Interdisciplinary learning and research

The academic world is often sorted into separate boxes, but the real-word problems we’re facing can’t be neatly filed away. How can we make interdisciplinarity work practically in both teaching and research? Our discussion includes advice on how to implement interdisciplinarity in teaching and research, what students get out of interdisciplinary work, the distinctions between multi- and transdisciplinary work and how they differ from interdisciplinarity, and how universities can promote interdisciplinarity learning from the word go.Our panellists are:Louise Kuchel, deputy associate dean at the Faculty of Science, University of QueenslandRohan Walker, director of advanced training systems at the University of Newcastle, AustraliaKyle Jenkins, dean of creative arts at the University of Southern Queensland.All of our speakers are from Campus+ partner institutions. Campus+ is a unique opportunity to become a contributing partner to the resources, tools and advice published on Campus.Don’t forget to book your ticket to Campus Live ANZ, taking place on 26 and 27 September in Newcastle, Australia.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,&nbsp;sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Campus webinar: the evolution of interdisciplinarity

Join three experts from Campus+ partner institutions in Australia as they discuss interdisciplinarity, how to implement it in teaching and research and why it’s important for the future


Campus webinar: the evolution and innovation of interdisciplinarity

The incorporation of Indigenous perspectives in curricula is now a shared aspiration of Australian law schools. Yet despite the agreed benefits for First Nations students and communities, as well as for the quality of “lawyering” generally, progress remains irregular and fragile. The challenge of impermanence is an intractable one for us all in tertiary educational reform. How can we work to shore up curriculum advances against inevitable shifts in resources, priorities and personnel?&nbsp;Here we offer seven strategies, divined from the collective experience of our own collaborators and First Nations advisers and tested in the supportive environment of a young regional law school in Queensland, Australia.&nbsp;Uncovering Indigenous insights: let’s research togetherWeaving gold from EDI straw: an intersectional approachThe language of inclusivity is not inclusiveSettle guiding principlesA school can agree on guiding principles for sustained and iterative curriculum reform. These can be co-designed with First Nations colleges or institutes (and in our case, affiliated First Nations lawyers), thereby opening collaborative partnerships that will be essential in the work to follow. Principles can draw from the substantial literature that emphasises the need for self-reflection, strength-based engagement with Indigenous perspectives, coherent integration, respect for diversity, attention to protocols and priority for First Nations voices and places. These guiding principles will not only guide curriculum efforts, but also manage early enthusiasm, build commitment and “place-hold” for the work to come.&nbsp;Embrace the interdisciplinary nature of First Nations issues and build resourcesWe can seek out the discipline extensions and partnerships that will provide resources for contextual curriculum reform. Identify synergistic work in the field – potentially across disciplines – then build networks that will encourage confidence in colleagues, produce more holistic curriculum strategies, encourage cross-teaching efficiencies and establish research and supervision teams. Cross-disciplinary research centres might be expanded (or developed) to house and champion the new collaborations. In conjunction with this discipline broadening, schools can support and contribute to library collection reviews and critical teaching resources can be endorsed, digested for and distributed to staff.&nbsp;Connect with First Nations colleges, colleagues and professional bodiesStrong reciprocal relationships with First Nations colleagues will be key to much of the curriculum reform work. These can provide invaluable support to staff leading a curriculum project (and build confidence in others) and strengthen curriculum strategies through expert co-design. Moreover, they can build networks for collaborative student support and supervision, ensure access to expertise in Indigenous methodologies (or practice priorities), ameliorate resource deficiencies for all and establish a unified institutional voice.Connect with First Nations communities and community organisationsGuidance on building connections with local communities – based on mutual respect and genuine collaboration – can be sought from First Nations colleagues and colleges. The potential partnerships are many and varied, ranging from broad legal or business support and law-reform advocacy (or arranging pro bono advice) through to workshops and events, commissioning of local art, site-restoration work, sponsorship and elder or youth support projects. These relationships can help to build knowledge and capacity in staff, while offering genuine support to communities. Local elders and leaders might have particular roles of relevance to curriculum development – for example in the Murri Courts or corporations (in the case of law).&nbsp;Build First Nations’ visibility&nbsp;Through partnerships with First Nations colleges and institutes and pro vice-chancellor offices, schools can support university initiatives around local art and language, and engagement with Acknowledgment and Welcome protocols. They can also advocate for the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in administrative and infrastructure projects, committee memberships (and terms of reference) and long-term research strategies. Schools can themselves demonstrate commitment to First Nations issues and speakers in public lecture and seminar programming and web resources, and consider sharing of facilities with community bodies.&nbsp;Build roles for First Nations staff One critical aspiration must be the creation of permanent identified academic positions – with proper support for the multifaceted responsibilities attending these roles. Schools can advocate tenaciously for these positions, while working to prepare a landscape in which such staff will be well supported in the important work to follow. An interim coordinator can help to effect structural changes (such as those discussed here) in preparation for an identified appointment and concerted curriculum reform. Honorary and adjunct appointments can also be a valuable way to recognise First Nations contributions to a field and strengthen the teaching capacities and connections of a school.&nbsp;Build pathways for First Nations students&nbsp;Through strong partnerships with First Nations colleges and institutes, a school’s tailored student support can target all stages of the journey. Schools can seek to engage in secondary school and remote outreach initiatives, and to actively contribute to preparatory programmes. They can ensure personal contacts and mentors are available to students from day one, and partner with colleges and institutes to support progress and completion. Tailored school resource sites can collect and advertise opportunities for networking, internships, scholarships and employment – as well as local events and news. Just as importantly, pathways to higher degrees can be carefully laid – via cross-disciplinary supervision capacity (as above), project and publication opportunities, and project employment.&nbsp;These are our seven suggestions to help the best-laid plans of curriculum reform take root – to safeguard progress against inevitable shifts in resources, priorities and personnel. There is much more to be done, but we hope these practical steps might help to facilitate and secure the work ahead. For us, these strategies are primarily about relationships, reciprocal relationships that can help us all build a better educational landscape and help to ensure that that journey remains a genuine, supported and shared priority into the future.&nbsp;Kirstie Smith is a Mununjali, Yugambeh woman and lawyer, and First Nations law lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland’s School of Law and Justice and Centre for Heritage and Culture. Simon Young is a professor at the University of Southern Queensland’s School of Law and Justice and Centre for Heritage and Culture, adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia, and external fellow of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law.&nbsp;If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Seven way to bring Indigenous perspective into curricula

Impermanence of resources, priorities and personnel makes curriculum reform a challenge. Here, Kirstie Smith and Simon Young offer strategies based on their experience in a regional law school

Seven structural changes to help bring Indigenous perspectives into curricula

The 2020 Future of Jobs survey by the World Economic Forum asked senior executives from organisations around the world what skills were increasingly important for their workforce. Within the UK, the top three skills cited were “active learning and learning strategies”, “analytical thinking and innovation” and “creativity, originality and initiative”. The challenge for universities is therefore not to solely focus on educating students in terms of knowledge and technical skills but also on helping students be creative, analytical and active learners. Below are five key strategies to help embed creativity more fully into the university curricula.1. Clarifying creativityIt is important to clarify what creativity means to students in the context of their discipline. Often creativity is solely associated with the creative industries, and some students might not think that creativity is relevant to their future career. However, creativity is defined as the ability to come up with original ideas and solutions that are of value. In the context of organisations, this usually means providing value to their customers. Therefore creativity is important for both the arts and sciences.2. Establishing purposeComing back to the idea of relevance, probably the main factor that affects whether a student, or any other person, is creative is their level of engagement. To be creative you need to be curious and pay attention to what’s around you. You need to listen, observe, be open-minded, be analytical and take action to make things happen.Resource collection: Creativity in higher educationMaking space for creativity in higher educationThe summer life of a teacher can be a boon for creativity in the classroomGenerally, people won’t be curious, attentive and pro-active unless the topic of focus seems relevant to them. Therefore, in the context of designing curricula, it is important to consider using a project- or problem-based approach to learning that addresses real-world issues or problems where the area of focus is meaningful for the students. This enables students to be active learners and creators and not just passive recipients of knowledge.Such approaches are often called product-oriented learning or authentic learning. Collaboration with outside organisations or groups can further enhance such an approach and provide a sense of purpose, where the collaborators help set the project brief, provide support and access, and give feedback throughout the project.3. Understanding needsTo gain a deeper understanding of real-world issues and problems and to find&nbsp;inspiration for new ideas, students need to connect with the people affected to understand their needs, behaviours, motivations, beliefs and values, as well as be aware of technological developments. But this has ethical implications.Universities need to make sure that they have appropriate ethics procedures and training in place before any such activities are initiated. Students also need to learn how to effectively undertake such research work, so the curricula should include modules covering qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and methods.4. Exploring possibilitiesA common feature in curricula design and assessment is a focus on finding the single right answer. However, to come up with new ideas or solutions of value, it is important to explore a range of possibilities before analysing which ideas have the most promise. This should include generating, prototyping and testing ideas with key stakeholders. Therefore projects and assessments should be structured to encourage this way of working.Creativity requires taking managed risks and there needs to be recognition that there is a chance of failure when trying to create something new of value. Consequently, assessments should take into account the work undertaken, the process followed and the lessons learned&nbsp;and not just focus on the outcome.5. Interdisciplinary collaborationMany organisations successfully address real-world issues or problems through the use of interdisciplinary teams as such teams critically provide a diversity of knowledge, skills and perspectives. It is therefore important that students gain experience in collaborating with people from different disciplines.For example, a project that tries to improve the healthcare support for the elderly at home might want to create teams involving students from the healthcare, social science, technology, business and design disciplines.Some universities have already restructured their academic timetables and curricula to enable interdisciplinary collaboration, but for others this might require a major shift in thinking, planning and working. However, it is crucial that students gain these types of experiences to help them understand how their own skills, knowledge and perspectives play a part in helping to create ideas and solutions of value. Equally vital is that students understand the importance of other disciplines, expertise&nbsp;and perspectives. Egos can be one of the main barriers to creativity.Gareth Loudon is professor of creativity and head of programmes (global innovation design and innovation design engineering) at the Royal College of Art.If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

Interdisciplinary learning and research

Campus webinar: the evolution and innovation of interdisciplinarity

Seven structural changes to help bring Indigenous perspectives into curricula

How to embed creativity more fully into university curricula

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Interdisciplinary learning and research

.css-7qmtvr{overflow:hidden;max-height:108px;text-indent:0px;}Campus webinar: the evolution and innovation of interdisciplinarity

Seven structural changes to help bring Indigenous perspectives into curricula

How to embed creativity more fully into university curricula

Campus webinar: the evolution and innovation of interdisciplinarity