UAB COIL Initiative

COIL is a dynamic teaching strategy that connects students from institutions in different countries for collaborative project-based learning embedded in existing courses. Through 5-8 weeks of synchronous and/or asynchronous online exchange, COIL introduces motivating international and global learning dimensions to a course and also gives opportunity for high-impact learning, offering clear benefits in both intercultural competency and career readiness.

On campuses worldwide, involving students in COIL projects creates meaningful opportunities for students who may not otherwise have an opportunity to engage authentically across global differences, democratizing global learning. In addition to education abroad, COIL enhances the global learning portfolio on a campus with a widely accessible, high-impact, research-based, innovative, and engaging teaching strategy.

In fact, the evidence on the effectiveness of COIL is so strong that the American Association of Colleges and Universities currently actively promotes COIL through dedicated resources opens a new website. In addition, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) forwards that COIL advances workforce readiness characteristics opens a new website needed for today’s workforce. Collaborating on realistic projects, across global differences, gives students real-life experiences that will inform work situations later in their careers.

The UAB Center for Teaching and Learning is proud to be forwarding a COIL Initiative for our campus, encouraging faculty throughout the enterprise to explore the considerable benefits of using COIL as a teaching strategy. The CTL provides training and support for teaching with COIL, from the initial steps of finding a partner and instigating a plan all the way through facilitating student collaboration and assessing outcomes. The CTL even offers a COIL learning experience on designing a COIL for UAB teachers and their international partners, giving instructors a taste of COIL before leading a COIL module themselves.

Are you curious to learn more? Contact Dr. Melissa Hawkins at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information and to learn about upcoming information and training sessions.

UAB COIL Initiative Leadership Team