Effects of an intercultural seminar using telepresence robots on students’ cultural intelligence

Abstract

Student exchanges have been demonstrated to increase students' Cultural Intelligence (CQ). However, global problems in recent years, such as the Coronavirus pandemic, have highlighted the need for digital alternatives to traditional in-person visits. One such alternative could be intercultural seminars using telepresence robots, which allow students to experience particularly realistic intercultural interactions in their real environments. In this research, we evaluated the effects of two semi-virtual intercultural seminars on diversity and intercultural competence that integrated telepresence robots to enable interactions between students located in Germany and Kenya. We conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses using data from N ​= ​135 college students. One half of these students actively participated in one of the seminars. The other half did not participate in the seminars or participated only passively (without using the robots), and formed the control group. In line with our expectations, active participants in the seminars showed significant increases in metacognitive CQ, cognitive CQ, and behavioral CQ, likely due to the particular combination of seminar contents and methods. In contrast, no changes in CQ were found in the control group. Our evaluation of the telepresence robots reveals a mixed picture: Although the students showed high acceptance of using telepresence robots in intercultural seminars, this acceptance did not change during the seminars. Moreover, several technical problems hindered the smooth operation of the robots. Nevertheless, the concept of the seminars under examination proved to be promising for enhancing students’ CQ in an efficient manner.