Visual media as a tool to acquire soft skills — cross-disciplinary teaching-learning project SUFUvet

Abstract

SUFUvet is a cross-disciplinary teaching-learning project designed to adapt students’ soft skills and track usability and the concrete surplus value of work techniques in the field of visual media design. Design/methodology/approach – For SUFUvet, a collaboration between the Institute of Food Hygiene/University of Leipzig and the Media Center/Technische Universität Dresden was initiated. Bachelor students of media informatics generate 3D visualisations in the framework of SCRUM: Undergraduate veterinary students issue instructions in order to create an e-learning class. During the project, questionnaires, group discussions, and feedback methods are used to detect changes in selected soft skills. Originality/value – This design is meant to increase knowledge and employability by adapting student’s media, communication, and project management competences. Using SCRUM appears to be a new approach, not only in the field of programming, but for media production as well. Additionally, it offers an interdisciplinary work environment, which is rare but considered fruitful within university studies. Practical implications – The outcomes of the application are a 3D-visualised meat inspection e-learning class for veterinary students plus a documentation of SCRUM as a framework for visual media design. It is seen as an experiment for future applications in a variety of cross-disciplinary learning and media design cases.