Abstract:

Nowadays, transversal teaching environments have emerged as an innovative approach to enhance the teaching-learning process. Transversal teaching environments are characterized by their ability to integrate different disciplines and promote holistic learning. According to Tsankov [1], transversal teaching environments develop and improve students’ skills like creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

This contribution presents an interdisciplinary teaching experience involving the fields of Languages and Economics, focusing on the Translation and Tourism degree programs, respectively. The aim was to facilitate an exchange of knowledge and experiences among students, enabling them to gain insights into different points of view from their own and venture out of their comfort zones. Specifically, this was achieved through a workshop where students of Translation shared their career concerns, and Tourism students shared their expertise in marketing and management to address these concerns and receive subsequent feedback from Translation students regarding their work experiences.

In order to develop the above-mentioned project, a number of stages were implemented to design, organize, and coordinate the necessary activities for a four-month period. Mainly, these stages included:
a) Presentation of the project in different enrollment groups of the mentioned degrees.
b) Selection of participating students and detailed explanation of methodologies to be used and objectives to be achieved.
c) Meetings with the students for preparing and developing the planned activities.
d) Workshop (divided in two sessions).
e) Evaluation of activities by participants.

The final project involved 6 students from the Tourism degree of the subject Leisure Marketing (4th academic year) and 9 students from the Translation degree of the subject Translation for specific purposes (4th academic year). the workshop took place in two sessions in the months of November and December 2023. From this experience, it is noteworthy that students engaged in session preparation using tutored cooperative learning methods, where they were tasked with developing content and materials under the guidance of the instructor. This preparation process entailed adapting theoretical concepts presented in the classroom, originally focused on one environment, to a substantially different context. Students were able to ascertain the universality of ideas and their applicability across diverse settings, effectively engaging in scientific inquiry. The presentation of these ideas and concepts by a group of students to peers from other groups has offered valuable experiential learning opportunities. Additionally, it is highlighted that interdisciplinarity and collaboration among teachers in these environments allow for complex addressing topics from multiple perspectives, enriching the educational experience.

Interdisciplinarity has been highly valued by all participants in the project, allowing them to recognize the diverse perspectives that arise from the same objective. A qualitative study on students' evaluations of this educational experience showed that this project was highly satisfactory, according to the surveys provided by the participating students. Furthermore, this contribution shows that transversal teaching environments have the potential to transform traditional education methods, promoting meaningful and sustainable learning through practical experiences.

Keywords:

Interdisciplinary learning, transversal teaching environment, experiential learning, educational innovation.