Beyond disciplinary engagement: Researching the ecologies of interdisciplinary learning

ABSTRACT

The importance of engaging students with complex societal challenges has led to the adoption of various interdisciplinary teaching and learning practices in both K-12 and higher education. However, interdisciplinary learning is one of the most complex domains of contemporary educational practice, and, despite its significance, remains significantly undertheorized and under-researched. This Special Issue highlights empirical research efforts toward understanding interdisciplinary learning in its complexity. It simultaneously aims to 1) advance ecological perspectives that encompass concepts and methodologies for studying complex heterogeneous learning practices and 2) apply these perspectives to the research of interdisciplinary learning—of how people learn across and beyond disciplines. This introduction provides a historical context for interdisciplinary learning, introduces an ecological stance toward researching learning across and beyond disciplines, and reviews critical theoretical and methodological challenges within interdisciplinary learning, arguing that the field of the learning sciences is well-positioned to address these challenges. It discusses how the contributions presented in this special issue shed light on theoretical, methodological, empirical, and design aspects of interdisciplinary learning and offer a basis for further design work and research.

Acknowledgments

We thank the reviewers for their invaluable comments and guidance to the authors of the papers. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the editors-in-chief, Susan Jurow and Jianwei Zhang, and the editorial assistant, Thomas Underwood, who assisted us in every step of the editorial process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Lina Markauskaite acknowledges funding from the Australian Research Council grant DP200100376 and NSW Department of Education grant G212673. Baruch Schwarz acknowledges funding from the Israel Science Foundation [Grant No. 2699/17]. Crina Damşa’s work was funded by the Department of Education at the University of Oslo, Norway. Hanni Muukkonen’s work was funded by the Learning and Learning Processes Research Unit, University of Oulu. The opinions expressed here are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the funding agencies.