Learning how to engage with another's point of view by intercultural, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations

Abstract

The paper argues that the different dimensions of collaboration - intercultural, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary - contribute to mutual understanding and empathy. Their intersection fosters self-reflection and reveals shortcomings, blind spots, and prejudices about other cultures, disciplines, and social groups. The course aimed to overcome technology-driven design practices that tend to (re)produce stereotypes or social exclusions - often unconsciously. To make students aware of such problems, we introduced them to Feminist Science and Technology Studies, which show how dimensions such as age, class, and gender affect socio-technological participation. Moreover, we introduced user-centered and participatory design methods (contextual interviews, scenario-based design, design forecasting) that the teams had to adapt to pandemic conditions to conduct participatory research and propose design scenarios. The empirical course evaluation by the students indicates that the pedagogical concept, which we conceptualized as an extended version of a 'Third Space', allowed for intercultural, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary learning experiences and improved collective student and team performance, transcending culturally- and disciplinary-specific situatedness. In our analysis, we reflect on the power of the different forms of collaborations and their contribution to teaching future researchers, designers, and engineers how to engage with another's point of view. We consider this ability a prerequisite for acting responsibly in a globalized digital world. Results from the study are contextualized in current debates on internationalization and digitalization in the educational sciences and translated into recommendations for practitioners.