Learning Culture in a Virtual Classroom

Abstract

The study reports how “A Glimpse of China,” a cultural course that had been typically conducted offline for cultural immersion, adapted to the COVID-19-imposed challenges of an online transition. The teaching team sought the guidance of social constructivism and the WisCom Framework, made adaptations in the instructional design, assessed the learning outcomes and course effects, and proposed a plan for future improvements. Content analysis of the course reports of 10 students from Class 2020 and 2021 confirmed the success of the online transition, and yet indicated that experiential learning and interactive collaboration should be strengthened for better learning experience and outcomes. As an improvement for future students, a set of experiential projects is developed. Each project constitutes a collaborative inquiry cycle that aims to build a more desirable wisdom community for both the learners and the instructor.