Abstract:

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into health promotion education is increasingly vital, as it equips future professionals with the skills to harness emerging technologies while navigating global health challenges. The purpose of the study was to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance cross-cultural health promotion education within a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) framework among undergraduate students.

The COIL experience was structured around four scaffolded assignments, each designed to build intercultural competence, critical thinking, and AI literacy:
(1) About Me, About Us: AI was used as a conversation catalyst to prompt discussion on its role in healthcare while students exchanged cultural and academic backgrounds,
(2) Using AI to Analyze and Compare Global Health Behaviors: AI functioned as a research assistant, summarizing scholarly articles, extracting key concepts from the Theory of Planned Behavior, and generating comparison tables of nutrition and physical activity guidelines between the U.S. and the Netherlands,
(3) Culture, Environment, and Lifestyle: AI supported the analysis of visual and cultural data using the ANGELO framework, helping students compare environmental and lifestyle influences on health, and
(4) Global Perspectives on Health Promotion: The final project integrated all prior assignments into a multimedia presentation that employed AI-enhanced storytelling through visuals, animations, and cross-cultural comparisons.

This descriptive qualitative study examined how the integration of AI supported cross-cultural learning and collaboration within a COIL framework. The project involved 85 undergraduate students in Health Promotion and Wellness at SUNY Oswego (n = 24) and Nutrition and Dietetics at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (n = 61). At the conclusion of the course, 28 students (12 from Oswego; 16 from Hague) completed an online open-ended reflection questionnaire. Students were asked to describe their experiences with AI integration, intercultural communication, and collaborative learning. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Findings revealed that integrating AI into the COIL experience enhanced both intercultural collaboration and student engagement in global health promotion learning. Students described how AI supported communication across language and cultural barriers, facilitated joint research and organization of shared tasks, and deepened their understanding of global health issues. Future research should explore how continued AI integration across COIL courses influences long-term outcomes such as digital health literacy, intercultural competence, and the ethical and responsible use of AI. In addition, developing faculty training programs, establishing ethical guidelines, and incorporating real-world datasets or simulations can further strengthen responsible practice and advance technology-enhanced health promotion education.

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Health Promotion Education, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), Intercultural Competence, Global Health, Technology-Enhanced Learning.