Cooperative, Cross-Discipline Teaching and Learning

This paper will discuss the outcomes and findings of a cross-discipline research experiment, which was a pilot study aimed at developing cross-discipline teaching modules within science and industrial design. A central aim was to develop teaching techniques that would equip science students with creative conceptualisation skills and strategies that lead to innovation in science, and provided industrial design students with insights into next-generation nano-technologies that can be explored and used as components within innovative artefacts. Early results suggest that there was a positive effect in the development and enhancement of cross-disciplinary teaching modules. Cross-discipline cooperative lectures and practical sessions were developed and tested on focus groups of science students and industrial design students. Video-taped data of the study provided feedback. This data was critically analysed. This valuable data/feedback informs new cross-disciplinary teaching methodologies and strategies. Analysis of the student comments revealed that both groups of students highly valued the new learning experiences. It is argued that working cooperatively and jointly in the co-development of cross-faculty teaching initiatives will improve the quality of teaching, via interactions that introduce and develop alternative teaching practices. While cooperative design may well refer to a cooperative set of designers within the same general disciplines, this example extends the view to demonstrate the importance of cooperative practices between disciplines.