Samenvatting

The related research justification paper looks into possible COIL implementation tactics that The Garage may use to encourage new students to take part in their initiative. To increase the number of new students, the organization must choose the best strategy. Based on the knowledge gaps already present, the following primary research questions were developed.

Main question: How can The Garage encourage incoming students to participate in interdisciplinary projects through COIL?
Sub-question 1: What specific features and tools can be integrated into COIL to increase accessibility and inclusivity for incoming students at The Garage?
Sub-question 2: How can partnerships with other universities be used to offer a wider range of courses and programs on the online learning platform, and what steps need to be taken to ensure consistency and quality across different institutions?
Sub-question 3: What are the motives for The Garage to include COIL in the HZ action plan?
Sub-question 4: What are incoming students looking for to participate in The Garage's projects?

These sub-questions were answered using desk research and field research throughout the study. Sub-question 1 and 2 involved two external interviews with COIL professors from The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Universidad de Monterrey, which are partner universities, as well as desk research. Sub-question 3 included an internal interview with The Garage's supervisor, desk research, and the author’s observations as a new employee. Sub-question 4 included two interviews with exchange students at The Garage who are presently pursuing a minor, as well as the author’s observations as an HZ student undertaking a graduation internship with the organization. Respectively, the interviews focused on the entire collaboration process as partners, motivation to use an online platform, and motivation to join The Garage as minor students.

The findings from the research were that the interviewed universities select and utilize appropriate online tools and platforms for successful network communication. The Garage can prioritize developing through mentorship provided to the students by their supervisors in their projects, refining the assessment process, and increasing professional connections. The Garage may provide a fascinating and meaningful COIL experience that appeals to a varied variety of new students and promotes active engagement in multidisciplinary projects.

Based on the findings, recommendations are presented at the end of this research justification on How The Garage can implement COIL. They are as following:
1) Designing the projects including cross-cultural interaction and international collaboration.
2) Partnering with existing partner institutions.
3) Using the existing tools such as MS-Teams, Outlook for collaboration.
4) Having a student ambassador for promoting The Garage.
5) Providing mentors with workshops and training.
6) Creating frequent student assessment forms.
7) Collaborating better with the International Office.

All of these recommendations can be implemented in the upcoming academic years. These recommendations can be looked into in more depth in future research. Two of the recommendations have already been used for further research by another fellow graduate student on having a student ambassador and collaborating better with the International Office. Applying these recommendations will help The Garage to implement COIL in a better way and
make it easier for the students to select The Garage for their exchange programs.