Teaching and Learning in Interdisciplinary Higher Education: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
Interdisciplinary higher education aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking. In the present review study, interdisciplinary thinking was defined as the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills. The review was accomplished by means of a systematic search within four scientific literature databases followed by a critical analysis. The review showed that, to date, scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education has remained limited and explorative. The research advanced the understanding of the necessary subskills of interdisciplinary thinking and typical conditions for enabling the development of interdisciplinary thinking. This understanding provides a platform from which the theory and practice of interdisciplinary higher education can move forward.
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Engineering and computer science programs demonstrate higher integration rates partially due to technological familiarity and infrastructural readiness.
“Engineering and computer science programs demonstrate higher integration rates partially due to technological familiarity and infrastructural readiness18.”
From Integrating AI-generated content tools in higher education: a comparative analysis of interdisciplinary learning outcomes (2025) · cites this paper as [18]
The Conclusions and Considerations section discusses conditions for developing interdisciplinary thinking, not rates of technology integration across programs. Searches for engineering and computer science integration rates, technological familiarity, and infrastructural readiness found no passage addressing the claimed comparison or explanation; page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.75)
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Noroozi, O., Weinberger, A., Biemans, H. J. A., Mulder, M., & Chizari, M. (2012) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2011.11.006 · Cited by 310 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Spelt, E. J. H., Biemans, H. J. A., Tobi, H., Luning, P. A., & Mulder, M.
- Affiliations
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Spelt, Elisabeth J. H.
- Venue
- Educational Psychology Review
- Published
- 2009-11-10
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 365-378
- ISSN
- 1040-726X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-336X
- OpenAlex
- W2077284541
- Cited by
- 544
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 62 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 37 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 1.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Educational Psychology Review (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (acceptedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Interdisciplinary Research and Collaboration
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Design Education and Practice
- Keywords
- interdisciplinary thinking, teaching-learning process, knowledge integration
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