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Learning by doing: Intercultural lessons from a transnational course
Auteur(s)
Sara Mattila
Åbo Akademi University
Jana Čepičková
University of West Bohemia
Nathalie Kirchmeyer
Date de parution
2025
In
Kielikeskus tutkii
Vol.
6
De la page
175
A la page
193
Revu par les pairs
true
Résumé
According to Dervin (2010), intercultural communication entails savoir-faire, savoir-analyser but also savoir-(ré)agir, in other words identifying actions in co-constructed discourses, being able to analyse discourses in terms of stereotypes, and being able to adapt one’s emotions and actions in intercultural settings. Acting and learning by doing thus play an important role in developing intercultural competencies. We strongly believe that students need to be challenged to act in multicultural settings and that is why we set up a transnational course jointly taught by three teachers from three European universities (Åbo Akademi University in Turku, Finland; University of West Bohemia in Plzen, Czech Republic; University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland). The goal of the course was to work in small international and multidisciplinary groups and to identify a sustainability challenge (within the framework of the UN sustainable development goals), define and investigate the challenge, as well as create and present a feasible solution, following the design sprint methodology .
In this article, we want to analyse the pilot of this course and question how intercultural communication was presented to students, through self-assessment questionnaires and tasks and how it was enacted by students in small group discussions, debates and decision-making processes. Our main goal was to offer minimal guidance and to focus on the savoir-(ré)agir that the students would experience in their group work.
To assess our approach, we rely on students’ and teachers’ reflective evaluations of the course and we will base our analysis on teachers’ logs, student interviews at the end of the course, students’ learning journals and two surveys filled in by students at the beginning of the course and the end. This will allow us to map an eventual change in students’ perspectives. With this protocol we wish to explore how much students need to be guided to develop their intercultural communication competence.
In this article, we want to analyse the pilot of this course and question how intercultural communication was presented to students, through self-assessment questionnaires and tasks and how it was enacted by students in small group discussions, debates and decision-making processes. Our main goal was to offer minimal guidance and to focus on the savoir-(ré)agir that the students would experience in their group work.
To assess our approach, we rely on students’ and teachers’ reflective evaluations of the course and we will base our analysis on teachers’ logs, student interviews at the end of the course, students’ learning journals and two surveys filled in by students at the beginning of the course and the end. This will allow us to map an eventual change in students’ perspectives. With this protocol we wish to explore how much students need to be guided to develop their intercultural communication competence.
Identifiants
Type de publication
journal article
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