This case study aims to explore partnership relationships and models in community-engaged learning, by presenting a case study about a Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) course entitled I am Utrecht. Some research has been conducted on exploring existing partnership relations and partnership models. The existing literature focuses on the characteristics that make the partnership work or the type of partnership models that CEL can offer, including course-driven, partner-driven, and theme-driven partnership models. However, in the course I am Utrecht we experience a new and more complex type of partnership, in which teachers of Utrecht University (UU) and an MDT societal partner (Serve the City Utrecht ) are co-designing the CEL course, whilst participating students and other societal partners form theme-driven partnerships during the course. This innovative case study explores the integrated curriculum co-design of the CEL course by exploring the co-creation process in the transdisciplinary team of teachers from the educational science department of Utrecht University and the MDT societal partner, responsible for the MDT (Maatschappelijke Diensttijd) trajectory of the students. MDT is a governmental scheme of voluntary work for young people from ages 12 to 30 to contribute to society. Participants and stakeholders gain experience with connecting to people outside their regular living environment. Upon completion of the requirements of the MDT, the volunteering students receive an MDT certificate. During the course, the MDT partner is primarily interested in capturing the personal learning goals and growth of students to ensure the MDT goals are met whilst UU teachers focus the class activities on both the personal learning goals of students and on creating meaningful social change in the local communities. In our experience, and according to sociocultural theory (Vygotsky & Rieber, 1997, Rogoff, 2003) the two are inseparable: personal growth takes place in a social and cultural context. Social change takes place when all parties are committed to learning. (Greenwood, D. J. & Levin, M., 2007). This project aims to integrate personal learning and social change by capturing the co-design of the course which is the product of the co-learning process of the transdisciplinary team of UU teachers and the MDT partner. All stakeholders (students, teachers, partners, and MDT partner) are striving for social impact and are open to personal and collective learning to achieve this. With this case study, we aim to develop a co-learning framework at the teacher-MDT partner level to capture the intensive co-learning process that takes place in this course as we believe that a more integrated curriculum design is a result of a collaborative learning process which in turn creates a more powerful learning environment for the participants of the course.

Transdisciplinarity has attracted significant attention since its inception, particularly in research circles, but discussions have expanded to include education and its reform. However, existing discourses on transdisciplinarity in education often sidestep crucial questions regarding the formation of transdisciplinary concepts, their interrelations, and critical examination (Osborne, 2015). Instead, these discussions tend to focus disproportionally on the organizational aspects to prepare individuals to navigate the research processes. This approach poses a problem, as it creates a misleading impression of convergence that transdisciplinarity is resolving historical disciplinary siloes and their limited engagement with societal complexities. It overlooks the conceptual divergence, which spans various directions: as an approach to addressing societal challenges (Klein et al., 2001), a catalyst for new forms of knowledge production (Gibbons et al., 1994), a model of unity in complexity (Nicolescu, 2002), or even a meta-discipline (Mokiy, 2019).

This paper reconstructs the discourse surrounding transdisciplinarity, highlighting significant blind spots and nuances in its conceptualization. Through a critical examination of existing narratives, it challenges the prevailing notion of disciplinary isolation and the reductionist portrayal of transdisciplinarity as a corrective measure. Additionally, it explores the implications of these narratives on the competencies and skills valued in transdisciplinary education, advocating for a reexamination of transdisciplinary concepts and their interaction with societal needs.

Engaging with scholarly literature reveals a dominant discourse on transdisciplinary education, primarily situated within the realms of mixed disciplines and social sciences. However, this dialogue often overlooks active involvement from disciplines with well-defined boundaries, such as engineering and physics, as well as non-academic stakeholders. This study presents a reconstruction of a transdisciplinary narrative that promotes a balanced dialogue, capable of defining meaningful learning experiences and essential competencies necessary for students to effectively navigate transdisciplinary environments.

Reference:

· Compagnucci, L., & Spigarelli, F. (2020). The Third Mission of the university: A systematic literature review on potentials and constraints. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120284

· Gibbons, M. (2000). Mode 2 society and the emergence of context-sensitive science. Science and public policy, 27(3), 159-163.

· Klein, J. T. (Ed.). (2001). Transdisciplinarity: Joint problem solving among science, technology, and society: An effective way for managing complexity. Springer Science & Business Media.

· Mokiy, V. S. (2019). International standard of transdisciplinary education and transdisciplinary competence. Informing Science, 22, 73.

· Nicolescu, B. (2002). Manifesto of transdisciplinarity. suny Press.

· Osborne, P. (2015). Problematizing disciplinarity, transdisciplinary problematics. Theory, culture & society, 32(5-6), 3-35.

Tokyo College is an institute for advanced studies and academic think tank that was founded as a new and independent unit at The University of Tokyo, Japan in 2019.

Its three missions are transdisciplinary research, international network building, and public engagement. Its overarching research theme "The Earth and Human Society in 2050" is broken down into six transdisciplinary research themes surrounding digitization, sustainability, Japan's role in the world, the future of knowledge, the value of life, and identity.

Currently, the College is comprised of between fifty to sixty members with two directors, four tenured faculty, five project assistant professors, five project researchers, fifteen postdocs, ca. ten senior invited members, ca. five visiting scholars, and twelve staff members, as well as number of affiliated researchers inside the university and abroad.

As one of the first persons to join the College and its first tenured member, I aim to share and discuss in this contribution my experience and challenges in setting up a transdisciplinary institute and experimenting with transdisciplinary forms of collaboration.

The presentation will introduce five aspects of the transdisciplinary work at Tokyo College:

- fostering a culture of transdisciplinarity

- hiring for transdisciplinarity

- innovating transdisciplinary formats

- transdisciplinary teaching

- enhancing conceptual foundations and skills for transdisciplinary research

The presentation equally aims to share an example of good practice for capacity building for transdisciplinarity while also inviting a discussion with other practitioners and academic managers about challenges and limitations of a transdisciplinary basis for an institute of advanced studies on the institutional, practical, and conceptual levels.

Challenge

Life, disease prevention, and health(care) are rapidly evolving. This demands for future professionals that can address grand challenges to reach societal impact. For this, so-called 4C skills (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving) are essential. The existing curricula in higher education have to be expanded so students are connected to a wide spectrum of disciplines, (inter)national partners, and (extra-academic) stakeholders. We believe that the transition towards globally-oriented transdisciplinary challenge-based education as an innovative framework in higher education is the appropriate way forward. We aimed to develop a novel transdisciplinary, international, challenge-based educational concept, grounded in the theoretical framework of research-based education, to improve transdisciplinarity, academic skills, and motivation in higher education. Research question: “How does this novel educational concept improve student perception of 4C skills, transdisciplinary mindset, and motivation?”

Methods

The novel EU-funded joint-degree Master’s program in Global Challenges for Sustainability, CHARM-EU1 meets this demand. CHARM-EU is a European University that started in September 2021, formed by an alliance of five research-based universities. During the first edition of the CHARM-EU module Health Challenges & Solutions (six-week full-time elective module), we briefed a group of international students through a plenary session with researchers, medical specialists, patients, and stakeholders who all came together in Barcelona2. We posed students the grand challenge: ‘How should the world deal with future pandemics?’. Subsequently, students were divided over three universities to frame hypotheses and execute research from different disciplinary perspectives. To facilitate this, we have developed multiple designated Student Research HUBs – physical and interdisciplinary innovation spaces within the heart of university faculties that have short lines to local research, researchers, faculty, and stakeholders. Transdisciplinary collaboration among these HUBs is reinforced by weekly online plenary work meetings, workshops, lectures, and symposia. This innovative European Student Research HUB network allows students from different disciplinary backgrounds, researchers, faculty, and stakeholders to collaborate transdisciplinary and internationally on a single major societal challenge in the health domain2.

Results

The module was evaluated by anonymized written questionnaires and focus groups focused on transdisciplinarity, academic skills, and motivation. Students appreciated the relevance of the global health challenge and the transdisciplinary collaboration. The educational framework inspired, motivated, and stimulated development of academic skills. Additionally, students valued the journey of doing authentic research and the autonomy they were given during this module.

Conclusion

Altogether, we have showcased a transdisciplinary, challenge-based, international concept in education that positively stimulates student perception of 4C skill development. The current module Health Challenges & Solutions of CHARM-EU has generated synergy between research and education in the life & health domain. The module of European-oriented transdisciplinary challenge-based education allows further upscaling towards a larger Student Research HUB network within and outside Europe with larger variety of disciplines and students.

References

1. CHARM-EU. https://www.charm-eu.eu/

2. Schakelaar MY, Bassat Q, Comiskey CM, Felvinczi K, Haarhuis JCM, Bovenschen N. Linked research hubs train students to tackle societal challenges. Nature. 2022 Nov;611(7936):449. doi: 10.1038/d41586-022-03665-w. PMID: 36380041.