Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Consistently High Transdisciplinary Orientation Scores Across Interdisciplinary Programs and Locations
Caterina Belle Azzarello, Shirley Vincent and Chelsie Romulo
ABSTRACT:
Interdisciplinary Environmental Programs (IEPs) in higher education are expanding, offering a holistic approach to understanding the interdisciplinary sciences. These programs often claim to support inter- and trans-disciplinary learning and orientation for their students. The aim of this project was to investigate student transdisciplinary competency across programs, which is an intrapersonal disposition that emerges over a scholarly career, predisposing individuals to engage in cross-disciplinary research. Differences in competency scores were assessed for whether changes and comparisons were based on institutional variations or individual student experiences with IEP courses. Students enrolled in these courses were administered the transdisciplinary orientation (TDO) scale, which has been validated for assessing collaboration readiness for transdisciplinary research. Student responses were gathered from ten various institutions across the United States engaged in an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree related to environmental studies and sciences. This analysis aimed to identify any patterns or in TDO scores across the ten universities offering interdisciplinary undergraduate courses, based on the varied pedagogical approaches and curricular content delivered in these programs. We found consistently high TDO scores regardless of geographical location or educational context across the ten institutions and their interdisciplinary undergraduate courses. Understanding variations in TDO scores, despite varied pedagogical approaches and content delivery, has broader implications for improving educational strategies and outcomes, providing insights that can enhance the design and implementation of interdisciplinary curricula across diverse educational settings.
keywords: Transdisciplinary Orientation (TDO), Interdisciplinary Environmental Programs (IEPs), higher education, collaboration readiness, pedagogical approaches