Abstract
Intercultural collaboration is one strategy for promoting inclusion and innovation in design education. Bringing two or more cultures together in an environment facilitates learning from each other’s varied perspectives and ultimately creates positive interpersonal gains and design outcomes. This study explicates how visual thinking can address unspoken stumbling blocks that can disrupt teamwork. These barriers include unconscious bias, stereotyping, and other deeply held beliefs. This research is based on observations and virtual classroom interactions with remote collaborators located in North America and the Gulf Arab Region. The findings suggest that ignoring the existence of unconscious bias can maintain social and cultural barriers between teammates, thus restricting the opportunities for innovative approaches to collaborative projects and stifling a team’s outcomes (Murdoch-Kitt & Emans, 2020). Conversely, establishing trust helps teams reach their full potential (Katzen-bach & Smith, 1993). This inclusive approach to design is important in giving voice to underrepresented groups by opening up opportunities for discussion, dialogue, and understanding amongst team members.
Keywords
collaboration, bias, equity, visual thinking, methods
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.09.235
Citation
Murdoch-Kitt, K.M.,and Emans, D.J.(2021) Improving intercultural collaboration with visual thinking, in Bohemia, E., Nielsen, L.M., Pan, L., Börekçi, N.A.G.Z., Zhang, Y. (eds.), Learn X Design 2021: Engaging with challenges in design education, 24-26 September, Shandong University of Art & Design, Jinan, China. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs_lxd2021.09.235
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Improving intercultural collaboration with visual thinking
Intercultural collaboration is one strategy for promoting inclusion and innovation in design education. Bringing two or more cultures together in an environment facilitates learning from each other’s varied perspectives and ultimately creates positive interpersonal gains and design outcomes. This study explicates how visual thinking can address unspoken stumbling blocks that can disrupt teamwork. These barriers include unconscious bias, stereotyping, and other deeply held beliefs. This research is based on observations and virtual classroom interactions with remote collaborators located in North America and the Gulf Arab Region. The findings suggest that ignoring the existence of unconscious bias can maintain social and cultural barriers between teammates, thus restricting the opportunities for innovative approaches to collaborative projects and stifling a team’s outcomes (Murdoch-Kitt & Emans, 2020). Conversely, establishing trust helps teams reach their full potential (Katzen-bach & Smith, 1993). This inclusive approach to design is important in giving voice to underrepresented groups by opening up opportunities for discussion, dialogue, and understanding amongst team members.