Co-creating durable skills education: A case study of the collaborative science for biomedical breakthroughs minor

As current challenges become more complex, bringing together people from different backgrounds to solve multifaceted problems has become crucial in the STEM field. There is growing recognition of the need to explicitly teach students the skills necessary to conduct inter- and transdisciplinary science, including communication, collaboration, reflection, and understanding of the research process. This set of skills is complex and requires acquiring knowledge and practice and changing attitudes. Moreover, these processes also require the cultivation of emotional skills, which are often neglected in the STEM field, especially in project-based learning programs that primarily emphasize technical expertise. As educators, we recognize our need to develop these competencies as well. This case study reports on the co-creation journey of an education program designed to teach collaboration with a strong emotional intelligence component in biomedical research to bachelor’s students while providing them with a project to practice. This program also provides an environment for scientists, PhD students, and us as an education design team to improve our skills. We report on what we have done and learned from each other and our students in 360º education, including the program design process evaluation, which tends to be overlooked in the development process of such educational programs.