ABOUT THIS BOOK
Now, more than ever, higher education faces the challenge of educating students to see beyond the limits of their own discipline and to come up with innovative integrated solutions to our contemporary problems. Designing Interdisciplinary Education serves as a foothold for interdisciplinary initiatives in higher education, whether it be programmes, minors, courses or extra-curricular activities. It offers accessible guidance and practical advice for university teachers and curriculum leaders who aim to develop, implement and sustain a successful interdisciplinary approach to their teaching at the classroom, course or programme level.The book’s ‘how to’ approach addresses several important topics such as formulating and assessing interdisciplinary learning outcomes, embedding integration in the programme design, the features of an interdisciplinary teacher, interdisciplinary teaching in practice, and didactic methods that nurture interdisciplinary understanding. This handbook incorporates numerous case studies, key advices, and exercises from a variety of interdisciplinary programmes in diverse countries. The ideas elaborated in this handbook are based on the theories and practices used at the I0nstitute for Interdisciplinary Studies, the University of Amsterdam’s knowledge centre for interdisciplinary learning and teaching.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Linda de Greef works at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She is the programme manager at The Teaching Lab where experiments, publications, workshops, guides and methods for interdisciplinary education are developed and shared. She is specialized in curriculum development and accompanying organizational developments and the professional development of interdisciplinary teaching skills.Ger Post spent five years working at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, including as a lecturer in academic skills for the Bachelor’s programme in Natural and Social Sciences. He now works as an educational specialist at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Christianne Vink is a teacher trainer and consultant in higher education. She advises and coaches programmes in curriculum development and teacher professionalisation.Lucy Wenting is the director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies. She is specialised in leadership, strategy and curriculum development.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements1 Introduction1.1 Why interdisciplinary education1.2 Why this handbook1.3 An overview of the content2 An overview of the development stages2.1 Starting with an interdisciplinary development team2.2 Stages in programme development2.3 Putting the theory into practice3 Unravelling interdisciplinary understanding3.1 The definition of interdisciplinarity3.2 Embedding integration in education 3.3 Unravelling interdisciplinary understanding4 Developing the raw sketch4.1 Drafting the vision4.2 Vision expression4.3 Engaging stakeholders in the visioning process4.4 Communicating the vision5 Formulating interdisciplinary learning outcomes5.1 Intended learning outcomes at the programme level5.2 Intended learning outcomes at the course level5.3 Creating learning pathways within a programme5.4 Translating intended learning outcomes into learning activities6 Embedding integration in the programme design6.1 Four curriculum models6.2 Deciding on a curriculum format6.3 Working towards an interdisciplinary programme7 Hiring an engaging faculty7.1 Features of an interdisciplinary teacher7.2 Recruiting, engaging and connecting faculty7.3 Overcome hurdles in the interdisciplinary teaching team8 Exploring the teaching philosophy and didactic methods8.1 Assumptions of teaching and understanding8.2 Formulating a shared teaching philosophy8.3 Didactic methods that nurture interdisciplinary understanding9 Assessment of interdisciplinary learning outcomes9.1 Valid assessment of interdisciplinary learning outcomesReliably scoring and grading exams9.2 Make interdisciplinary assessment work in the practice of teachingPortfolio assessmentAssessment of group workAssessing interdisciplinary work from multiple perspectives9.3 Developing a programme-wide assessment strategy 10 Teaching interdisciplinary practices10.1 Important prerequisites for interdisciplinary classes10.2 The teacher as coach10.3 Teaching reflective functioning10.4 Enhancing collaboration skills10.5 Teaching critical thinking10.6 Teaching an integrative interdisciplinary capstone course11 Programme assessment and adjustment11.1 Formal and informal assessment11.2 An evaluation approach11.3 Accreditation of interdisciplinary programmes11.4 Sustaining interdisciplinary programmesReferencesColophon