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What are IIGE Advanced Programs?

IIGE continues to develop new and innovative COIL 2.0 educational programs for Kansai University and its overseas partner institutions. Some of our past and current program offerings are outlined below.

COIL Plus Program

Overview

This project will build upon the PBL (Project/Problem Based Learning) activities of COIL courses by establishing a three-track program that will improve the mobility of students enrolled in COIL courses; ① Language / Cross-cultural Understanding-focused, ② Expertise-Focused, and ③ Expertise-Focused Advanced (a certificate program).

Students will draw upon the knowledge and skills gained in pre- and post-COIL activities in short-term study abroad programs, which will afford students the opportunity to take part in temporary overseas staffing experiences, internships, corporate visits, and local classes in line with specialized themes. Students from Japan and the U.S. will also be able to further deepen their exchange by meeting in person. The activities of COIL Plus will support students in thinking about their future potential with the viewpoint of overcoming borders, languages, and cultural barriers, as well as continuing to foster their development as the next generation of sought-after personnel.

This project, supported by the CARES Consortium*, is designed to foster the growth of students’ "Global Career Mindset" by positively incorporating business and corporate experience in a non-home environment during their stay in both countries and learning through COIL.

The CARES Consortium, established by Kansai University, is made up of organizations from the industrial and financial sectors, academia, the Osaka Prefectural Government, and the local community. The Consortium currently manages the CARES-Osaka (2015-present), and SUCCESS-Osaka (2017-present) programs to support international student living and employment support.

Students voices from the past COIL Plus programs are shared in the Kansai University GLOBAL NAVI:https://www.kansai-u.ac.jp/Kokusai/globalnavi/sap/index.php?c=sap_view&pk=1614128592



Purpose

The principal objective of the COIL Plus Program to Develop a "Global Career Mindset", is to train imaginative and skilled personnel to become active members of a global society in both Japan and the United States through various forms of learning, by cultivating consideration for diverse ways of thinking and opposing viewpoints based in an expert knowledge of history and culture, without being limited solely to acquiring practical language ability.

In order to achieve this goal, the already established Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) education method, launched in 2014 as part of the university’s internationalization initiative, will be utilized as the core of the project, which will promote exchange between specialized fields of the undergraduate and graduate schools.

Furthermore, through collaborative learning, the objective is to improve the mobility of students engaged in communication between Kansai University and partner universities in the United States through the facilitation of a short-term study abroad program.

More Programs

IIGE is offering the following VE/COIL programs for students whose educational experiences have been impacted by the 2020 novel coronavirus pandemic.

Kansai University Language Learning COIL/LLC

Overview

COIL which aims to improve students’ practical language skills.

LLC programs are designed to deepen students' understanding of language and culture, and to enhance their communication skills through the use of Japanese and other foreign languages. IIGE is currently promoting collaborations with overseas university Japanese language classes.

In 2020, with our concordant goal to contribute to the career development of global professionals in the hopes of bridging the gap between Japan and the U.S., IIGE and the ALLEX Foundation (Alliance for Language Learning and Educational Exchange) signed an agreement to pledge our mutual cooperation in furthering language learning through COIL.

LLC Training Workshops 2021

IIGE provided a training program for LLC instructors in Spring 2021 on how to deliver this learning more effectively and efficiently, using best practices from the past as a guide. The training program included a variety of synchronous and asynchronous tasks to promote collaborative language learning, as well as tools for assessing and following student learning. This training was limited to 10 pairs and IIGE offered further support to these 10 pairs throughout the duration of their Fall 2021 or Spring 2022 COIL.

Kansai University Multilateral COIL Curriculum by IIGE

A VE/COIL program that provides IIGE-developed curricula to students at multiple collaborating overseas institutions.

UMAP-COIL Joint Program

With the lack of opportunities for students to undertake study abroad experiences due to the pandemic, IIGE undertook a sustained consideration of a range of options to ensure that students could be afforded opportunities to develop intercultural competency in addition to a range of important global graduate attributes. In this respect the UMAP-COIL Joint Program for 2020 and 2021 were undertaken as entirely online programs of study seeking to provide opportunities for our COIL partner university students and University Mobility in Asia and the Pacific (UMAP) students to gain international experiences. In 2020 alone, more than 180 students from all over the world applied to participate in the program, making it clear that there is a strong need for international exchange among students around the world, even in the midst of a pandemic.

※For more program details and commentary from the participating students, download the I-Paper December 2020 issue, "Virtual Exchange During the Health Crisis." and visit our UMAP-COIL Joint Program website https://kuiige.wixsite.com/umapcoil

Kansai University-Engaged/Exchange Online Learning (KU-EOL) Program

A program that allows students to take courses at both domestic (Kansai University) and overseas universities through VE/COIL.

KU-EOL Program Fall 2020

As a consequence of the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Kansai University

IIGE, alongside many Japanese and international higher education institutions, experienced a dramatic and significant reduction in the number of international students able to attend lectures and classes on campus. Many students have been simply unable to travel from their home countries to attend universities abroad due to strict border controls at both departure and entry points.

Beginning in the 2020 fall semester, the Kansai University Engaged/Exchange Online Learning (KU-EOL) program opened Kansai University courses to international students taking part through online participation in response to the ongoing health crisis.

These courses were offered to IIGE international partner universities and institutions, allowing students enrolled in approved international institutions to participate in courses alongside Kansai University students.

Despite the short application period of two and a half weeks, a total of 100 students from 17 universities in 11 countries applied for this program, demonstrating how despite the health crisis, students around the world are still seeking international experiences, even if only virtually.

※For more program details and commentary from the participating students, download the I-Paper December 2020 issue, "Virtual Exchange During the Health Crisis."

KU-EOL Program Spring 2021

This semester, we received applications from a total of 136 students from 20 universities in 10 countries. The program is completely online, allowing students to engage in group discussions and other collaborative learning activities with Kansai University students in real time. In addition to courses offered in English, some courses are also offered in Japanese.

We have conducted a post-program survey. Some of the results are shown below.

100% of students enrolled in KU-EOL courses were able to achieve their learning objectives, with nearly 1/4 commenting that the program had exceeded expectations.

Q:I was able to achieve my learning objectives by participating in this program.

  • Strongly agree
  • Agree

What was the best aspect of the program?

"The best aspect is definitely the opportunity to meet students around the world and collaborate with them."

"Kansai University Online Learning made an impact to my perception of today’s issues concerning from variety of topics to choose from. It enables me to get a grasp of how other students from different countries see these issues to their perspective."

"After the each presentation, group discussions follows right after and conversing with the group our insights were very much engaging and fun at the same time."

For more information, visit our KU-EOL website https://supportiige.wixsite.com/ku-eol

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