Internationalisation Experience on a Digital Platform and Its Impact on Self-efficacy: The Results on a Sample of Initial Teacher Education Students

The authors investigated the impact of an internationalisation experience via a digital platform between students attending ITE courses in Scotland University of Glasgow and students attending Science of Education in Italy Niccolò Cusano University on self-efficacy perception among Italian college students. The intervention was based on a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model piloted by the authors in a previous study and based on a topic of common interest, remote collaborative teaching, active participation, and mutual enrichment. Scottish and Italian college students took part in a three-session program on Health & Well-being delivered remotely by a multicultural and multilanguage teaching team from the School of Education, University of Glasgow and the course Science of Education, Niccolo’ Cusano University in Rome. Italian students completed a self‐efficacy questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the program; for a different process on the application for ethical approval, no questionnaires were administrated to Scottish students. Focus groups were also organized for both cohort groups to collect qualitative information about students’ perceptions. The statistical analysis seems to confirm that participation in an internationalisation program via a digital platform significantly impacts self‐efficacy perceptions in Italian students. The Italian focus group analysis confirms the quantitative results, highlighting that the possibility to face different culture, language and higher education system stimulates motivation and is an effective instrument for self-efficacy empowerment.