The Benefits of an Interdisciplinary Collaborative Learning Experience: The Student Perspective on Outcomes

Abstract

Increasingly, human service professionals require knowledge from other disciplines to de- velop, and implement comprehensive treatment/intervention plans. Collaborative decision-making and information sharing among the helping professions ensures that consideration is given to all of the factors affecting intervention and outcome and is a skill that is most effectively learned during pre- professional training. The Student Interdisciplinary Day project is a series of didactic and group learningexperiencesdesignedtopromotethepre-requisiteskillsforeffectivecollaboration.Thepurpose of this study was to qualitatively examine student perspectives on the benefits of participating in this interdisciplinary learning experience. Graduate students (n=16) from clinical psychology, education, social work and physical therapy were selected to participate in a focus group. From the data, the following themes emerged: (1) increased understanding of the professional roles of other disciplines; (2) better awareness of professional role overlap; (3) an appreciation for the importance of collabor- ation;(4)understandingthatconflict canarisewithininterdisciplinaryteams;(5)realizingtheimport- ance of leadership; and (6) the development of increased confidence in one's ability to collaborate. The findings reveal the importance of including opportunities for interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration in graduate school curriculums.