Transdisciplinarity as a Learning Challenge: Student Experiences and Outcomes in an Innovative Course on Wearable and Collaborative Robotics

Abstract

This study provides evidence for the benefit of short online courses for the transdisciplinary competence development of graduate students. It shows the significant challenges students face while learning, and provides instructional recommendations to improve students' learning quality and professionalism.Background: Developing wearable and collaborative robots require industry collaboration and transdisciplinary competence. Industry's involvement in long-term programs is becoming infeasible, and the nature of transdisciplinary learning has not been explored to inform instructional practices.Intended Outcomes: This study aimed to provide instructional recommendations based on an in-depth examination of a diverse group of graduate students' learning and teamwork experiences as well as outcomes in a 5-day online transdisciplinary course.Application Design: Thirty-one graduate students of engineering, industrial design, and health fields from four countries participated in online mixed-discipline instructional sessions and teams to address a real industry challenge. A mixed-methods approach was used to examine students' experiences and learning outcomes based on a competence measure, session participation data, student journal entries, team progress reports, team elaboration visuals, and final team presentations.Findings: Students' knowledge of industrial design, medical considerations, ethics and standards, effective teamwork, and self-regulated learning were increased. Students' high motivation helped them deal with the challenges involved. Daily student journals, team reports, and visual elaboration tools were found to be beneficial for determining the challenges and learning quality. The observed student progress within five days is promising, making it worthwhile to further explore the benefits of short online courses for increasing graduates'

El individualismo como conducta sustentable respecto al trabajo en equipo en la educación superior

“…Por lo tanto, el cuerpo docente debe establecer canales de colaboración y coordinación entre los profesores encargados de la materia para garantizar una experiencia educativa integral (Miller et al, 2018). Asimismo, la participación coordinada y eficaz de todos los individuos requiere del trabajo en equipo para lograr la calidad del aprendizaje deseado (Killic-Berek et al, 2022).…”

“…Asimismo, en todo momento se debe dar prioridad a la proyección del aprendizaje formativo como el componente esencial en la educación. El enfoque, por tanto, debe estar en el desarrollo integral de los estudiantes para promover su crecimiento y adquisición de conocimientos, habilidades y competencias (Chinoy et al, 2022;Killic-Berek et al, 2022).…”