Course content

Good solutions to challenging problems often require collaboration across disciplines. An increasing number of organizations structure their work in interdisciplinary teams to address this need. However, all teamwork involves differences and disagreements, and this is amplified in interdisciplinary teams, where members bring perspectives from different fields and work methods. To ensure a team functions effectively, differences and disagreements must be managed to unlock the potential of the team’s resources. Interdisciplinary teamwork, therefore, requires strong collaboration skills. In the course "Experts in Teams," students develop these skills by working on group projects with peers from various study programs. A key focus is placed on reflecting on specific collaboration situations throughout the project. The themes for the student group projects are based on current issues from society and working life, with a framework designed to facilitate the application and realization of the project outcomes. The theme for this village is Digital Twins (DTs).

For more information about the academic content and framework of the course, visit www.ntnu.no/eit.

Learning outcome

Knowledge

• The student has both practical and theoretical knowledge of group processes and understands key concepts and conditions necessary for effective teamwork.
• Based on experiences from their group, the student can explain the conditions for successful interdisciplinary team collaboration.
• The student has insight into how their own and others’ behavioral patterns and ways of interacting influence collaboration.
• The student understands how working on the group process is integrated into and affects both the project work and its results.

Skills

• The student can apply their professional expertise in collaboration with individuals from other disciplines, collectively defining problems and finding solutions.
• The student can use basic group theory and concepts to describe specific collaborative situations they have experienced.
• The student can reflect on and analyze how the group communicates, plans, makes decisions, solves tasks, manages disagreements, and addresses professional, relational, and personal challenges, including their own role in the collaboration.
• The student can provide and receive constructive feedback at both the individual and group levels regarding how group members’ behavioral patterns and ways of interacting contribute to collaboration and can reflect on such feedback.
• The student can implement actions that stimulate collaboration and contribute to improving teamwork.

General Competence

• The student has expanded their perspective on their own expertise through interaction with knowledge from other disciplines and can better communicate and apply their professional competence in collaboration with students from other fields.
• The student can work effectively with individuals from other disciplines and contribute to leveraging their shared interdisciplinary expertise.

Learning methods and activities

Teaching in EiT is organized into courses (villages), each typically consisting of 5-6 student groups. The learning approach is project-based, and the majority of the activities take place within the student groups. The groups carry out a project from idea to completion, with a focus on the course’s theme (village theme). Reflection on collaboration throughout the process is central, and students are encouraged to explore their own and others’ behavioral patterns and ways of interacting within the group. They analyze how the group communicates, plans, makes decisions, solves tasks, manages disagreements, and addresses professional, relational, and personal challenges. This is achieved through written reflections, structured group interaction exercises, and discussions with the teaching staff (course instructors and learning assistants). The groups are observed while working, and these observations are shared with the student groups as a basis for reflection.

The various courses (villages) may involve different levels of digital interaction, ranging from "virtual villages," where all village days are conducted online, to "physical villages," where all village days are held in person. The village "Digital Twins" is a physical village.

Compulsory assignments

• Perspective dialogue
• Compulsory attendance
• Oral presentation
• Preparation of a cooperation agreement

Required previous knowledge

Admission to EiT requires enrollment in a master’s program that includes EiT. Other students may apply for admission to EiT but must meet the qualifications for admission to a master’s program in order to participate.

Course materials

Materials will be made available at the start of the course.