Experiencing Interdisciplinarity

When to use Experiencing Interdisciplinarity

Use this method when you want participants to understand the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and develop skills in integrating knowledge from different fields to address complex challenges.

What it solves

Siloed thinking, lack of cross-functional understanding, inability to see the bigger picture

How to run Experiencing Interdisciplinarity, step by step

1. News Article Exploration (5 mins) - Ask participants to share a newspaper article demonstrating connections between at least three distinct academic fields. Have them identify and document the disciplines involved.
2. Unraveling Interdisciplinarity (10 mins) - Guide participants to explore concepts and themes that are significant across the identified disciplines. Encourage them to create a conceptual map highlighting connections and pinpointing intersections among themes.
3. Interactive Discussion (20 mins) - Have participants team up and present their interconnected concept maps and identified themes. Facilitate a discussion using guiding questions about discipline discovery, noteworthy links, key themes, and contributions to problem understanding.
4. Refining Connections (15 mins) - Encourage participants to fine-tune their concept maps and enhance their themes based on insights gained from peer discussions. Allow them to modify, expand, or reorganize their maps.
5. Putting Interdisciplinarity into Perspective (10 mins) - Engage participants in a thoughtful discussion, evaluating their process of interconnecting disciplines and assessing their perspective skills. Facilitate small group discussions for sharing learnings.

Materials needed

• Newspaper articles (or links to online articles)
• Online mind mapping tool (e.g., Miro, Mural) or paper and sticky notes
• Reflective questions (provided by Transition Makers)
• Timer

Facilitator tips

• Provide a sample newspaper article to get participants started.
• Encourage participants to think broadly and creatively about the connections between disciplines.
• Ensure that all participants have the opportunity to share their insights and perspectives.

Common pitfalls

• Participants struggling to identify connections between disciplines. - Provide guiding questions and examples to help them get started.
• Discussions becoming dominated by a few participants. - Actively solicit input from quieter participants and manage the discussion to ensure everyone has a chance to speak.

Variations

• Use a case study or real-world problem instead of a newspaper article.
• Have participants create a presentation or report summarizing their findings.
• Invite experts from different disciplines to participate in the discussion.

Running it online or hybrid

Use a shared online mind mapping tool like Miro or Mural for collaborative concept mapping and discussion in breakout rooms.

What it produces

A mind map illustrating the connections between different disciplines in relation to a real-world example, along with identified overarching themes.

Origin

Adapted from Transition Makers Toolbox — source

Build a session around Experiencing Interdisciplinarity

METODIC places Experiencing Interdisciplinarity inside a complete, timed session plan — agenda, worksheets, facilitator guide and slides — matched to your group and goal.

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