Interdisciplinarity: wishful thinking? Experiences at the University of Graz

Abstract

Purpose Interdisciplinarity is necessary to explain or solve complex problems and questions of today's world. Therefore, it's important to analyze the situation within an educational institution to get to know what students think about interdisciplinary work. The purpose of this paper is to try to achieve an insight into how e‐learning technologies (like WebCT) are perceived by students and to what degree information and communication technologies (ICTs) could improve communication and cooperation between students. Design/methodology/approach On the basis of two online surveys and the attendance of a course, the experiences and approaches of students were analyzed. Findings The results show that most of the students see the positive aspects of interdisciplinary interchange and the benefit of learning from each other, so most of them are open minded regarding interdisciplinarity – an important requirement is given. Information and communication technologies are a good instrument to strengthen the cooperation and communication between students and can further be a helpful device for an interdisciplinary working approach. Practical implications Based on these findings, more accesses to interdisciplinary cooperation can be worked out especially in the master program we have analyzed which sees interdisciplinarity as one of its main goals. Knowing that the openness and readiness from students' side is given, the offer for interdisciplinary ways of interchange could be expanded. Social implications The results show that the students are open‐minded to other students' knowledge and views, which also shows the mutual acceptance and respect for other opinions. This is very important for teamwork and also for multicultural interchange on an international basis. Originality/value Not only in social regard but also for complex questions of science and society in general the results of student's experiences and approaches are auspicious for international frameworks.

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