Innovative Multicultural Collaborative Learning: An Illustrative Case Study of Swiss and Indian Students
Neelam, N.
Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India
Pillet, L.
University of Applied Sciences & Arts Western Switzerland, HES-SO Valais-Wallis Business School, Institute Entrepreneurship & Management, Switzerland
D’Souza, P.
PrePearl Training Development Pvt Ltd, India
Bhattacharya, S.
Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Symbiosis International University, Pune, India
Volume 18: 2023, pp. 85-102; ABSTRACT
This research details a collaborative online international and experiential learning pedagogy that involved B-School students from India and Switzerland during the COVID-19 lockdown. For participants to understand each other's strengths and acceptable weaknesses and work together to solve business cases involving "Diversity and Inclusion", Belbin's Team Role Inventory was used as a diagnostic tool. The students' self-assessment scores on leading and interacting with multicultural teams significantly improved by the conclusion of the course. Theoretically, the experiment contributed to the literature on Authentic Online Learning firstly by showing that a 4E (i.e., engagement, exploration, explanation, and extension) based learning pedagogy enhances the perceived learning attainment of collaborative international online learners. Secondly, it contributed to Belbin’s Balanced Group theory, as students’ prior awareness of each other's strengths and weaknesses under Belbin’s inventory helped them collaborate better and work as teams, regardless of whether the groups were balanced or unbalanced.
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