Page 95 - Teaching and learning of interdisciplinary thinking in higher education in engineering

Learning challenges, student strategies, and the outcomes of education in interdisciplinary thinking
To date, research on IDT learning in higher education has focused mainly on long-term (curriculum-related) learning processes (Graybill et al., 2006; Haynes & Brown Leonard, 2010; Holley, 2013; Ivanitskaya et al., 2002). Little research is available on short-term (course-related) learning processes (e.g., Lattuca et al., 2004). For instance, Haynes and Brown Leonard (2010) characterized the long-term learning processes of an undergraduate curriculum using a cognitive-constructivist lens. In addition, previous research on IDT learning (e.g., Boix Mansilla, 2010; Bradbeer, 1999; Holley, 2013) has shown that students face challenges in crossing disciplinary boundaries. One challenge is to understand different disciplinary jargons (Woods, 2007). Another challenge is to understand the various relationships between factors affecting complex problems (Boix Mansilla, 2010). The making of disciplinary knowledge connections themselves is also experienced as challenging (Holley, 2013). The present research aim was to analyse these learning challenges, the student strategies, and the outcomes involved in short-term IDT learning in HEE. A greater understanding of the challenges, strategies, and outcomes would enable teachers in HEE to tailor their pedagogical support to enhance the learning (Haynes & Brown Leonard, 2010; Hmelo-Silver & Azevedo, 2006; Jacobson & Wilensky, 2006). The subject of the analysis was an interdisciplinary graduate course on food quality management (FQM). The FQM course teaches broad IDT outcomes involving the integration of the food technology and management-related disciplines (see chapter 5.2.2) for the purpose of solving food quality problems (Luning & Marcelis, 2006). The empirical research adopted a systematic research approach using two theoretical perspectives to analyse short-term IDT learning processes in HEE.
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