Collaborative International Online Learning (COIL) in an entrepreneurship course for university students in Chile and Peru

The Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) experience is an educational approach that strengthens cross-cutting skills in higher education through collaboration between teachers and students from different cultural backgrounds. This study aimed to describe and compare the perception of COIL among 153 engineering students from Chile (93) and Peru (60) enrolled in an entrepreneurship course focused on the development of binational projects. The experience took place over one semester with international teams and constant teacher monitoring. For the evaluation, an instrument was designed and validated comprising five dimensions: learning, technological use, teaching performance, intercultural interaction, and COIL satisfaction. The results showed a high rating for technological use (82%) and a lower perception of intercultural interaction (52%). No significant differences were identified between men and women; however, differences were found according to country, with higher scores among Peruvian students. Likewise, significant differences were observed between the five factors of COIL perception, both in the joint analysis and in five pair comparisons. In conclusion, the study demonstrates the effectiveness of COIL in promoting collaborative learning and intercultural skills and provides preliminary validation of a tool with the potential to be adapted to various educational contexts.

Keywords:
Collaborative learning; entrepreneurship; higher education; active methodology; intercultural interaction