The impact of interdisciplinary integration competence on students' academic performance: A case study of the psycholinguistics subject

The university curriculum plays a crucial role in providing both theoretical and practical education to students. In addition to a strong academic foundation, we aim to equip students with essential competencies that will benefit them in their future professional endeavors. One such competency is interdisciplinary integration competence, which is reflected in the tasks of various subjects. Our experience as academic instructors has shown that students consistently perform better in interdisciplinary subjects compared to some basic formation subjects. Based on this observation, we plan to explore the impact of interdisciplinary integration competence on students' academic performance. To study this impact and relationship, we have focused on projects within the psycholinguistics subject as part of the curriculum of the Bachelor's program in “Albanian Language and Literature” at the University of Elbasan "Aleksandër Xhuvani", Albania. Students' projects have been evaluated based on criteria reflected in the psycholinguistics subject syllabus. Through this paper, we aim to emphasize the role and importance of this competence in students' academic performance. One key implication of this study is the imperative to enrich the curriculum of this study program, as well as other humanities programs, by incorporating interdisciplinary subjects. This is crucial for equipping future specialists with the interdisciplinary competence increasingly required in Albania’s job market and the broader region.