Project Lead: Gabrielle Lam, School of Biomedical Engineering
Project description
This study explores students’ development of collaborative skills and their attitudes towards cross-disciplinary collaboration, as they engage in cross-disciplinary project teams. Although the ability to collaborate with others who have vastly different expertise is crucial in the evolving workplace, post-secondary educational programs offer limited opportunities to develop these important skills.
A pedagogical model was developed to create collaborative opportunities between biomedical engineering (UBC) and immunology (UofT) undergraduate students. Student attitudes towards cross-disciplinary collaboration and the value of diverse perspectives is gauged before and after the collaborative project. Moreover, team health and function is traced via peer evaluation scores.
Research questions
The following research questions will guide this study:
1) What are the impacts of the hybrid model for cross-disciplinary student collaboration on student development of collaborative, conflict management, and project management skills?
2) What are the impacts of the hybrid model for cross-disciplinary student collaboration on student attitudes towards the value of diverse perspectives in teamwork and problem-solving?