The Multinational Undergraduate Teamwork Project

Abstract

Societies are experiencing changes in work organization, in part due to the growing ease with which people can collaborate. People with common interests are interacting within heterogeneous teams composed of members from different cultural groups and with distinct skills and backgrounds. Modern economies require professionals to excel in collaboration and communication skills in an international setting. However, these competences are not usually addressed in curricula. In the diverse environment of the current labour markets, it is essential to promote teamwork and communication skills at an international level. In the Multinational Undergraduate Teamwork course, students develop a major project as members of an international team while working at their home institutions. Team members are geographically spread to ensure that the teams are heterogeneous and to promote international cooperation. It is argued that this paradigm can be applied to any project or internship course unit. The results from the pilot programmes support the authors' initial hypothesis that this innovative paradigm significantly promotes the development of soft skills in students.