Abstract:

The growing application of cross-disciplinary teams challenges existing work practices and study program curricula. One arena unfolding cross-disciplinary teams is problem-based learning projects, where different professions, positions, perspectives and work practices meet. Whether we call this group-assignments, teamwork or any other description it all comes down to the ability to act socially and work constructively together with others. We need to better understand and learn from these activities to tailor education and training, and to prepare bachelor students for thriving in these environments.

This study explores the way in which students reflect regarding their own engagement in a one-week cross-disciplinary project on social innovation, consisting of twelve cross-disciplinary teams of third year students of social welfare (faculty of health and welfare) and first year students of innovation and project management (faculty of engineering). The aim is to help actors to learn from the experiences of problem-based learning in cross-disciplinary teams, unfolding the narrative according to the different parties’ perspectives in the project.

We examine the phenomenon through the lens of organizational development using the Learning history methodology. The learning history narrative builds on student observations and reflections from an anonymous survey with 55 participants in the project.

The narrative highlights and discusses cross-disciplinary teams along four axes; conflicts, stereotypes, leadership and friction of ideas. Managing social relations is hard work, and with the added pressure of prestige or competition managing roles, personalities and tasks often ends up more like noise than «jamming». Regardless of the form of management, findings indicate that active management of the group and active self-management of the individual are drivers of each other that positively influence the ability of the group to innovate. "The inertia of social life" or the resistance to change, through habits, routines and institutionalization, hamper students' learning. The friction created in the meeting of ideas from different scholarly positions contributes to change.

We discuss the ambiguities and their potential impact for the future of educating students. In doing so we also lay out potential questions for future research on the topic.

Keywords:

Cross-disciplinary teams, problem-based learning, learning history, organisational development, social innovation, conflicts, stereotypes, personalities.