A Virtual Transcultural Understanding Pedagogy: Online Exchanges of Emic Asian Cultural Concepts

Abstract

This paper describes the principles and applications of a teaching/learning/research method of a “Virtual Transcultural Understanding Pedagogy” (VTUP) based on the conditions for prejudice reduction and the principles of Team Learning and Exploratory Practice. The pedagogy was implemented in a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project involving Japanese, Malaysian, and Chinese students enrolled in an online graduate seminar course conducted via Zoom at a leading research university in Japan. This seminar aimed to achieve a transcultural understanding of key emic cultural concepts through online interviews and collaborative writing using English as a lingua franca. Reflections on the exchanges that provide evidence for transcultural understanding are presented, thereby supporting the VTUP method. The contributions of the unique teaching/learning/research methodology to transcultural understanding and suggestions for implementing this pedagogy are discussed.