What factors may contribute to the improvement of students’ interdisciplinary integration competencies?—a comparative study of various interdisciplinary curriculum patterns

Which curriculum designs are more effective in improving students’ interdisciplinary integration competencies? This question remains a focal point in interdisciplinary education research. However, empirical studies on this topic are relatively scarce. Through empirical analysis, this study compared the interdisciplinary integration competencies of students participating in interdisciplinary curricula at two universities in East Asia using the One-way ANOVA method. Through comparisons of student competence differences with corresponding course programs, the study identifies five variables that may impact students’ interdisciplinary abilities: the number of foundational courses of other disciplines, the number of interdisciplinary integration practice courses, participation in off-campus internships in interdisciplinary education programs, frequency of forming student teams from different disciplines in courses, and the implementation of team teaching by instructors from different disciplines. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that changes in the number of interdisciplinary integration practice courses and participation in interdisciplinary off-campus internships at the beginning of the curriculum had a significantly positive influence on students’ interdisciplinary abilities, with the latter having a greater impact than the former. The study concludes that this phenomenon exists in two universities with completely different social systems, indicating a high degree of objectivity in these findings. These findings provide valuable insights for research on interdisciplinary curriculum design and talent training patterns.