At UdG, the course involved is a fourth-year elective in the Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (3 ECTS credits) entitled Chemical Analysis Applied to Industry. The course addresses different aspects of the application of Analytical Chemistry in industrial settings, including automation, continuous analysis methods, analysers, and examples from the pharmaceutical and food industries. Various learning activities are carried out in this course, such as flipped-classroom activities, visits and seminars, as well as practical and demonstrative sessions. Students are also required to conduct a group research project on a related topic and present their work to the class. We propose that this latter activity, suitably adapted, becomes the central component of the COIL collaboration between the two universities mentioned above. At the University of Zagreb (UNIZG), the course involved is a third-year elective (2.5 ECTS credits) in the Pharmacy and Medical Biochemistry program entitled Selected Methods of Instrumental Analysis.

The surveys conducted at the end of the activity revealed a very positive evaluation of the COIL experience by the students. They highlighted the opportunity to strengthen transversal competences that are often difficult to develop in standard classroom settings, such as working in a multicultural team, communicating in a foreign language, and enhancing digital competence through this type of teaching activity.

Keywords:

COIL, internationalization, Online, transversal competences.