Page 44 - Teaching and learning of interdisciplinary thinking in higher education in engineering

Chapter 2
(e.g., Manathunga et al., 2006). Fourth, the research designs in the reviewed publications inevitably differed in quality. In this review study, the methodological quality of the research designs were not taken into account as such. However, generally speaking, it is clear from the review results that in order to move scientific research in this field a step forward, strong empirical studies are needed.
The present systematic review study has advanced the understanding of the potential subskills and conditions (see Table 2.1) that can serve as the basis for strong empirical studies. The subskills of IDT that were obtained are: knowledge of disciplines, knowledge of disciplinary paradigms, knowledge of interdisciplinarity, higher-order cognitive skills, and communication skills. The student conditions that were obtained are: curiosity, respect, openness, patience, diligence, self-regulation, social experiences, and educational experiences. The learning environment conditions that were obtained are: balance between disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, disciplinary knowledge inside or outside courses on interdisciplinarity, intellectual community focused on interdisciplinarity, expertise of teachers on interdisciplinarity, consensus on interdisciplinarity, team development, team teaching, pedagogy aimed at achieving interdisciplinarity, pedagogy aimed at achieving active learning, pedagogy aimed at achieving collaboration, assessment of students’ intellectual maturation, and assessment of interdisciplinarity. The learning process conditions that were obtained are: phased with gradual advancement, linear, iterative, milestones with encountering questions, learning activities aimed at achieving interdisciplinarity, and learning activities aimed at achieving reflection.
Despite the modest number of relevant publications found, this review should be considered as a suitable preparatory study, encouraging others to explore the field of teaching and learning IDT in more depth. The number of publications was found to be sufficient to explore our research questions. The theory of Biggs (2003) has been helpful in: (a)
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