This study investigates how course diversity, interactional diversity, and structural diversity are correlated with students’ cultivation in communications and collaborative problem-solving. The subject of this study is a university with a high level of interdisciplinary education in Taiwan. Empirical results are obtained by using a regression approach that adapts to the heterogeneity in the error term. On this basis, three research questions are examined in this study. First, what factors are related to student course diversity? Second, to what extent does course diversity affect students' communication skills and CPS? Third, would interactive diversity play a moderating role in the correlation between course diversity and students' communication and CPS skills?
The results of this study found that the attainment of course diversity can benefit students in cultivating their skills in communication and collaborative problem-solving, and that interactional diversity positively moderates this benefit. Our results support the faith that schools should construct their educational system which can facilitate students to seek a balance on courses on-department, off-department on-college, and off-college, and participate in more extracurricular activities so that students can receive better cultivation in their communication and collaborative problem-solving abilities. Finally, based on the findings of this study, we propose interpretations and suggestions, and we expect the results to be indicative of pioneering empirical research on higher education institutions, which can be a reference for other domestic and Asian universities looking to advocate interdisciplinary learning education.

Authors:
Joying Chu, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan
Ding-En Huang, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Joying Chu is a University Postdoctoral Fellow or Instructor at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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