Reflections on COIL Experience: A Qualitative and Narrative Approach

Abstract

Collaborative online learning (COIL) experiences have been widely proposed and studied in a variety of university educational contexts. This work questions from a narrative analysis of this qualitative phenomenon and based on the experience of the accompanying professor and the perception of a visiting psychologist in training— how Colombian medical students at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana faced this new experience from an emotional perspective, with the aim to explore how their emotionality came into conflict with their emotional well-being and with the experience itself, largely due to sociocultural issues on the one hand and, on the other, due to the lack of psychological tools and skills. In this regard, it is highlighted that it is necessary to continue working on emotional regulation to face this type of experience, which is why it is considered that this exploratory and descriptive work, from the point of view of the professor and a third accompanying party, contributes to broadening the spectrum of future research; likewise, we invite others to promote joint and multidisciplinary work to address COIL experiences from a broader, more enriching and diverse perspective.