Project Stages for Staff

Stage 1 - Designing a COIL project

At the beginning, you should align expectations and emphasise the benefits of the experience for the students and their development. Design a project with the most suitable project type and theme, connecting with the right partners before getting started.

Design a COIL project

COIL pedagogy is very flexible, and COIL projects can come in all shapes and sizes, and can be designed in a variety of ways to suit your discipline, programme, course/module or topic.

COIL is a flexible pedagogy, and must only comply with a handful of very important requirements:

• it must be free, accessible and inclusive for all students
• it must be sustained throughout set period of time (usually 4 - 8 weeks, but can be shorter/longer)
• must provide a genuine opportunity for intercultural communication and collaboration
• students must receive some form of feedback from one or both tutors

Types of COIL projects

Activity or assignment embedded in an existing module

• Graded assignment, partially or fully contributing to the overall course/module assessment
• Ungraded assignment or activity within an existing course/module, that does not contribute to the overall assessment, however students will still receive feedback from the tutor
• Duration of 4 - 6 weeks

Separate extra-classroom project involving students from one or a number of cohorts

• Students will work on a project not linked to any specific course/module and receive feedback from supervising tutor
• Projects can include research initiatives or entrepreneurship and innovation projects
• Can be longer than 6 weeks as it is not connected to a specific timeframe (such as semester) or formal assessment requirements

Project in collaboration with industry or community partners

• Real-life projects initiated by, or with, industry or community partners from different countries or global businesses
• Similar to industry placements, projects will enable students to gain practical experience in their chosen area
• Projects can be formally assessed parts of a module or external opportunities with tutor's supervision and feedback
• Duration will depend on the needs of the project and its relation to formal timings and assessments

Research projects

• Short collaborative research project between students from different institutions (2 or more)
• The project can include individual students or full cohorts
• Students can be from different stages of their degree
• The project can end with research article and/or conference presentation
• Can be longer than 6 weeks as it is not connected to a specific timeframe (such as semester) or formal assessment requirements

One-day COIL event

• Students from two or more institutions attend a full-day COIL event when they work in mixed groups on workshop-type activities, participate in panels and discussions on their topic
• While in this case the project will not enable students to initiate and coordinate team meetings and activities, the collaborative work in this more intensive format can contribute to knowledge-sharing and making connections and become a springboard for further collaboration

Templates

Students participating in COIL can utilise our project brief template and example to start developing their project:

The template is optional and can be adapted to the needs of your project.

Co-designing the project

It is important to remember that the design of the project is also a collaborative activity between partner institutions. Designing of a COIL project can be approached in three steps:

• If you have an idea, draft a project brief
• If you have a potential partner in mind, share the draft brief with them and finalise it together
• If you do not have a potential partner, find out how to connect with partners

Points to keep in mind when developing the project with your COIL partner:

• Duration of the project and its type
• Academic levels of students involved - are both groups undergraduate students or on different levels?
• Assessment and grading requirements in both institutions - is the project equally assessed in both institutions?
• IT requirements - do all students have institutional access to a chosen collaboration platform?

Connect with Partners

Whether you already have a project idea, or you would like to find a COIL partner first, finding and connecting with a COIL partner is often seen as the most complicated part of COIL, but it does not have to be. Your institution will most likely have a dedicated person/team to facilitate connections between universities (usually in departments, responsible for Study Abroad or Student Exchange, or other departments that already collaborate with other universities).

However, you can also approach potential partners directly, or check for open COIL opportunities at the university you are interested in partnering with. Many universities will have a dedicated COIL webpage with contact details and any open projects. Further information about COIL partners, including a portfolio of staff members who are open to collaborate on new COIL projects:

Discord Social Space

Join us in our COIL@UArctic social space on Discord!

This social space is for COIL staff for instant messaging with the COIL@UArctic team and colleagues across the Network. Here you can connect with potential partners, advertise available COIL projects, exchange ideas and ask questions. This is the space to help and encourage teachers and academics to engage in COIL activities in a supportive and friendly environment.  

Here are the key points on getting the best out of the social space: 

1. You will be asked to log in or to create a new account.
2. Read some initial information on the welcome and rules channel to get you started.
3. Check out the useful resources channel, where you find some relevant links.
4. Go to the general channel to say 'hello' and start making COIL connections.
5. If you have any questions please use our forum channel. Feel free to browse through existing questions or create your own.

You might also want to use Discord with your students during COIL projects – it is free and easy to use. If you need advice on how to set up your own server/channel, contact us via email: COIL-UArctic@rgu.ac.uk

Set expectations

With COIL partners

Working with a new partner from a different institution, country and culture, can seem daunting. Make the most out of the partnership and make the work as smooth as possible with our tips on engaging with COIL partners:

• Decide who takes on a role in preparing and disseminating project brief. While this should be a collaborative effort, one partner might have more investment in the idea than the other. It is crucial to engage with all partners to increase sense of ownership of the project.
• Establish the roles in communicating with students. Tutors from all institutions, involved in a COIL project should have contact with all the students, at least once. However, you might decide that one of the partners will be the first point of contact for all students, or only for their ‘home’ cohort.
• Decide who will run the full cohort sessions. These usually take place at the beginning to introduce the project, mid-way to check in with students, and end of the project to evaluate and reflect on the project. It is important that all partners are involved in as much of these activities as possible.
• Agree who will give feedback on the deliverables of the project. Generally, students will benefit from receiving feedback from a tutor from another institution, as well as from the ‘home’ tutor.
• Refer your partner to COIL@UArctic resources.

With students

It may seem difficult for students to work together on a project who have never met before, may be from a different culture or potentially with a different language or time zone. Setting expectations with students will help them to alleviate worries, focussing on the benefits and making the most of participating.

• Emphasise clearly the benefits of COIL for students. This is the most crucial part of engaging students, especially if your project is ungraded.
• Provide students with resources to make the most of the project. This will be project-dependent, but students will benefit from resources on how to use the chosen communication platform, or any other required tools and equipment.
• Emphasise the need for engagement in all activities. This includes icebreakers and any group meetings.
• Explicitly state what feedback is expected. Is this graded or ungraded? And if ungraded, what is the outcome of the participation? Who will provide the feedback, in what format? Is this individual feedback or group feedback?
• Set group work expectations. As often with group work, some students will be engaged more than others. It is strongly advised, therefore, to assess students individually on their own engagement, participation, initiative and reflection. It is common in COIL projects that assessment and feedback are based on individual performance and engagement within the group, as opposed to the final deliverable (presentation, report etc.).

COIL@UArctic Training opportunities for staff

COIL@UArctic offers a bi-monthly training programme to support faculty members in developing and running COIL projects.

Our COIL@UArctic events are useful for all of the staff members, engaged in COIL development and delivery. The programme consists of a variety of lectures, workshops, talks and Q&A sessions, and takes place approximately once in two months online.

Upcoming training events

Further details of other events in the programme will become available shortly.

Recordings of the previous sessions are available on our YouTube channel:

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Stage 2 - Running a COIL project

Now the project is well underway and you are reaching the mid-point, you should discuss any issues and difficulties the students have encountered during the first weeks and advise on possible resolutions.

Icebreaker Activities

Allow students to spend their first collaboration session on ice-breaker activities. These can be prepared in advance, or simply encourage them to introduce themselves and have an informal chat about life in their country and university. Pets are welcome!

Download our Icebreaker Activities Document:

Managing the Project

Unequal student numbers in partnering cohorts

Previous COIL projects have run successfully with unequal cohorts, however, significant difference (such as 4/1) can be problematic for students’ experience. In this case, consider:

1. Find a third partner, and split the largest cohort between two remaining partners. It is common to have 3-4 partners in the same COIL project.
2. Consider a different cohort of students in a different module/course
3. As a last resort, you might decide that such arrangement might not work and you prefer to find a different partner.

Faculty partner engagement with the project and the students

Everyone will have different circumstances and different workloads, and it is possible that sometimes the amount of commitment between the partners will differ. To ensure COIL is a positive experience for everyone, consider:

1. If the project is still in the planning stage, consider finding a new partner.
2. If the project is underway, reach out to your partner for an informal chat. Explain the benefits of engaging with both partners for students.
3. Share the resources we have on this website to remind your partner of COIL benefits.

Different grading requirements

While it is desirable for both student cohorts to be graded similarly (whereby grade for COIL has similar weight for both cohorts), it is normal to have some differences, due to how each institution operates. Some suggestions to help resolve these differences include:

1. Discuss with your partner and see if a compromise can be reached.
2. Be transparent with your students and explain the situation. Remind them the benefits of participating in their COIL project, beyond grade.

Contact us

If you need any further advice:

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Stage 3 - After your COIL project

As your project draws to a close, you should finish the project by discussing lessons learned, and remind the students of the skills they have gained and how these can be used to enhance their employability.

Evaluate and Reflect

1. Gather feedback from students at your and the partner institutions - this can be written or in a video format
2. Gather feedback from the tutor(s) at the partner institution
3. Reflect and write down/record your experience and lessons learnt from the project.
4. Participate in a debrief workshop with the COIL support team in your institution, if available
5. Share your experience with the network on the COIL@RGU Discord Server
6. Prepare for your next COIL@UArctic!