How to Develop Global Competence in Chinese Learners? Collaborative Online International Learning Versus Research-Based Self-Study

In the face of global change and imminent educational transformation, global competence has received widespread attention in the field of education, but the questions of whether existing internationalization models help to improve students’ global competence and which pedagogical practices are most effective remain unclear. Against this backdrop, this study conducted a Sino-Irish online collaborative empirical research project titled The Book of Lismore International Project Online to compare the effectiveness of collaborative online international learning and research-based self-study on the development of global competence among Chinese learners. The results indicate that collaborative online international learning is more effective in developing students’ global competence on attitudes, knowledge, and skills compared to research-based self-study. These findings are particularly helpful for the current limited empirical research on global competence-based education in international and Chinese contexts.