Fostering Social Interaction Between Heterogeneous Groups

Abstract

The city of Delft in the Netherlands has an international population of students attending TU Delft. This heterogeneous population is composed of several nationalities. In heterogeneity, participation is difficult to achieve. This case is no different with limited interaction among international students of these groups and the rest of students. This research study an online platform to stimulate information sharing and improves the sense connectedness among students. The platform is based on four main principles: 1) information, 2) activities & space, 3) multicultural approach, and 4) key actors. Moreover, the platform includes and aim for students to use narratives to promote information sharing. Furthermore, the platform includes features that allow the generation of activities and the connection with physical spaces in the city. The process starts with a survey to collect the perspective of different student groups and elaborate on the requirements of the platform. After the elucidation of the requirements, the next step is designing and developing the platform. The platform has international master students as users and collects information about its use. Furthermore, to complement the data, interviews helps to understand the motivation behind the information posted and the use of different services of the ICT artifact. The results show that narrative is not as relevant as useful information to stimulate interaction. Furthermore, the information shared using the platform must be useful, relevant and interesting with the intention of providing help to other members to increase the perception of connectedness and community. Finally, information including physical references of the city generates more interesting interactions.