Fostering interdisciplinarity through blended learning

Abstract

Many of the complex problems we face in the 21st century necessitate an interdisciplinary approach. However, most university curricula still prioritize discipline-focused education. There is, therefore, an urgent need to train students to deal effectively with such real-world problems. To foster interdisciplinarity, we implemented blended learning in a mandatory PhD course which has so far relied on didactic modes of instruction. For one of the topics in the course, we included various online activities, e.g. micro-lectures, asynchronous forum discussions, instructor and peer feedback, which were designed to help prepare students for summative group presentations. When we analyzed their presentation scores, we found that they had performed better on the topic supported by blended learning than the one that followed the traditional didactic format. The survey and interview responses suggested that the instructor feedback, peer feedback and micro-lectures promoted interdisciplinary thinking. Even though students did not like using the forum to discuss their projects, they agreed that the instructor’s contributions to the forum discussions were helpful in guiding the interdisciplinary conversation. Overall, our findings suggest that blended learning helps to promote interdisciplinarity in the postgraduate classroom.