The incorporation of digital learning and teaching tools has been recognized as presenting an opportunity to maximize access, quality, and inclusion, especially when it comes to international education. Unanticipated events, such as the COVID 19 pandemic, can result in profound disruptions to teaching and learning, and the use of these tools can provide mitigation to these disruptions. This paper reports on the design and study of an InVEST global virtual team (GVT) program that incorporates global competency training modules (GCMs) and leverages digitization to engage engineering students across multiple locations deeply in global collaborative work — a skillset that is critical for 21st-century engineers. Study results showed the GCMs were effective in helping students develop the global competencies necessary for international virtual collaboration. We also highlight challenges and provide recommendations for practice.

Future engineers require global and intercultural competencies to prepare them to work in an increasingly multicultural, digitized, and interdependent global economy. To enhance engineering students' international exposure, awareness, and cultural experiences, the authors developed a unique international virtual team program that engaged students in collaborative project-based learning with peers around the world. Each virtual team consisted of multidisciplinary students from various countries and institutions. The students' knowledge and understanding of intercultural competence were evaluated before and after the program to ascertain its impact on their understanding of intercultural sensitivities and collaboration in virtual teams. Recommendations for learning enhancements were proposed. The authors found the integration of intercultural content with the global virtual team projects to be a successful strategy for helping engineering students build intercultural competencies and virtual collaboration skills, in addition to technical engineering knowledge and experience.

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