2025 年 12 巻 1 号 p. 107
Introduction and Purpose/Objectives: We have been providing the COIL program focusing on disaster resilience and community health since 2022. Under the global and universal theme of disasters, we believe that this is a theme that students from different disciplinary and countries can work under the common theme to promote collaborative learning. This study will share the insight whether and what in context the course can promote the participants’ cultural competency.
Approaches/Methods: Online survey was used at the beginning and end of the course. Descriptive statistical analysis and text analysis was conducted on the answers to the pre- and post-assignment questions given during the course implementation. Ethical approval was obtained from the Hiroshima University Epidemiology Ethics Review Committee.
Results/Findings: The total number of participants was 192, from a total of 22 countries. Undergraduate students counted 108 (56.3%), 73 (38.0%) were post graduate students, and 10 (5.2%) were post docs/faculty. The three attainment pre-post course questions indicated that communication showed an increase from 17% to 42.0% for Very Good in terms of being able to access necessary resources. The largest number of participants stated that they want to learn how to cope with disasters along with the mechanisms. The second largest number of participants mentioned how to work in a team and their attitude toward participation. These were the next most frequently mentioned by participants.
Discussion/Implication: The survey results indicate that the participants generally achieved their learning objectives on understanding and preparing for disasters. In relation to the objective “actively engage participants from different cultural backgrounds in collaborative discussions”, the participants were able to become aware of their own tendencies in thinking and behaving, which had been taken for granted. The participants learning have been facilitated with Respect, Openness, Curiosity and Discovery, which are essential attitudes in Deardorff’s (2006) Intercultural Competence Model.
