A study of the feasibility of a cross-college curriculum based on the experience of student cooperation

This study focused on the social context dimension to elucidate how students of different disciplinary backgrounds—Department of Childcare and Department of Design—share their learning and knowledge in a cooperative course and to evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated course operation. Design-based learning through a project activity includes the following four dimensions: the project’s features, teachers’ roles, assessment process, and social context relevant to the learning environment. In this study, a design-based collaborative course was implemented for undergraduate students from different departments. In this course, they cooperated in making an instructional animated film for kindergarten students. In the general learning process, students can experience frustration and loss of self-confidence when learning new skills; this was also noted in the present study when childcare students without a design background were instructed to make a film, and design students without experience in teaching methodologies were instructed to teach children. The result of the 18-week course indicated that students had trouble communicating with those from the other department but were ultimately satisfied with the substantial growth in their practical skills following this experimental cross-disciplinary cooperative curriculum.