Interdisciplinary learning and research

Find out how to work across multiple academic disciplines in higher education, in order to pool expertise and develop novel skillsets and solutions to complex problems. These guides offer insight on how to break down disciplinary boundaries in university teaching and research to seek greater understanding.

Fostering interdisciplinary thinking in students is a great idea for universities

How to lay the groundwork for interdisciplinarity in students

Recent events have shown the necessity of working together, and it’s never too early for universities, faculty and students to begin thinking about this, says Georgina Harris

Georgina Harris

Arden University

Advice on applying action learning to student surveys to improve teaching practices

Using action learning to improve interdisciplinary online teaching

A guide to using action learning – questioning knowledge to find solutions – to evaluate and improve teaching practices, based on research by Na Li, Qian Wang, Jiajun Liu and Victoria Marsick

Na Li, Qian Wang , Jiajun Liu, Victoria Marsick

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University , Columbia University

Creating an interdisciplinary team at research universities is just like playing a fantasy role-playing game

Why interdisciplinarity is just like a fantasy role-playing game

Who’s the barbarian? Which one’s the wizard? Lorena Quilantán García offers practical advice on embarking upon your very own interdisciplinary hero quest

Lorena Quilantán García

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Advice on working with students to develop a well-being module that educates them in mental health and self-care

Co-creating an interdisciplinary well-being module for all students

Elena Riva and Wiki Jeglinska explain how academics can work with students to co-create well-being modules that span multiple disciplines and support students’ self-care, drawing on their own experience of collaborating on such a scheme

Elena Riva, Wiki Jeglinska

The University of Warwick

Advice on designing university curricula that nurture creativity

How to embed creativity more fully into university curricula

Five key strategies to enhance student creativity through university curricula that encourage exploration and enquiry

Gareth Loudon

Royal College of Art

Advice on establishing creative collaborations between students in different disciplines to further their learning

Connecting research and humanities through creative collaborations

Creative collaborations between students in different disciplines can offer opportunities to gain “real world” experience and apply their knowledge in new contexts. Allison Schwartz explains how

Allison Schwartz

University of West Florida

Advice on supporting the well-being of overworked academics

Supporting academia’s well-being during Covid-19 and beyond

With an unprecedented global mental health crisis and rising stress among university staff, six academics come together to propose how best to support faculty and new ways of working now and well beyond the pandemic

June Gruber, Lisa Miracchi, Sabrina Marques, Kirk Ambrose, Becca Ciancanelli, Paulo Boggio

The University of Colorado Boulder, University of Pennsylvania, Western Connecticut State University, Mackenzie Presbyterian University

How Southampton University supported staff across all departments to design quality online courses

How to support staff across all departments to design quality online courses

The sudden shift to online forced university staff to rethink and redesign classes often with little experience or knowledge of remote teaching. Helen Carmichael and Bobbi Moore explain how the University of Southampton supported all faculties to ensure high-quality online courses

Helen Carmichael, Bobbi Moore

University of Southampton