International Scholars Research Articles

Collaborative online international learning to enhance intercultural effectiveness in social work education

ABSTRACT Using the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model, social work students based in three different countries (U.S. China, U.K.) were invited to participate in intercultural discussions about the development of the welfare systems in these countries. The discussion forum and COIL activities were conducted using synchronous virtual meetings via Zoom which were referred to as ‘virtual cocktail parties.’ Fifteen synchronous sessions were offered, and a total of 91 students participated in the COIL classes. This endeavor aims to enhance students’ utilization of a peer learning format for intercultural effectiveness, thereby fostering a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the intricate aspects of social work practice. Through discussions with their peers in different countries, social work students recognized how, interculturally, they were impacted by social problems and professional situations. Learners also reflected, dialogued, and shared in contexts marked by cultural diversity. COIL appears to encourage students to develop a sense of global citizenship, fostering a deeper understanding of their roles and responsibilities in an interconnected world.

A Polyphonic Debate on Social Equity Budgeting

ABSTRACTThis paper is polyphonic (i.e., a debate involving multiple perspectives) and highlights emerging interdisciplinary thoughts on past, current, and future social equity budgeting (SEB). We present a vision for the field and emphasize the potential impact of this paper. We hope to enliven debates regarding context, underpinning philosophies, and methods, thus fostering a greater theoretical and practical reconsideration of SEB. The impact of this paper is significant, as it leads to a fundamental rethinking of SEB and related research, profoundly influencing the field. To do so, this paper has brought together 10 international scholars to foster an interdisciplinary approach regarding views and strategies. The richness of looking at a plurality of perspectives enables exploring developments that open the potential for a much greater theoretical and practical reconsideration of SEB and related research. The paper shows that while there is much convergence on the importance of ongoing research on gender, race, and class, there can also be more research on areas such as SEB's philosophical, theoretical, and empirical underpinnings that need further development.

Reflections in Chemical Safety and Research: International Scholars’ Safety Conundrums

Reflections in Chemical Safety and Research: International Scholars’ Safety Conundrums

Beyond hedging: China’s strategic ‘outbidding’ strategy in the semi-hierarchical Gulf region

The prevailing analytical approach within international relations scholarship has primarily framed China’s growing involvement in the Gulf region through a hedging strategy. Although this framework offers explanatory value, it misses the impact of China’s search for international hierarchy and Sino-US rivalry for subordinates in shaping China’s strategic policy choices in the Gulf. This article, anchored in hierarchy studies in international relations, posits that the intensifying global competition between the United States and China for influence over subordinate states has driven China to pursue an ‘outbidding’ strategy. In applying this approach, China provides Gulf states with more appealing economic, military, and technological incentives than the United States. Since Xi Jinping’s ascension to power in 2013, China has considerably expanded its regional influence by investing heavily in this strategy. However, the long-term effectiveness of this strategy hinges on overcoming two key constraints inherent to the semi-hierarchical order of the Gulf: the distinct strategic considerations of US allies and non-allies and the balancing dilemma that China confronts. This article substantiates its claims by analyzing official statements, policy documents, and academic literature on China’s Gulf policy.

The Functional Features of Chunks in Journal Articles of Aquaculture

This study investigates the functional similarities and differences of four-word chunks in the academic discourse of aquaculture by Chinese and international scholars based on Hyland’s functional classification method within a corpus-driven approach. The findings reveal that, compared to their international counterparts, Chinese scholars significantly utilize more four-word chunks. Functionally, Chinese scholars frequently employ quantification, structure, framing, and engagement chunks, underscoring the importance they assign to the logic of discourse and the interaction between authors and readers. The infrequent use of description chunks suggests that it is essential for Chinese scholars to fully appreciate the significance of describing research objects, methods, and results in order to convey the foundational and experimental nature of hard science research. Furthermore, the structures of chunks used by Chinese and international scholars to express the same discourse functions differ. The expression of data indication among Chinese scholars appears more solidified. These research results can offer valuable references for academic writing.

A mixed-methods investigation into complex components of multilingual international students' self-regulated learning in English as a foreign language context: A social cognitive perspective

Self-regulated learning serves as a fundamental framework for understanding the cognitive, motivational, and emotional dimensions of learning. Recently, a growing body of studies on such cognitive processes appears in multilingual populations. Applying a mixed-methods approach, this study examined the key components of the self-regulated learning process among 233 multilingual international students in China, specifically within the context of English as a Foreign Language learning. Qualitative data was analyzed through Pearson's correlation analysis, structural equation modeling, and path analysis, while semi-structured interviews were conducted to further confirm the results of the qualitative data analysis. 15 students were purposefully selected through purposive sampling to participate in follow-up interviews. Within the framework of social cognitive theory, the findings revealed that metacognition, motivation, self-efficacy, and feedback loops are the primary components of self-regulated learning. Additionally, path analysis confirmed that the four factors are positive predictors of self-regulated learning proficiency of multilingual international students in China. The interview outcomes further validated the integral role of these primary components in the self-regulated learning process within the context of multilingual study. This study underscores the significance of incorporating translanguaging backgrounds into teaching strategies and language policy. Findings may offer some insights for multilingual international students, language teachers, and language policymakers in the field of Chinese language instruction.

Бремя доказывания отрицательных фактов в практике международных судов и арбитражей: что сулит рассмотрение иска Украины по делу о заявлениях о геноциде?

On 2 February 2024 the International Court of Justice delivered its judgment in Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), where it established its jurisdiction in relation to Ukraine’s claim requesting the Court to declare that there is no credible evidence that Ukraine is responsible for committing genocide in DPR and LPR. In his declaration, Judge Tomka notes that the unusual form in which Ukraine’s submission is framed raises the problem of the allocation of the burden of proving negative facts. Judge Tomka invites the parties to express their views on this fundamental question, considering the contradictory approaches in the Court’s jurisprudence. This article constitutes an attempt to suggest what the Court’s approach to the allocation of the burden of proof at the merits stage of the proceedings may be in light of the practice of the Court, other international courts and tribunals and international legal scholarship.

Современные российско-филиппинские отношения: вызовы и возможности

This article is devoted to the main areas of cooperation between Russia and the Philippines in the present.It discusses the prerequisites for the development of bilateral relations along with the results of interaction in the spheres of interstate relations, economy, security, culture over the past decade and a half. The article also examines the problematic aspects of bilateral relations, reflects the impact of the American factor on the nature of Russian Philippine interaction, primarily in the context of strengthening of the US military and political presence in the Western Pacific and the involvement of the Philippines in the policy of containing China. The paper presents proposals and arguments regarding the rapprochement between Russia and the Philippines, indicating the reasons that may affect the establishment of stable relations between the two countries. The methodological basis of the work is the analysis ofthe research findings of both Russian and international scholars, as well as materials and documents that are available on the topic of research.

For What and for Whom? Expanding the Role of Research Syntheses for Diverse Stakeholders

Systematic reviews have witnessed significant growth across many fields, including education. In this article, we outline the background of this growth, highlight the tendency to focus on methodological considerations, and propose a framework to support education researchers in preparing systematic reviews with broad impact. We draw on our experience working with education stakeholders in Singapore and on international scholarship to propose a framework that supports education researchers in clarifying and specifying their aims and audiences and crafting syntheses of appropriate types. Our aim is that this framework, which includes examples illustrating four categories of reviews, acts as a reflective tool which researchers can use to maximize the utility, value, and potential impact of education research.

Territories of the «northern delivery»: new approaches to categorization

Ensuring the sustainability of settlements in the Far North regions is achievable only through a comprehensive set of measures for the procurement and delivery of essential goods (primarily food and fuel) from other areas, known as the «Northern Delivery» The current supply system is marked by inefficiencies that create high risks of delivery disruptions. Enhancing this system requires developing and implementing optimal measures to influence the economic relationships within the «Northern Delivery» framework, alongside determining effective legal regulatory methods. A critical step in this process is the establishment of precise and strictly defined territorial boundaries for implementing these measures. At present, there is no legal formalization of spatial limits for the array of managerial, logistic, and socio-economic processes aimed at ensuring uninterrupted deliveries of goods for the «Northern Delivery» underscoring the importance of this research. The aim of this study is to define the criteria and their quantitative parameters to categorize the regions of the Far North and equivalent areas with limited cargo delivery periods. By synthesizing the work of both domestic and international scholars on the zoning of northern territories and assessing their transport accessibility, as well as utilizing cartographic research methods and focus groups, an algorithm for categorizing the settlements of the Far North regions has been developed. The identified selection criteria include transport accessibility, the presence of stable supply logistics chains, the duration of heating period, and the level of provision with basic food products. This categorization resulted in identifying of three groups of territories based on the supply organization mechanism: critical, supporting, and basic supply. The proposed categorization can be used to determine the spatial limits for legal regulation of the «Northern Delivery» and to develop a specific set of measures to ensure the uninterrupted delivery of essential goods.

Evaluating innovation in transdisciplinary sustainability education: TRANSECTS’international learning labs

Evaluative research can advance sustainability education through the learning it can enable, at micro and systems levels. This proposition is explored by examining evaluation practice in a 6-year international programme entitled Transdisciplinary Education Collaboration for Transformations in Sustainability involving universities and biosphere reserves/regions in Germany, South Africa and Canada. A Transdisciplinary International Learning Lab (TILL) was evaluated using a theory-based evaluation approach and interviews, focus groups and questionnaires that yielded qualitative data. Through meta-reflection, we concluded that our TILL had elements of a Field School, rather than a Learning Lab, and that our curriculum required more explicit deliberation among programme developers and implementers towards a deeper and shared understanding of pedagogical assumptions and more congruent practice of transdisciplinary and transformative sustainability education. The reflective, theory-based approach enabled learning from evaluation and was captured in a shared refinement of the theory of change, which makes it explicit that learning from pedagogical innovations is not only for students but also for academics. The paper is an invitation to other innovators in sustainability science, education and evaluation in higher education, to share related findings.

Introduction to the special issue, Building a Future for Education Equity Interventions

In this Special Issue of the Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, Building a Future for Education Equity Interventions, we acknowledge how research more often privileges those who write about it versus those who participate in it. The researchers in this special issue identify as women, people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and international scholars. This special issue shares the work of several authors who provide conceptual and empirical findings demonstrating ways to protect young people’s dignity and those communities marginalized by race, ethnicity, gender, and ability.

Self-control of states: bridging social psychology to international relations discourses.

Why do states respond non-coercively in the face of crisis? Existing scholarship within international relations has stagnated in its conclusions regarding understanding this occurrence. This perspective article attempts to bridge the self-control theory of social psychology to provide a more nuanced understanding of why states self-refrain themselves from taking aggressive retaliatory foreign policies in state-to-state crises. It argues the importance of cognitive-affective units, such as encodings, expectancies, beliefs, goals, values, and self-regulatory plans, as the sociological interpretation of why states are committed to pursuing delayed rewards. It builds upon existing sociological theories adopted in international relations scholarship, such as state identities and role conceptions, and further considers the social psychology variables detrimental in self-control theories, and argues for its relevance to decompose the ability of a state to prioritize delayed gratification over immediate awards in tensions faced.

An island in the stream: how and why seven relocated foreign experts in Chinese universities attempted/failed to learn L2 Chinese

ABSTRACT The present study looked at what factors influenced the L2 Chinese identity and investment of relocated non-L1-English foreign experts working in Chinese universities and how. Seven professors/researchers participated in the study. This study aimed mainly to complement the literature on the enhancement of intercultural understanding and harmony by examining the engagement with learning the non-L1-English host country language on the part of international scholarly experts imported from non-L1 English countries. Despite the enlightening results and helpful suggestions that studies exploring such engagement could provide, very little (if any) research attention has been paid to it. The instrument for the current study was in-depth, semi-structured, autobiographical interviews. The major findings of the study included that there were negative changes in the trajectories of the experts’ L2 identity and investment: their initial efforts to learn Chinese lost momentum and declined. The changes were caused by factors including the perceived cross-cultural/cross-linguistic differences, the host universities’ categorical focus on work performance delivered in English, and survival using very basic Chinese words. Based on these findings, implications are discussed.

Nursing professions' distinctive ethical standards: Exploring a code of ethics.

This article presents an examination of the ethical code of nursing in Israel, focusing on the nurse-patient, nurse-colleague, and nurse-professional leadership relationships. This article offers for the first English translation of the Israel Nursing Association's Code of Ethics to facilitate international scholarly discussion, and to critique this Code through the lens of Asa Kasher's philosophical test, thereby examining its completeness and practical utility. As it stands today, the code lacks clarification of the professional ethical uniqueness of nursing. To address this gap, the article adopts a philosophical approach using Kasher's test named the Three Components of the Practical Ideal to distill the distinctive ethical obligations imposed on nursing professionals. The article highlights the importance of professionalism in nursing, encompassing expertise, autonomy, and recognition, as emphasized in the Code of Ethics. However, the current code does not explicitly delineate the unique requirements specific to nursing. Thus, the article proposes the integration of these explicit requirements into the Code of Ethics through collaborative efforts. Furthermore, it emphasizes the crucial role of nursing education and training programs in fostering professional identity formation based on the strengthening of the commitment to relevant ethical principles. The article contributes to the advancement of nursing ethics by providing a comprehensive framework for understanding and implementing proper ethical conduct within the nursing profession.

The Role of Prior Online Learning Experience in Student Learning under ERT – A Comparative Study

The pandemic provided great research opportunities in learning/teaching. How was students’ learning experience under emergency remote teaching (ERT)? The purposes of this study are to explore students’ learning experience, and to observe any differences under two lenses – internationalization and prior online learning. An online study was conducted in the Management/Business programs of a major Canadian research university and four Russian universities in 2021. A total of 683 students participated in this study, two-thirds of which were Canadian and one-third were Russian. The degree of internationalization (e.g. international students) is higher in Canadian universities, while a higher percentage of Russian students had prior online learning experience before the pandemic in this study. The research findings showed that the degree of internationalization did not play a significant role in the difference of student learning; while the prior learning experience played a crucial role under ERT. Russian students adjusted better to the new learning mode, reported a more positive view of online learning, had a better learning experience and performance, and had a preference to continue with online learning post-pandemic. This research sheds light on students’ preference for online learning that was influenced by prior exposure to online learning.

COIL Method in Economic Higher Education: The Stakeholders’ Perspective

COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) is an innovative teaching method that allows students to experience international cooperation and develop intercultural skills using digital technologies. This online teaching method became popular recently based on the experience gained by higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. COIL is an effective and convenient teaching method that provides students with the experience of „internationalisation at home.” The COIL engages students, teachers, and business partners. As those groups have different educational needs and expectations, the question arises as to what extent this teaching method can address those needs. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to identify the main benefits and limitations of the COIL method in economic higher education based on the empirical survey results. The survey was conducted after the successful COIL implementation in 2023/2024 in several courses at the University of Economics in Katowice, Poland. The COIL method was applied in the form of three different models and was organised in cooperation with partners from several European universities. In particular, the COIL method was applied within a course devoted to Digitalisation and Sustainability, aiming at developing projects on business plans for start-ups using innovative technologies to enhance sustainable development. The paper presents the COIL concept, course objectives, and learning outcomes, as well as an assessment of the COIL method from the perspectives of students, teachers, and business experts. The main findings suggest that all students appreciate the advantages of COIL: the possibility to gain international experience, improve communication and intercultural skills, and learn the basics of project management. They also signalled some challenges related to international teamwork. However, teachers, in general, are satisfied with the quality of outcomes of students’ cooperation, although applying the COIL method requires lots of administrative work and developing new skills. Similarly, business partners highly assessed the benefits of the COIL method for students in terms of their future professional careers.

Defining Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and Distinguishing it from Virtual Exchange

AbstractCollaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is often framed as an example of a broader practice known as Virtual Exchange (VE). The term Virtual Exchange has increasingly been used as an attempt to unify a fragmented field of Higher Education practice and is often used interchangeably with the term COIL. However, the design of COIL, with its strong focus on collaborative and intercultural learning, is often very different to other VE initiatives. Labelling all VE initiatives, including COIL, generally as VE, can lead to both educators and researchers having difficulty identifying and distinguishing COIL. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of VE and define COIL and its key characteristics. This article also describes how theory can inform practice and explains why continued interchangeable use of the term COIL with the umbrella term Virtual Exchange is unhelpful for future research and practice.

COIL method in economic higher education – the stakeholders’ perspective

COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) is an innovative teaching method that allows students to experience international cooperation and develop intercultural skills using digital technologies. This online teaching method became popular recently based on the experience gained by higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. COIL is an effective and convenient teaching method that provides students with the experience of „internationalisation at home.” The COIL engages students, teachers, and business partners. As those groups have different educational needs and expectations, the question arises as to what extent this teaching method can address those needs. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to identify the main benefits and limitations of the COIL method in economic higher education based on the empirical survey results. The survey was conducted after the successful COIL implementation in 2023/2024 in several courses at the University of Economics in Katowice, Poland. The COIL method was applied in the form of three different models and was organised in cooperation with partners from several European universities. In particular, the COIL method was applied within a course devoted to Digitalisation and Sustainability, aiming at developing projects on business plans for start-ups using innovative technologies to enhance sustainable development. The paper presents the COIL concept, course objectives, and learning outcomes, as well as an assessment of the COIL method from the perspectives of students, teachers, and business experts. The main findings suggest that all students appreciate the advantages of COIL: the possibility to gain international experience, improve communication and intercultural skills, and learn the basics of project management. They also signalled some challenges related to international teamwork. However, teachers, in general, are satisfied with the quality of outcomes of students’ cooperation, although applying the COIL method requires lots of administrative work and developing new skills. Similarly, business partners highly assessed the benefits of the COIL method for students in terms of their future professional careers.

Evolutionary Trends in Carbon Market Risk Research

The carbon emissions trading market is an essential tool for addressing climate change. The carbon emissions trading market has a relatively short history, and the research and management of risks in this market require further development. This paper takes as its research object 1272 pieces of English literature studies published by international scholars and featured on the Web of Science between 2002 and 2024. It uses CiteSpace software to categorize changes in the trends related to carbon market risk research based on time, space, and keyword clustering mapping. The results reveal the following: (1) In terms of the timeline, the risk evolution of the international carbon market is divided into an embryonic period (2002–2007), a developmental period (2008–2018), and a prosperous period (2019–2024); (2) from the perspective of spatial distribution, carbon market risk research institutions are multipolar, with China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, among other countries, issuing more studies on the topic; these studies mainly emerge from universities and research institutions; and (3) in terms of research hotspots, they revolve around four disciplinary issues, namely, primary research related to carbon market risk, carbon market risk categories, carbon market risk measurement, and response programs.