Engineering students are prepared for careers in which interdisciplinary approaches are needed to find solutions for complex societal problems. Project-based and challenge-based approaches enable the implementation of interdisciplinary learning, as complex problems given to student teams can only be solved using multiple disciplines. This education also incorporates the development of transversal skills such as teamwork, user requirement analysis, and critical reflection. Designing this type of education is challenging for many teacher teams. They have to work with colleagues from both nearby and far-off fields of expertise. Balancing content focus and project work, full integration versus component based solutions, as well as suitable assessment formats are among the challenges teachers face. This project supports teacher teams in redesigning their interdisciplinary modules in a structured and evidence-informed way.
This project followed an educational design research approach. Based on a study of literature and analysis of a project-based or challenge-based course, educational tools were selected to support interdisciplinary learning. These tools were implemented and evaluated, leading to suggestions for improvement. Based on multiple cycles of design research in eight different cases, evidence was collected on the working of different tools.
The implementation went well because of good collaboration between researchers and teachers. Challenges we faced were: Dealing with the broad scope of available tools, the variety of educational contexts, the different views among teachers on interdisciplinarity, and the difficulty to compare implementations due to the shift to online education and back during the Covid pandemic.
These were handled by developing the dimensions of tools on a more abstract level (e.g., structured vs open-ended problem design), by focusing on a number of concrete tools rather than attempting to be fully comprehensive, and by balancing online and offline implementations in the project. Furthermore, support of interdisciplinary team processes was prioritized, not only for students but also for teachers, whose knowledge was often focused on content, not on interdisciplinary team competencies
The tools implemented in the eight different cases were appreciated by the teachers and used in subsequent cycles of the courses, also after their active involvement in the STRIPES project. Beyond the improvements in the courses, the project also led to a better understanding of the challenges in implementing interdisciplinary project-based education, and of the working of tools to support course design and students’ skill development.
At the same time, new tools were developed for the purposes of project-design or problem-design. The online Twente Toolbox for Interdisciplinary Education presents a variety of tools, their theoretical background, exemplary cases, and instructions for which purposes and in which ways to use them in practice. Teachers are guided through the toolbox to explore relevant resources and find those best suited to their instructional goals. The toolbox also provides a framework for teachers to identify different overall course design options. The toolbox has an open set-up, implying that new tools, literature and cases can be added in the future.
The tools in the online toolbox provide an important resource base, to be used by individual teachers and by the Center of Expertise in Learning and Teaching at the University of Twente to support teachers to design and implement interdisciplinary education. The toolbox will also be made available to teachers of other universities, through 4TU Center of Engineering Education and through workshops a major international conferences.
| Opleiding(en) en aantal studenten waarbij de innovatie is toegepast: | - Consumer Products (Design, Engineering, management) 400 students
- Discrete Structures & Algorithms (Computer Science & Applied Mathematics) 210 students
- Science to Society I&II (minor) 40 students
- Transdisciplinary Master- Insert (extracurricular) 9 students
- ECIU University (extracurricular) 6 students
- Cardiorespiratory Systems & Technology (Technical Medicine) 30 students
- Semester 4: Wicked problems (ATLAS) 40 students
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| Ontwikkelperiode: | 2019-2022 |
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| Opzet projectteam: | Core team: Jan van der Veen (fellow and project leader till February 2021), Klaasjan Visscher (project leader from February 2021), Coralie Johnson (researcher and coordinator from November 2020), Miles MacLeod (researcher), Xin Ming (researcher). Education Science MSc students (thesis), experts educational design research methods, teacher teams, student assistants, website designers and programmers. |
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| Bestede aantal ontwikkeluren: | 3.000 |
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| Totale budget: | EUR 250.000 |
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Relevante publicaties
- Boix Mansilla V. (2016). Interdisciplinary learning: A cognitive-epistemological foundation, in: Frodeman, R. & J. Klein (eds.). Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity (2nd ed., pp. 288-306). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198733522.013.22
- Kohn Rådberg, K., Lundqvist, U., Malmqvist, J., & Hagvall Svensson, O. (2018). From CDIO to challenge-based learning experiences – expanding student learning as well as societal impact? European Journal of Engineering Education, 45(1), 22–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2018.1441265
- MacLeod, M. (2018). What makes interdisciplinarity difficult? Some consequences of domain specificity in interdisciplinary practice. Synthese 195(2): 697-720 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-016-1236-4
- McKenney,S., & Reeves, T. C.(2018). Conducting educational design research (2nd ed.), Routledge . https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315105642
- Van den Beemt, A., MacLeod, M., Van der Veen, J., Van de Ven, A., Van Baalen, S., Klaassen, R., & Boon, M. (2020). Interdisciplinary engineering education: A review of vision, teaching, and support. Journal of engineering education, 109(3), 508-555. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20347
Producten of presentaties over dit project
- The Twente Toolbox for Interdisciplinary Education
- MacLeod, M., & van der Veen, J. T. (2019). Scaffolding interdisciplinary project-based learning: a case study. European Journal of Engineering Education, 45(3), 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2019.1646210
- MacLeod, M., Johnson, C., Visscher, K., & Van Der Veen, J. (2023). Develop An Interdisciplinary Course Using The Twente Interdisciplinarity Toolbox (Conference paper). European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). https://doi.org/10.21427/2PA3-AW82
- Uthrapathi Shakila, N., Nizamis, K., van der Veen, J., & Poortman, C. (2021). Interdisciplinary Challenge-Based Learning: Science to Society. In H.-U. Heiss, H.-M. Järvinen, A. Mayer, & A. Schulz (Eds.), Proceedings - SEFI 49th Annual Conference: Blended Learning in Engineering Education: Challenging, Enlightening - and Lasting? (pp. 1511-1519). European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). https://www.sefi.be/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/SEFI-Annual-Conference-2021-Blended-Learning-in-Engineering-Education.pdf
Comenius Leadership Fellowship 2019
