Understanding students’ perceived benefits of international multicourse collaborative projects

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine students' perceptions of the benefits of the international multicourse collaborative projects (IMCP) using Facebook as a communication tool. The IMCP involved students in two retailing courses and two merchandising courses in the U.S. and S. Korea. In each course, four groups were created and each group worked on a different retailer. In each group, students' task was to develop business plans and merchandising strategies to expand their assigned business into the U.S. or S. Korea. Students created an audio-recorded PowerPoint presentation, converted it into a video, and uploaded it to the project Facebook. This study identified students' perceived benefits of IMCP using Facebook: (1) understanding different cultures, (2) understanding the fashion industry in different countries, (3) communicating and interacting with students in different cultures, and (4) using Facebook as communication tool.