By Maia Lepingwell-Tardieu, OIA Research Intern
Through a dynamic collaboration involving McMaster University’s Office of International Affairs (OIA), Dr. Michael Wong from McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Nergiz Turgut from Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), and Guido de Wilde (Leiden University), the “Culturally Connected: Unlocking Cultural Intelligence with a Digital Online Module” project is making meaningful strides in advancing inclusive, intercultural, and globally engaged teaching and learning.
Led by Dr. Wong, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, the module builds on the Cultural Intelligence (CQ) workshops hosted by the OIA and Guido de Wilde in Spring 2025. It aims to introduce students to the core dimensions of CQ, while also providing practical tools for navigating intercultural collaboration in academic and professional settings.
Since its launch in late 2025, the project team has completed the first iteration of the module, which was piloted through a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) partnership. This pilot offered real-world context to apply intercultural learning, featuring students from Dr. Wong’s course on Neuroplasticity and students from Neuroscience and Behaviour led by Dr. Nergiz Turgut at USFQ.
In recognition of its innovation and impact, the project was presented at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) 2026 Conference, which took place June 16-19 in Hamilton, ON. The presentation shared insights, lessons learned, and emerging outcomes from the project with educators and teaching and learning professionals from across Canada.
A related paper on the COIL collaboration has also recently been published in the peer-reviewed journal Teaching and Learning Inquiry, highlighting the experiences and perceptions of McMaster and Universidad San Francisco de Quito students who participated in the virtual exchange project.
With the module on track to be completed by Fall 2027, the initiative continues to evolve as a model for integrating cultural intelligence into global learning initiatives, and as a foundational resource for students, educators, and staff engaged in international and intercultural contexts.
This “Culturally Connected: Unlocking Cultural Intelligence with a Digital Online Module” project is supported through one of McMaster’s Partnered in Teaching and Learning grants. To learn more about the project, please click here.
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