Abstract:

Boundary spanning is identified as a critical 21st century skill in different streams of literature such as intercultural communication and diversity in multinational organizations, knowledge management and innovation. According to Kassis-Henderson, Cohen, & McCulloch (2018, pp. 312) boundary crossing skills can be conceptualized broadly as ‘an open mind-set, cross cultural awareness, adaptability to new working contexts, flexibility, and an ability to contextualize issues’. Such skills are recognized to provide the competitive advantage for success in multinational companies. Recent studies, which point towards the relevance of dialogical processes such as reflexivity and self-awareness for the development of such skills, show that if the right teaching learning settings are established ‘any individual can acquire the boundary-crossing skills which have tended to be exclusively associated with bi-culturals’.

Therefore, learning at specific boundaries as well the development of respective skills was evaluated in a boundary spanning project-based learning course involving students from two educational institutions in India and one in Switzerland. The course involved the crossing of multiple boundaries including regional and national cultures, functional background (engineering, business and psychology), as well as differing time zones. The participants were solely dependent on digital media for communication. The primary research question to be answered was, if and how boundary-crossing skills can be fostered in a project-based learning setting. And more specifically, how boundary crossing experiences should be scaffolded to increase the potential of positive learning processes. The development of boundary crossing skills at the individual level was evaluated by focussing on intrapersonal dialogical learning processes to actively deal with the inherent ambiguity at the boundary. At the collective or team level, the focus was on dialogical and collaborative processes.

To answer the research question a mixed-methods approach was chosen: A social network analysis was conducted, which identified teams with different boundary crossing conditions (teams with students from only the two Indian institutes, and teams with students from all three institutes), and high or low boundary crossing. The learning processes in the identified teams were analysed based on students’ diaries. At the individual level, identification and othering processes such as the appraisal and perception of differences as well as self-reflective processes are critical for the development boundary crossing skills. The appraisal of differences and their value for the team task act as a trigger for collective learning processes to occur. At the collective level, the exchange of social and contextual information is perceived as critical for the development of higher order social categorizations such as a shared team identity. Regarding transformative learning more collaborative processes like perspective taking and processes of synergetic knowledge integration reinforce the development of higher order boundary crossing skills. The research results are used to develop practical implications regarding the scaffolding of positive learning experiences in boundary-crossing project-based learning courses in tertiary education.

Keywords:

Project-based learning, boundary crossing, scaffolding.