Promoting transdisciplinary learning through a summer course on climate, water, and agriculture

Abstract

Transdisciplinary approaches increasingly are needed to address complex environmental problems. Students can benefit from research and learning opportunities in which they investigate issues, integrate knowledge across disciplines, engage with stakeholders, collaborate with others, and devise solutions. This paper presents information on a 1-week intensive transdisciplinary course focused on climate, water, and agriculture for undergraduate and graduate students. The course, which was held at The Ohio State University's Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie, was offered over 3 years and utilized the local and regional context for investigation and inquiry. Presentations, discussions, experiential and field activities, and guest presentations were used as a way to promote student learning. Students felt positive about their participation and rated the transdisciplinary aspects of the course highly. Ideas from this course can be used to develop similar courses and learning experiences in other settings and on other environmental topics. Instructors are encouraged to utilize campus and local resources, recruit students from a diversity of disciplines, and align content and activities to build transdisciplinary skills.

Training students in inter- and transdisciplinary sustainability education: nurturing cross-faculty staff commitment and continuous community collaboration

“…Extensive research into the learning impacts and implementation of these approaches showed the importance of students gaining real-world experience to develop competencies and sensitize them to social challenges (e.g. Brundiers et al, 2021;Lekies & Moore, 2020;Smith et al, 2013;Viegas et al, 2016).…”

Australian Preservice Early Childhood Teachers’ Considerations of Natural Areas as Conducive and Important to Include in Educational Experiences

“…This belief is potentially modifiable as part of preservice teacher training and/or later professional development. Many previous researchers in this area have argued that preservice early childhood training needs to include more content regarding the complexities of nature and more direct experiences in nature [14,32,33].…”

Middle School Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Curriculum in the United States: Peers Lead Peers Through Change and Action

“…A transdisciplinary approach-or integrating multiple disciplines to teach an idea-is particularly useful in teaching climate change and sustainable development. To quote research offered by Lekies and Moore (2020), "Transdisciplinary methods draw from multiple and often unrelated disciplines, integrate and synthesize information, allow for new collaborations, foster mutual understanding, engage nonacademic stakeholders, and generate and apply new knowledge" (Lekies and Moore, 2020). Incorporating tools learned in social sciences, mathematics, and biology makes the content more relevant and relatable mimicking the same intricacies and connections made in real life.…”