Tag Archives: Collaborative Project

Comparative Analysis of Cultural Difference (U.S. + Morocco)

CUNY Class Information

Prof. Robin Hizme
Queens College, CUNY, New York, United States
Course Title: ENGL 157.W – 001 Readings in Global Literatures in English
3hr. 3 credit course; fifteen week semester (COIL project for five weeks)
Mode of instruction: In-Person
Length of COIL Collaboration: 5 weeks 

International Class Information

Prof. Abdelmajid EL SAYD
Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tangiers, Morocco
Course Title: Readings in Culture
Mode of instruction: In-Person

Project Description

Purpose / Goal: Students will engage in comparative cultural analysis to increase cross-cultural knowledge and develop international communication and collaboration skills.

After reading and analyzing late-twentieth century narratives by authors from Morocco and the United States, bi-national student teams will select topics (and questions) for comparative cultural analysis.

Collaborative project topics should arise from content in the literary texts, but the comparative exploration is not confined to discussion of the assigned readings; topics and questions may also address our contemporary cultural moment. Students should feel free and encouraged to engage in the comparative analysis with their own experiential knowledge as a starting point or as a unique lens to enhance other data and research resources. This comparative inquiry is aimed at developing and enhancing cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity.

(Possible topic examples: education, poverty / food insecurity, gender roles; social structures, customs of death and mourning, coming of age rituals, beliefs about (or access to) medical and health care, criminal justice, opportunity for social advancement, employment, modes of transportation, holidays and traditional rituals, et.al.)

Online Platforms

Google tools. We use Google Classroom to centralize the materials of the exchange, with student interaction via writing through questions / responses and on group Google docs and slides.
Student groups communicate via Google Meet, WhatsApp, and / or Discord.
Class-to-class synchronous sessions very challenging due to time-zones.

Full Module

Hizme_El-Sayd_COIL-OER-Module-Template_2024

Comparative Healthcare Inequalities

Module Theme: This COIL module invites students in two or more cultural contexts to explore healthcare inequality in their area.

Three Activities in Brief:
Students are grouped into binational teams with at least 2 students from each class.

  1. Icebreaker:
    • Students asynchronous prepare short videos which they post to shared Slack space.
  2. Comparative analysis assignment:
    • Students learn about healthcare inequalities in their own neighborhoods. Students prepare presentations on healthcare inequalities in their own neighborhoods.
    • The home institution students and the international institution students meet in their binational teams and the two groups meet asynchronously over Slack, share their presentations. They conduct a comparative analysis and document this by posting their presentations on Slack.
  3. The collaborative project:
    • A binational team PowerPoint presentation prepared by students asynchronously over Slack which describes the project theme and the similarities and differences of healthcare inequalities in each country.
    • The PowerPoint was presented at a student conference as part of the Steven’s Initiative, Global Scholars Achieving Career Success (GSACS) Program.

Technology Used:

  1. Shared space: Slack (asynchronous discussion and projects)
  2. Students communicated via Slack (asynchronous discussion and projects) and Zoom (synchronous meeting)

Author: Helen Chang, Ph.D. (Hostos Community College, CUNY)

Courses: American Government (Political Science 101), Radiology, and Physical Therapy

Associated Discipline(s): Political Science, Social Sciences, Public Health, Nursing, Health Sciences

Duration of Module: 6 weeks

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