Working in intercultural teams is increasingly becoming an everyday reality in many companies, including in virtual contexts. This involves recognizing and appreciating cultural diversity, adapting one's actions accordingly, and effectively communicating and collaborating with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds, that is, intercultural competence. This course equips students with the practical experience of dealing with multi-faceted challenges of intercultural (virtual) teamwork as well as the underlying theoretical knowledge. Student learning centers on the intercultural simulation game “Megacities”, which involves a simulated virtual collaboration of several student teams. The virtual meetings are accompanied by input sessions, reflective tasks, discussions in class, as well as a group assignment that are aimed at developing participants’ intercultural competence.

After completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the importance of intercultural competence with a special focus on teamwork and negotiation
• Evaluate the opportunities and challenges of working in intercultural teams with respect to the teams’ developmental stages and specific aspects of collaboration in virtual environments
• Actively promote group identity and manage rapport strategically
• Demonstrate awareness of their own roles and resources in group processes
• Understand different functions of communication channels and make informed choices for specific contexts
• Apply effective negotiation strategies with a focus on virtual communication
• Reflect on their own experience of working in intercultural settings and learn from this experience
• Work with recordings of intercultural interactions to identify and analyze aspects of intercultural communication and manifestations of intercultural competence

Attendance is mandatory, especially the online simulation sessions. Students can miss one in-class session – the lecturers need to be notified in advance.

Teaching and  learning is based on the following methods:

• Distributive: Input (theoretical frameworks, models, etc.) & readings
• Collaborative: Participation in a collaborative project with different student teams, in the form of a virtual simulation game, as well as a group project involving the analysis of the recorded session, with a focus on their own team's performance and practices.
• Interactive: Debriefing and discussions (in class)

A special focus is placed on reflective practice.

In line with the PI format of the course, there will be three assessment components:

• Participation in class: Students are required to prepare for the sessions and participate actively both in the classes and in the simulation (30 % of the final grade)
• Portfolio: A set of tasks to reflect on their personal experience, how it relates to theoretical concepts, and how their learning can be applied in their future practice as communication specialists (40 % of the final grade)
• Group assignment: Students will transcribe, analyze and reflect on interactional sequences taken from the virtual simulation (30 % of the final grade)

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