Using Reflection to Assess Global and Intercultural Learning

Reflection plays a central role in global and intercultural learning, particularly in VE/COIL contexts where students are navigating difference, uncertainty, and collaboration across borders. Because intercultural learning is developmental rather than linear, reflection allows instructors to assess not only what students produce, but how they make meaning of their experiences.

When intentionally designed, reflective activities serve multiple purposes in VE/COIL:

Why Reflection Matters in Global Learning

Support deep understanding
Reflection helps students move beyond surface observations to analyze cultural contexts, disciplinary perspectives, and the complexities of global collaboration.
Develop global competence
Through reflection, students examine their assumptions, practice perspective-taking, and articulate how they are learning to work effectively with others across cultural and national differences.
Foster critical thinking
Reflective prompts encourage students to question norms, compare viewpoints, and evaluate decisions made within their VE/COIL teams, rather than accepting experiences at face value.
Promote personal growth
Reflection allows students to recognize changes in their attitudes, confidence, communication strategies, and sense of responsibility as global learners and collaborators.
Enhance learning outcomes
By explicitly connecting experience to course goals and global learning outcomes, reflection provides assessable evidence of student learning aligned with VE/COIL objectives.

Importantly, reflection in VE/COIL is not about personal disclosure for its own sake. Instead, it is a structured learning activity that invites students to analyze experience, connect theory to practice, and demonstrate growth in ways that are accessible, equitable, and adaptable across disciplines.

Using Reflection as Evidence of Learning

Reflections can be used formatively (to guide learning during the collaboration) and summatively (to assess learning at the end of the project). They may be individual or group-based, written or multimodal, and can be aligned with frameworks such as the IU Dimensions of Global Learning, AAC&U VALUE Rubrics, or intercultural learning outcomes.

Example Reflection Prompts by Stage of the VE/COIL Experience

Before the VE/COIL Begins: Establishing a Baseline

What prior experiences have you had working with people from different cultural, national, or linguistic backgrounds?
What expectations or concerns do you have about collaborating with international peers online?
How do you typically respond when you encounter differences in communication styles or perspectives?

Early in the Collaboration: Noticing Difference and Connection

Describe an early interaction with your partners that stood out to you. What made it significant?
What similarities and differences have you noticed in how your team communicates or organizes work?
How are language, technology, or time zones influencing your collaboration so far?

Mid-Project Reflection: Navigating Challenges

Describe a challenge your team has faced and how it was addressed.
What strategies have helped your team work more effectively across differences?
How has your understanding of collaboration or teamwork changed since the project began?

End-of-Project Reflection: Integrating Learning

How has this VE/COIL experience influenced the way you think about global or intercultural collaboration?
What specific skills or insights from this experience will be useful in future academic or professional contexts?
How did working with international peers deepen your understanding of the course content?

Optional Meta-Reflection: Learning About Learning

Which moments in the collaboration contributed most to your learning, and why?
What supports (tools, instructor guidance, peer interactions) were most helpful?
If you were redesigning this VE/COIL project, what would you keep or change to improve learning?

Examples of Language and Tips for Reflecting on a Global Learning Experience

Effective reflection in global and intercultural learning is intentional, precise, and grounded in evidence from experience. The following guidelines can help students move beyond surface-level description toward meaningful analysis and learning.

Use first-person language.

Reflection centers on your own experiences, perspectives, and learning. Use “I” and other personal pronouns appropriately.

Use discipline-specific language and terminology.

Reflection should maintain academic rigor. Use the same concepts, theories, and vocabulary you would use in an essay or project, while grounding them in your personal experience.

Be clear and specific in your descriptions.

Vague language limits analysis. For example, write “working on a group project on urban sustainability with three international partners” rather than “working on a group project with some other students.”

Strive for objectivity in describing situations.

Describe what you observed before interpreting it. For example, “Several younger children gathered on the corner after school” is more neutral and analytical than “The younger children were barricading the corner.”

Use thinking and sensing verbs intentionally.

Phrases such as “I believe,” “I think,” “I understand,” “I noticed,” and “I felt” can help signal reflection and awareness of perspective.

Avoid using “feel” as a substitute for judgment or evaluation.

Statements like “I felt they were wrong” or “My feeling was that it was a good choice” mask opinion rather than analyze it. Instead, connect emotions to reasoning, such as: “I felt confident in the decision because the evidence suggested…”

Process emotions before writing.

Academic reflection is not written in the heat of the moment. Strong reflection involves stepping back, examining reactions, and considering their causes and implications. Reflection is not a space for venting or ranting.

Use causal language to show connections and conclusions.

Words and phrases such as “because,” “as a result of,” “due to,” “therefore,” and “this led me to conclude” help demonstrate learning and analytical thinking.

Highlight key learning moments.

Conclude reflections by summarizing the most significant insights, shifts in perspective, or questions that emerged from the experience.

This debriefing model is especially useful for guiding students from emotional reaction toward intercultural analysis and action.

Thiagi's Six Phases of Debriefing

The following framework offers a structured way to guide students through increasingly deeper levels of reflection.

How do you feel?
Express any strong feelings and emotions to objectively analyze the experience in the later phases.
What happened?
State what happened during the experiential activity. This helps you discover the impact of individual and cultural differences.
What did you learn?
Generate and discuss different principles. This requires the participants from different cultural groups to identify differences in their perceptions.
How does this relate to the real world?
Discuss the relevance of the experiential activity to your cross-cultural experiences.
What if?
Apply your insights to new contexts. Use alternative scenarios to speculate on how people's behaviors would change.
What next?
Take action. Apply your insights from the experiential activity to cross-cultural collaboration.