Working in a bubble – not as awesome as it sounds
Working in a bubble – your current situation is not representative of reality.
Why we need to leave the bubble – we need to leave the bubble to work in a multidisciplinary environment, to work in an environment that is representative of the real world. Interaction with people who have different opinions and different views will allow for the exploration of new stances on subjects that you may not have considered previously. The way courses are taught currently is known as “the sage on the stage” method. Students are lectured and talked at for an hour or so and sent on their way to do their assignments. The instructors are perceived as the holders of all knowledge, but in reality that is simply not the case.
Working outside the bubble – all involved are contributors of relevant topics and knowledge. Sources of knowledge are not limited to select professors and a list of approved textbooks. Working outside of the bubble removes the limitations that are brought on by “the sage on the stage” method.
In engineering and other hard sciences, a blend of the methods would be suitable to encourage problem solving in the “traditional” way, but also turning students loose to work out problems on their own to figure out alternative ways to tackle the same issues.