Through this reflection exercise, the students should gain an insight into their own competences and how these may be brought into play in an interdisciplinary context. In the exercise, the students must describe their own competences and relate these to the competences of their fellow students and their reflections on these. The tool is particularly well suited for courses where the students have different core competences – for instance in supplementary subject courses or Master’s degree programmes with graduates from several different Bachelor’s programmes.
By using the tool for interdisciplinary competence spotting in your teaching activities or in students’ activities between sessions, you as a teacher may give your students an opportunity to identify both academic and personal competences which have been brought into play and developed during their university studies. The aim of the exercise is for the students to discover the resources and potentials that are inherent in their own personal and academic competences and how these may interact in an interdisciplinary context.
The students carry out an individual reflection exercise, brainstorming about their own academic competences and jotting down key points on post-its regarding the four elements in handout 1 (Awaiting translation) (10 min.). They may use the academic regulations as a point of departure, but should formulate the key points in their own words.
Following this, the entire group should come together and share their key points orally. The post-its should be placed on the poster (handout 1). Group members may ask questions to invite the narrator to give more details concerning their key points (e.g.: “In which situations did you experience this?”, “What did you do then?”, “Which competences did you use?”). Spend a minimum of five minutes on each matrix box.
Now the group members must sort through the post-its, getting rid of overlaps.
Finally, the students in the group discuss if their attention has been called to new issues – any special competences, strengths or weaknesses – by viewing organisations through the lens of their own subject area (five minutes).
All group members should now take a photo of the poster.
