Publication Title

Journal of Political Science Education

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Rights

Copyright 2024 The Author(s).

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract

Despite technological innovation and the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dearth of experimental research on the effects of virtual instruction. Using an original field experiment conducted among 100 UAE and USA students, we investigate how a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project on international development shapes social trust, tolerance, and political engagement. In an experimental design, UAE-based students were randomly assigned to a group with either their classmates or, through online interaction, with USA-based students, while in a quasi-experimental design, USA-based students collaborated online with UAE-based students. UAE-based COIL students developed greater interpersonal trust of others in their society, but a reduced desire to make friends with Americans. USA-based students developed a greater desire to follow international issues (i.e., political engagement). Proposing a social identity theory (SIT) of social capital formation, we argue that UAE-based students, who live in a society in which social identity is highly salient, redefined their social in-group boundaries and came to see members of their own diverse society more warmly while perceiving greater differences from Americans. By illustrating COIL’s complex effects, our research extends the literature on social capital formation and offers insights for enhancing the benefits of COIL.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2024.2444995

DOI

10.1080/15512169.2024.2444995

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/43269

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

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