Enhancing Internationalisation Through a Remotely Delivered Hands-On Stem Challenge
Published: 25 July 2024
University of Glasgow and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
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COIL Topic/Theme |
Enhancing Internationalisation Through a Remotely Delivered Hands-On Stem Challenge |
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Partner Institutions |
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Course Co-ordinator/staff involved |
Gabriella Rodolico1 Neeraja Dashaputre2 Rhona Brown1 Sally Zacharias1 Barbara Read1 |
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College/Subject(s) |
College of Social Sciences, School of Education, UoG Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune. |
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Length of Exchange |
4 weeks in 2020-21 and 4 weeks 2021-22 |
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Language(s) |
English, Marathi, Hindi |
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Size of cohort |
Participants: year 2020-21 (Post Graduate) 4 NQT, Alumni Post-graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) Primary 2020-21 UoG, School of Education 10 in-service teachers practicing in different schools across Pune region. Participants: year 2021-22UoG (Undergradute) 21 student teachers from the MEduc 3 Creative Learning in Maths and Technologies Elective course BTech Ed workshop 20 student teachers from the Indian Ashoka College (IISER) TYBSc within the BSc Bed |
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Level (e.g. Pre hons, hons, PGT) |
Please look above |
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Goals/ILOs |
ILOs COIL sessions (not the course’s PIPs ILOs which have been kept the same, as well as the course’s assessments) 1) Understanding, designing, and intercultural communicating for sustainability through engineering design process alongside problem and project-based learning: Design your own sustainable house. 2) Developing critical and creative literacies in STEM 3) Engaging in Global learning discussions through presentation and discussion of group final model of sustainable house justifying choices of material in line with the meaning of sustainability for each country |
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Description of project |
Introduction to the project: This project involved tutors from the School of Education at the University of Glasgow and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, India, working collaboratively to deliver a series of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) sessions workshops. These workshops focused on implementing a STEM-based challenge in school STEM Education, with the innovative feature of being hands-on yet remotely delivered. The project spanned two years, involving a pilot stage with postgraduate students in year 1 and an implementation stage with undergraduate students in year 2. Additionally, the COIL sessions workshops were built upon a STEM challenge activity carried out in Scotland by Rodolico’s teaching team in November 2020. The outcomes of this initial STEM challenge were showcased at the Festival of Social Sciences, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and published in the GTCS news magazine pp 50-51 One of the key features was the promotion of active learning through Project and Problem-based learning, along with the establishment of a buddy system between participants from both institutions. This was achieved through collaborative group work and a series of online tasks. The main focus was on STEM and the Engineering Design Process habit of mind in STEM education. Participant teachers were tasked with the project to plan and construct a scaled model of a sustainable house complemented with renewable energy sources. They were required to present their artifact along with justifications to tutors and peers. Finally, they were tasked with translating their learning into practice by reflecting on what they learned and how they learned it, culminating in the production of detailed 'plans for learning' or 'lesson plans' to be implemented in their future classrooms. Key Elements of COIL Sessions Workshops: The workshops were developed following the framework outlined by Sufi et al. (2018) for exploratory, learning, and creative workshops. The workshop content was designed in accordance with the four key aspects identified by Rodolico et al. (2022a) a topic of common interest, mutual enrichment, active participation, and remote cooperative teaching, as explained earlier. It's crucial to note that the teaching team engaged in multiple COIL experiences concurrently, leading to a thorough reflection on the COIL structure aligned with the SUNY COIL model, as recommended by the SUNY COIL Center (link below). This rapid enhancement of the COIL model resulted in numerous scholarly outcomes and publications that informed subsequent COIL experiences (Rodolico et al., 2022b). To organize and develop the workshop material, tutors from both countries participated in several meetings. The material covered four two-hour online workshops, complemented by an additional 36 asynchronous notional hours, delivered in a hybrid format. Another crucial element was the time allocated between sessions (four weeks, one 2-hour session per week) to facilitate communication and encourage the exchange of ideas in a collaborative setting. Participants were also given the choice of the online communication platform they preferred to use, including social media, respecting their personal, professional, and institutional perspectives on the use of these communication tools in a pedagogical context (Purvis, Rodger & Beckingham, 2020). Teaching Team and Pre-COIL Sessions Meetings: Another essential strength of this COIL case study is the phase of building the tutor teaching team. The teaching team conducted approximately 10 to 12 one-hour meetings over six months before the COIL sessions. The work carried out was aimed at co-developing the COIL sessions with a dual-purpose ambition for both institutions. We discussed and mapped out both institutions' curriculum and assessment requirements. We examined the pedagogies and didactics of both countries, and we also defined priorities and learning and teaching strategies, as well as both institutions’ internationalisation strategies. This helped us finalise contents and resources that could take into consideration the strengths in Education of both countries, creating a space for mutual enrichment. Additionally, we established a robust multisector STEM role model with tutors and non-academic professionals from both institutes and other stakeholders. We aimed for a balanced representation of professionals from both institutions and countries to promote mutual enrichment. For example, we involved a mechanical engineer from the ORE Catapult company (a Scottish offshore company) who is an expert in wind energy and its impact in Scotland. On the other side, we also had several academics and architects who were experts in Renewable Energy and sustainable building in India. They had already engaged with the IISER Pune institute tutors in other projects, focusing on the most relevant type of renewable energy in India: solar panels. This combined approach to the contents of the workshops aimed to make the resource relevant for the local environment of both countries, as well as to stimulate a wider understanding of renewable energy, valuing the curriculum of both countries. The ambition was also to make a small contribution towards a shared understanding of what is meant by the decolonization of the curriculum. If you would like to read more about it, please refer to the references provided by Rodolico et al. 2022b. This PDF is available in both English and Italian. Below we provide some further details of the COIL sessions. Co-development Meetings Participants: Dr. Rodolico (UoG), Dr. Dashaputre (IISER Pune) Key Points: COIL Sessions Brief Description (the below is a blending of year 1 and year 2 experiences) The COIL took place over four weeks with four 2-hour synchronous online face-to-face sessions, with a week in between each sessions to allow for group work. Session 1: Flipped Classroom Style a) Participants were provided with introductory videos on Renewable Energy and Sustainability issues in both countries. b) Participants were provided with a video on outdoor learning and the use of several free apps (listed below) to carry out an outdoor survey on Biodiversity in the local area:
c) Participants engaged in a 2-hour synchronous Zoom session where they delved into the fundamentals of the Engineering Design Process and Outdoor Learning. The session commenced with participants forming groups to collaboratively tackle an ice-breaking OneNote digital escape room and engage in a reflective Jamboard task focusing on collaborative work. Subsequently, participants were assigned the task of conducting a biodiversity and building sustainability survey. Initially, they worked individually, documenting their findings on a MIRO mindmap activity. Later, as a group, they analysed the collective mindmap, curated a PowerPoint presentation, and presented their findings during the second session. The core of their exploration involved scrutinizing the environment around their respective areas to inform their choice of sustainable materials for the final project outcome: a scaled model of a sustainable house powered by renewable energy. Session 2 The Engineering Design Process in STEM Education Participants received detailed guidance on applying the Engineering Design Process with the aim of instilling a "habit of mind" among primary school pupils. Additionally, they delved into the principles of sustainability, specifically in the social sciences, across both primary and secondary school sectors in STEM. This alignment was recognized as an educational priority for both countries, allowing tutors to effectively connect the COIL contents to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in accordance with established COIL teaching practices. During the session, participants engaged in a group virtual exploratory task utilizing the Virtual Reality desktop system Avantis World. This involved exploring various biomes to deepen their understanding of sustainability issues. Subsequently, participants were tasked with presenting their findings from the Session 1 activity. The session concluded with the assignment of individual and group tasks to be presented in Session 4 Task 1 (Individual): Apply the engineering design process and sketch your model of a sustainable house with appropriate materials sustainable for the local environment. Sketch your design using pens and paper or the Canva program, then upload a video on Flipgrid to explain your choices. Take your time to look at your groupmates' design submissions and provide constructive feedback. Finally build your model. Task 2 (Group): Produce a group PowerPoint presentation to collect each member of the group's ideas and explain each members’ house model by justifying the choice of materials and design process used. This will be presented in class in Session 4. Each group will have 10 minutes, and each member will have the chance to present their models. Session 3 Literacy and STEM: STEM learning environments are typically multimodal. Learning through Virtual Worlds brings with it new challenges and opportunities for developing learners' multimodal literacies in virtual spaces. This session aimed to support teachers in developing their pupils' multimodal and multilingual literacies, which are prerequisites for future global citizens to meet these challenges. It also provided participants with several ideas and opportunities to discuss Tasks 1 and 2. Participants were encouraged to reflect on the use of local languages alongside English as a means of building knowledge of the local environment. Session 4 Project presentation and reflections Participants were tasked with presenting their finalised projects online to both tutors and peers, showcasing their 3D model of sustainable house. During these presentations, participants were expected to deliver a comprehensive explanation of their findings and the rationale behind their choice of materials while showcasing their prototype of a house. Following this presentation phase, a round table discussion was facilitated to encourage professional conversation, peer feedback, and reflections on both the produced work and the COIL process. To conclude the session, participants were instructed to compose a reflective piece using the Gibbs' reflective cycle. Additionally, they were required to submit this reflective piece to tutors, accompanied by a lesson plan. The lesson plan was intended to outline a series of lessons, aimed at implementing the STEM challenge in their respective classrooms. Institutions support and International Vision The University of Glasgow is implementing the strategy World Changers Together 2025 (University of Glasgow, 2022), with a strong commitment to reaffirm global connectedness and collaboration, based on a culture of open cooperation and a community of discovery. To support this vision the University has established several internal funding sources, such as the International Partnership Development Funding (IPDF), to facilitate programmes that connect faculty members to peers in geographical regions of institutional interest. This support is an essential component for a successful COIL activity (AppiahKubi & Annan, 2020), and was successfully applied to this study as well as the British Council Going Global Exploratory grant 2022. Similarly, the internationalisation strategy of IISER Pune is based on three major pillars. These include collaborative exercises on research and development, globalisation of curriculum, and cultural exchanges (IISER, 2014). The Institute supports the development of strategic global partnerships in the areas of pedagogy, research, and innovation. Internationalisation is an integral part of the organisation’s overall strategy, which was fostered through COIL. Please scan this QR code if you want to have a deeper understanding and more detailed information on this case study |
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Assessment |
Formative assessment. Project outputs and milestone:
Final Project outcome:
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Synchronous Activities |
Explained above |
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Asynchronous Activities |
Explained above |
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Platform(s) used |
Emails and Zoom: Mainly to organise group meetings, synchronous sessions with tutors. WhatsApp and TEAMS: Participants decided to create small private WhatsApp or TEAMS sub-groups based on their assigned group tasks. Figshare |
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What worked well? |
COIL experience was well received by both institutions’ students as demonstrated by their course feedback, the impact on their career (some of them won an award using the STEM resources we provided) their participation at the SocMed21 conference and the 2 articles we published on this matter. COIL enabled more students (especially those with lesser economic means) to experience international, intercultural education as per the AAC&U’s VALUE rubrics VALUE Rubrics | AAC&U (aacu.org) . This was reflected in their HEAR recognition at the UoG, although with some technical ongoing issues. For student teachers, preparing to work in Scottish schools, this experience provided enhancement of communication skills in an international context, preparing them for work in multi-lingual, muti-cultural classrooms. This is also in line with priorities to increase both cultural and environmental empathy through education. Staff at both institutions collaborated closely in the design and delivery of the workshops. Indian tutors reflected that “we were given enough opportunity to create context that was related to India so that’s where I think the true collaboration began”. Partnership meetings allowed tutors to enhance their professional development through conversations about challenges in education in Scotland and India, their possible solutions, education policies and guidelines etc. These have resulted in getting a better understanding of the global scenario in education. Indian tutors asserted that working with countries such as Scotland has helped in understanding and moving towards the decolonisation of education and getting a sense of challenges faced by countries with similar socio-economic diversity. The COIL experience helped to explore themes around best practices in teaching sustainability and conducting transnational workshops as well as exploring themes such as problem and project -based learning and increasing interdisciplinarity in STEM, which are both countries educational priorities. This collaboration has been instrumental in starting discussions around TNE between the SoE UoG and IISER Pune institute and strengthening their collaboration. |
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What would you do differently next time? |
Utilise a curriculum mapping tool during initial conversations to streamline discussions. Employ a well-defined institutional learning platform for content sharing. Engage in a clear and direct dialogue with the Senior Management Team and Directors of Learning and Teaching. Emphasise that if COIL activities do not impact Contents, Assessment, and Course ILOs, there should be no requirement to alter PIPs. In such cases, PIPs should not pose any barriers. |
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Links and references (optional) |
Appiah-Kubi, P., & Annan, E. (2020). A review of a collaborative online international learning. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 10(1). Atal Innovation Mission (2020). GTCS news magazine pp 50-51. Teaching Scotland (pagesuite.com) IISER 2014. Retrieved on 14 Aug 2022 from: https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/engage/partnerships/international-relations Purvis, A. J., Rodger, H. M., & Beckingham, S. (2020). Experiences and perspectives of social media in learning and teaching in higher education. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 1, 100018. Rodolico, G. , Breslin, M. and Mariani, A. M. (2022a) A reflection on the impact of an internationalisation experience via digital platform, based on views, opinions and experiences of students and lecturers. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 10(1), pp. 30-41. https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/281756/ Rodolico, G. , Dashaputre, N., Brown, R. and Abodunrin, A. (2022b) Enhancing internationalisation through a remotely delivered hands-on stem challenge. A case study of collaborative online international learning with social media as medium of participatory pedagogy. Giornale Italiano di Educazione alla Salute, Sport e Didattica Inclusiva, 6(1) https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/281758/# SUNY COIL centre SUNY COIL Center Sufi, S., Nenadic, A., Silva, R., Duckles, B., Simera, I., de Beyer, J. A., ... & Higgins, V. (2018). Ten simple rules for measuring the impact of workshops. PLOS Computational Biology, 14(8), e1006191 University of Glasgow (2022). World Changers Together: World Changing Glasgow Strategy 2025. Retrieved on 2 Aug 2022 from: https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/strategy/ |
First published: 25 July 2024
Dr Gabriella Rodolico
Senior Lecturer (School of Education)
Neeraja Dashaputre
Principal Technical Officer - Education
Dr Rhona Brown
Professor of Scottish Textual Cultures (Scottish Literature)
Dr Sally Zacharias
Lecturer in Education (Culture, Literacies, Inclusion & Pedagogy)
Dr Barbara Read
Professor of Education (Educational Leadership & Policy)