earticle

영어

The University of Kitakyushu has a long history of international exchange through global partnerships, and it has always continued to expand outbound programs for students. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted student attitudes when university curricula still maintain study abroad requirements. The pandemic has had great impact on implementing outbound programs including student exchange and other study abroad opportunities. On the other hand, domestic initiatives for global learning exercises are gaining momentum so the authors consider the cultural dynamics of implementing cross-cultural learning with online programs such as virtual exchanges (VE) as well as collaborative online international learning (COIL) through qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The study identifies the elements of uncertainty avoidance and individualism-collectivism as important factors that influence student motivation in classroom settings. This field-level study on current student attitudes toward outbound programs and online cross-cultural learning schemes will contribute to research regarding the impact of the pandemic on higher education and student mobility during this challenging period and beyond.