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There have been numerous demands for enhancements in the way undergraduate learning occurs today, especially at a time when the value of higher education continues to be called into question (The Boyer 2030 Commission, 2022). One type of demand has been for the increased integration of subjects/disciplines around relevant issues/topics—with a more recent trend of seeking transdisciplinary learning experiences for students (Sheets, 2016; American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2019). Transdisciplinary learning can be viewed as the holistic way of working equally across disciplines to transcend their own disciplinary boundaries to form new conceptual understandings as well as develop new ways in which to address complex topics or challenges (Ertas, Maxwell, Rainey, & Tanik, 2003; Park & Son, 2010). This transdisciplinary approach can be important as humanity’s problems are not typically discipline specific and require the convergence of competencies to lead to innovative thinking across fields of study. However, higher education continues to be siloed which makes the authentic teaching of converging topics, such as innovation, human-technology interactions, climate concerns, or harnessing the data revolution, organizationally difficult (Birx, 2019; Serdyukov, 2017). For example, working across a university’s academic units to collaboratively teach, or co-teach, around topics of convergence are likely to be rejected by the university systems that have been built upon longstanding traditions. While disciplinary expertise is necessary and one of higher education’s strengths, the structures and academic rigidity that come along with the disciplinary silos can prevent modifications/improvements to the roles of academic units/disciplines that could better prepare students for the future of both work and learning. The balancing of disciplinary structure with transdisciplinary approaches to solving problems and learning is a challenge that must be persistently addressed. These institutional challenges will only continue to limit universities seeking toward scaling transdisciplinary programs and experimenting with novel ways to enhance the value of higher education for students and society. This then restricts innovations to teaching and also hinders the sharing of important practices across disciplines. To address these concerns, a National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education project team, which is the topic of this paper, has set the goal of developing/implementing/testing an authentically transdisciplinary, and scalable educational model in an effort to help guide the transformation of traditional undergraduate learning to span academics silos. This educational model, referred to as the Mission, Meaning, Making (M3) program, is specifically focused on teaching the crosscutting practices of innovation by a) implementing co-teaching and co-learning from faculty and students across different academic units/colleges as well as b) offering learning experiences spanning multiple semesters that immerse students in a community that can nourish both their learning and innovative ideas. As a collaborative initiative, the M3 program is designed to synergize key strengths of an institution’s engineering/technology, liberal arts, and business colleges/units to create a transformative undergraduate experience focused on the pursuit of innovation—one that reaches the broader campus community, regardless of students’ backgrounds or majors. Throughout the development of this model, research was conducted to help identify institutional barriers toward creating such a cross-college program at a research-intensive public university along with uncovering ways in which to address these barriers. While data can show how students value and enjoy transdisciplinary experiences, universities are not likely to be structured in a way to support these educational initiatives and they will face challenges throughout their lifespan. These challenges can result from administration turnover whereas mutual agreements across colleges may then vanish, continued disputes over academic territory, and challenges over resource allotments. Essentially, there may be little to no incentives for academic departments to engage in transdisciplinary programming within the existing structures of higher education. However, some insights and practices have emerged from this research project that can be useful in moving toward transdisciplinary learning around topics of convergence. Accordingly, the paper will highlight features of an educational model that spans disciplines along with the workarounds to current institutional barriers. This paper will also provide lessons learned related to 1) the potential pitfalls with educational programming becoming “un-disciplinary” rather than transdisciplinary, 2) ways in which to incentivize departments/faculty to engage in transdisciplinary efforts, and 3) new structures within higher education that can be used to help faculty/students/staff to more easily converge to increase access to learning across academic boundaries.
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Democratizing the Practices of Design and Innovation through Transdisciplinary Coursework
In the face of today's complex challenges, it is clear that the convergence of academic disciplines in the support of creating innovative solutions is more important than ever. To enable this convergence, universities can adopt transdisciplinary learning experiences that promote the integration of different academic fields. One common method for integration is the application of design thinking methods and the development of cross-cutting innovation-focused skills. The Mission, Meaning, Making (M3) model is an example of a transdisciplinary educational model that aims to transform traditional undergraduate learning experiences by combining the strengths of different academic units. The M3 model includes co-teaching and co-learning from faculty and students across different academic units/colleges, as well as learning experiences that span multiple semesters to foster student learning and innovative ideas. This collaborative initiative is designed to reach the broader campus community, regardless of students' backgrounds or majors. Therefore, the study presented in this paper explores how student participation in this transdisciplinary learning model and their perceptions of their innovation skills may vary regarding major and gender. This exploration can be important as 1) the model may or may not be meeting the needs of participants across areas of study and 2) perceptions of abilities may influence a sense of belongingness for people within the model’s programming. This paper will first highlight the details of the M3 model and its coursework and then provide the details related to the statistical analysis of 119 post- and retrospective pre-survey responses from students across diverse majors as well as any implications for the results.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2044288
- PAR ID:
- 10473799
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Society for Engineering Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Review directory American Society for Engineering Education
- ISSN:
- 0092-4326
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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