Efficacy of Cooperative Learning in Enhancing Intercultural Competence via a Multi Site Intervention in Vietnam

The context of strategic Vietnam-Laos educational cooperation has led to a large-scale presence of Lao students in universities across all three regions (North, Central, South) of Vietnam, creating de facto multicultural classrooms. However, this mere contact often fails to develop Intercultural Competence (ICC), a core 21st-century skill. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intentional pedagogical intervention-Cooperative Learning (CL)-in developing ICC for both Vietnamese and Lao students in three different university settings. We utilized a multi-site quasi-experimental design with control (CG) and experimental (EG) groups (N = 421) at three universities. Students took a pre-test and post-test for ICC over a 15-week intervention. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), with Pre_Score as the covariate, was used to assess the intervention's effectiveness. Quantitative results showed that the CL model had an overwhelmingly positive and highly statistically significant impact (F(1, 414) = 2969.686, p < 0.001) on the ICC development of the EG, with an effect size (η _p ² ) as large as 0.878. More importantly, a statistically significant interaction effect (F(2, 414) = 5.558, p = 0.004) was detected, indicating that the intervention's effectiveness was moderated by regional factors, with the effectiveness in the Central region being significantly lower than in the North and South. Qualitative analysis from interviews reinforced these findings, indicating that the CL process helped students “Overcome Stereotypes” and “Develop Empathy”. The study affirms CL as a highly effective and scalable pedagogical strategy for developing ICC in the Vietnamese-Lao context, while also highlighting the necessity of adjusting implementation based on specific regional-cultural contexts. This study aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) by providing a scalable pedagogical model to foster cultural appreciation and global citizenship skills in higher education.