•  
  •  
 

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

Research Highlights

  • The Problem: Adapting an asynchronous distance undergraduate Intercultural Communication elective into an in-person seminar model that builds "human skills" to ensure students remain competitive and accountable to disciplinary standards in an AI-augmented global economy.

  • The Method: The researcher restructured the curriculum at the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto, Canada, during the Winter 2026 semester to incorporate scaffolded authentic assessments, in-person applied learning, and a five-week Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnership with Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University in Istanbul, Türkiye, and Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat, Oman.

  • Quantitative Finding: The structural transition expanded the course enrollment from approximately 35 elective participants in the 2025 asynchronous pilot version to 130 mandatory student participants completing the in-person COIL program in 2026.

  • Qualitative Finding: Informal student feedback highlighted positive outcomes regarding intercultural learning value alongside logistical challenges in managing cooperation and group expectations due to an overreliance on text-based digital chats like WhatsApp rather than camera-enabled video or audio tools.

Abstract

This case study reports a full redesign of an undergraduate Intercultural Communication seminar in Toronto, repositioning the course to foreground power skills as durable differentiators in an AI-mediated economy. The redesign shifts an asynchronous distance format into a seminar-based model with weekly applied learning, scaffolded assessments, and a four-week COIL partnership with a Turkish university to create authentic intercultural collaboration under real constraints. Students practice creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, decision-making, verbal and nonverbal communication, cross-cultural competence, and self-reflexivity, while also learning to use AI tools in ways that remain accountable to disciplinary standards. Assignments include debates, peer assessment, collaborative cross-cultural projects, and critical autoethnographic narratives that surface bias, ethnocentrism, conflict resolution, and face needs. The session offers a replicable blueprint for humanities-led pedagogy that develops empathetic communication and ethical judgment while still preparing students for hybrid human–AI workplaces.

A link to a video of Nitin Deckha's presentation can be found below in the Additional Files section.

Additional Files
Session 2.mp4 (464271 kB)
Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.