Intercultural Experience Under the China–Korea Cooperative Teaching Model: A Phenomenological Study of College Students Majoring in Animation

Higher education cooperation has emerged as a prominent trend in educational exchange. This phenomenological study aims to interpret students’ intercultural experiences and the transformation of intercultural competence under a China–Korea cooperative teaching model. Group interviews with 25 students were conducted to explore their intercultural experiences and the process of their intercultural competence development under the cooperative teaching model. The results reveal that the students’ intercultural experiences come from classroom and non-school-related activities. Intercultural experience in the classroom mainly derives from the teachers’ cultural differences and their intercultural knowledge, while the sources of non-school activities are diverse, covering many aspects of the students’ daily lives. The development of the students’ intercultural competences can be categorized into four stages: (1) the awakening of intercultural awareness, (2) intercultural knowledge improvement, (3) intercultural skills enhancement, and (4) willingness to intercultural attitudes. The findings of this study reveal that international cooperation in animation education can help enrich students’ intercultural experience and enhance their intercultural competence by providing an intercultural educational context, thereby helping students understand and appreciate multicultural art and conduct intercultural communication through animation.