Faculty Experiences Designing and Implementing Collaborative Online International Learning University Courses

Abstract

The internationalization of universities has traditionally relied on student mobility, where students travel abroad for exchange programs or other educational opportunities. However, many students lack access to these experiences due to visa restrictions, family and work obligations, and financial limitations. Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) has emerged as an alternative that uses digital means to facilitate cross-border intercultural collaboration among college students and faculty. While COIL adoption is growing, most current research has focused on student outcomes, with comparatively less attention to faculty experiences in course design and implementation. This interpretative phenomenological study examined how faculty experience and make meaning of their engagement in COIL, including the influence of these experiences on their teaching practices, professional identities, and perspectives on global collaboration. Participants in the study included ten faculty members from the United States and their COIL partners in Sweden, Taiwan, Chile, and Ireland. Data collection involved dyadic and individual semi-structured interviews and a review of COIL instructional materials such as syllabi, planning documents, and class assignments. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to examine faculty lived experiences and drawing on Transformative Learning Theory and Brookfield's theory of adult cognition as interpretive frameworks, the analysis revealed that pedagogical objectives, collaborative partnerships, and institutional contexts shaped faculty engagement in COIL. Faculty are motivated to expand global learning opportunities for student engagement, while also managing challenges such as curriculum alignment, assessment practices, time zone coordination, institutional differences, and digital platform integration. These experiences fostered critical reflection and influenced their educational practices and professional identity, prompting many faculty to adopt more collaborative, student-centered, and globally oriented approaches to teaching and curriculum design after participating in COIL. The findings underscore the need for institutional support, faculty preparation, workload recognition, and robust technological infrastructure to sustain COIL and expand equitable global learning opportunities in universities. Future research should examine long-term faculty transformation, sustainable virtual international collaboration, and strategies for scaling COIL across diverse university contexts .