Assessment of the Perceived Mastery of Interdisciplinary Competences of Students in Education Degree Programmes

Abstract

The importance of fostering interdisciplinary competences in students acquires a relevant value in the skills that must be developed throughout university studies. These enable them to tackle complex problems and apply knowledge in different contexts, promoting the construction of knowledge through the integration of different disciplines and collaboration between areas of knowledge. The study aims to analyse how university education students perceive their interdisciplinary competences, identifying areas where they feel more confident and those in which they need to improve, with consideration of gender differences and a possible measurement model. The study involves 1066 students from university education courses in Ecuador. The main results highlight the importance of strengthening training in interdisciplinary skills for future teachers, especially in reflective behaviour and the integration of knowledge from different disciplines to address complex problems. It also points to the need to promote interdisciplinary work in higher education and recognises that gender may influence students’ interdisciplinary perceptions and skills. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the validity of the model for measuring these competences.

Keywords

• interdisciplinary education
• higher education
• interdisciplinary competences
• competence domain
• education degree programmes