Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Between Chile and Mexico: Analyzing Collaboration Barriers for Undergraduate Students

ABSTRACT This study examines the collaboration skills of undergraduate students enrolled in commercial engineering and business programs before and after participating in a microlearning experience within a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) framework involving universities in Chile and Mexico. Employing a quasi-experimental design, the research compares an experimental group and a control group, with measurements collected before and after a six-week teamwork project. The objective is to determine whether COIL can reduce collaboration barriers among international teams to levels comparable to those observed in face-to-face collaboration. The findings indicate that both the COIL and control groups demonstrated similar improvements in collaborative competencies following the teamwork experience. These results suggest that COIL provides benefits comparable to face-to-face interaction in terms of reducing collaboration barriers. The implications of these findings are particularly relevant for institutions seeking to promote COIL initiatives.