Higher education institutions recognize that today's problems are too complex to be conceptualized by a single discipline and are becoming increasingly committed to interdisciplinary work, as evidenced by the increasing number of interdisciplinary departments, internal funding opportunities, and research centers. Despite the widespread popularity…

As higher education institutions look to educate and graduate degree earners that have the skills and knowledge necessary to design, communicate, and collaborate in ways that allow for innovative solutions to complex socio-technical challenges, new approaches to educational efforts are being considered and implemented. Institutional responses have…

The purpose of this study is to understand the distinctive aspects of curricular spaces that bring together diverse disciplines by centering the voices of educators, with full recognition that these environments can inspire learning among both students and faculty. We interviewed eight faculty and one administrator from a mid-sized public…

Common intellectual experiences (CIEs) are one of the lesser-known modalities that have been identified as a high impact practice (HIP) in higher education. This mixed-methods study assesses the outcomes of a short-term CIE, which took the form of a multi-disciplinary, multi-classroom case study focused on Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square…

In modern higher education, nurturing successful interdisciplinary collaboration is both an institutional priority and a grand organizational and cultural challenge. Recent scholarship describes the many and varied challenges inherent in the enactment of interdisciplinarity; it also explores how these challenges can be mitigated to spur successful…

The purpose of this study is to understand the learning outcomes of students who participate in interdisciplinary hands-on advanced technology courses and the factors influencing their outcomes as well as to determine whether learning outcomes and cognitive development are affected by students' motivation for selecting the course with regard to…

Despite Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) advancements, general faculty adoption of effective teaching strategies has been slow, especially within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. One solution has been to focus on preparing future faculty. The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and…

Transdisciplinary (TD) graduate training programs are growing in number, yet little is known about their effectiveness or the development of TD attitudes and behaviors among students over time. This prospective longitudinal mixed methods study compares graduate students participating in a federally funded TD training program with non-participating…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between two recent currents in postsecondary education -- integrative learning and undergraduate innovation. We located the rationale for this study in postsecondary educational practices and policies (e.g., inclusive makerspaces, transdisciplinary courses) which have theorized the…

This mixed method study investigated design thinking (DT) practices and outcomes from across disciplinary frameworks within one institution of higher education. Building upon prior DT studies, it examined three interlocking research questions: What DT practices are being implemented across the curriculum? What kinds of outcomes do faculty observe?…

This study explores a case of coaching deployed in experiential, interdisciplinary, and project-based courses. This study follows coaching in two courses that operated on a high-impact practice framework. In these courses, coaching was experienced by both students and faculty as a critical feature of the success of the courses. Students showed…

GlobalEx is a co-curricular program designed to enhance cross-cultural engagement at the undergraduate level at Texas Christian University. This student-designed and student-led project arose from recognition of a need to integrate the experiences of international students and domestic students, and it uses a three-step model (EXplore, EXchange,…

Discipline-based education research (DBER) is an emergent, interdisciplinary field of scholarship aimed at understanding and improving discipline-specific teaching and learning. The number of DBER faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments has grown rapidly in recent years. Because the interdisciplinary…

Threshold concepts have been widely utilized to understand learning in academic disciplines and student experiences in a disciplinary curriculum. This study considered how threshold concepts might operate within an interdisciplinary setting. Data were collected through interviews with 40 doctoral students enrolled in an interdisciplinary program…

As scientific teams in academia have become increasingly large, interdisciplinary, and diverse, more attention has been paid to honorary authorship (i.e., giving authorship to those not making a significant contribution). Our study examined whether honorary authorship occurs because of the desire to include all or many team members. Interviews…