Approach
Interdisciplinary learning
Real problems don't come sorted by subject. Neither do the most innovative universities.
What is interdisciplinary learning?
Interdisciplinary learning integrates concepts, methods and perspectives from several disciplines to understand or solve a problem that none of them could tackle alone, producing a new understanding that goes beyond the sum of its parts.
Juxtaposing subjects is not the same as integrating them. In a multidisciplinary approach, each discipline contributes its view separately; in an interdisciplinary one, the views are combined; in a transdisciplinary one, the knowledge of non-academic actors — communities, practitioners, users — is also brought in to co-create solutions.
That is why interdisciplinarity is the foundation of challenge-based and project-based learning: without it, the challenge breaks into pieces of subjects and loses its meaning.
Multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity
Multidisciplinary
Several disciplines study the same topic in parallel, without integrating methods or conclusions.
Interdisciplinary
Disciplines interact and integrate concepts and methods to produce a shared understanding.
Transdisciplinary
Academic boundaries are transcended and non-academic knowledge is incorporated to co-create solutions with society.
How an interdisciplinary curriculum is designed
The universities in the directory don't start from subjects, but from what students must be able to do.
1. Start from the graduate profile
Define the capabilities a person must demonstrate on graduating and derive the curriculum architecture from there.
- Capabilities and habits of mind
- Typical problems of the field
- Expected evidence
2. Organise the curriculum around problems
Build blocks around complex problems that require combining disciplines.
- Anchor problems and challenges
- Integrated modules
- Methods from several disciplines
3. Teaching teams and integrated spaces
Faculty from different areas who design and assess together, in flexible spaces and timetables.
- Co-teaching
- Long time blocks
- Project spaces
Reference method
The BeChallenge Method: an architecture for experiential learning
BeChallenge is an experiential learning ecosystem founded in Barcelona in 2017 that combines methodology, technology and expert support so that universities and schools can implement and scale challenge-based, project-based and case-based learning, service-learning and hackathons.
Its starting point is that a method is not a list of activities, but the invisible structure that holds them. That is why the BeChallenge Method is not a rigid sequence: it is an architecture with invariants that adapts to each institution.
The four pillars
Investigate
Inquire before opining: each student explores the problem individually and joins the team with their own point of view.
Connect
Systems thinking: see the system, not just the parts, anticipate consequences and design solutions that consider the whole.
Co-create
Collaboration that leaves a trace: every contribution to the team is visible and traceable.
Evaluate
From grading to development: continuous 360° assessment — self, peers, teachers and external actors — turned into evidence.
The seven reference phases
- 1
Discover
Individual discovery before forming teams: this is where free-riding dies.
- 2
Team
Teams form with perspectives already built, roles and commitments.
- 3
Ideate
Empathy with those who live the problem and co-creation of solutions.
- 4
Feedback
Teachers and external actors come in while the course can still change.
- 5
Prototype
Ideas become tangible, are tested and communicated.
- 6
Voting
Solutions are showcased and selected against transparent criteria.
- 7
Evaluate
360° closing on skills and on the experience itself, turned into graduate-profile evidence.
The method is elastic: 7, 5 or 3 phases with the same architecture. Every phase closes with metacognition (what did I learn and how?) and assessment (what evidence do I leave?), so learning consolidates along the way instead of being examined only at the end.
It builds on Kolb's experiential learning cycle, Dewey's learning by doing, Vygotsky's social constructivism, design thinking, systems thinking, metacognition and assessment for development.
Disclosure: Xavi Pascual, author of Challenger Universities, is the founder of BeChallenge.
Universities with an interdisciplinary model
Institutions in the directory where integrating disciplines is structural:
Minerva University
A first year of cornerstone courses focused on transferable habits of mind, later applied to any major.
View profileLIS – London Interdisciplinary School
The UK's first fully interdisciplinary degree, organised around complex problems and methods from several disciplines.
View profileAfrican Leadership University
Missions instead of majors: the continent's grand challenges organise learning.
View profileDeep Springs College
Combines academic study, ranch labour and self-governance into one holistic formative experience.
View profileKaosPilot
Integrates entrepreneurship, leadership, design and creative projects in a single pathway.
View profileWhat students gain
Systems thinking
The ability to see relationships, consequences and trade-offs between technical, social and ethical factors.
Adaptability
Transferable tools to move between fields and jobs that don't exist yet.
Critical thinking
Contrasting perspectives and methods avoids simplistic answers.
A distinctive profile
Professionals who can translate between specialists, highly valued by organisations.
Common mistakes
Cosmetic interdisciplinarity
Putting two subjects in the same time slot is not integrating them.
Superficiality
Without disciplinary depth, integration stays at the level of opinion. Each method needs rigour.
Subject-based assessment
If each lecturer assesses their part separately, students break the problem into pieces again.
How to take the step at your institution
Designing interdisciplinary degrees requires curriculum architecture decisions:
- 1Define the graduate profile before the list of subjects.
- 2Identify the anchor problems of the professional field.
- 3Create cross-departmental teaching teams with time to design together.
- 4Assess integrated evidence instead of grades per subject.
- 5Agree with governance how shared credits and teaching loads are recognised.
Frequently asked questions about interdisciplinary learning
What is the difference between interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary?
Interdisciplinary integrates several academic disciplines. Transdisciplinary goes further and incorporates the knowledge of non-academic actors to co-create solutions with society.
Is an interdisciplinary degree less rigorous?
Not necessarily. Good programmes combine depth in disciplinary methods with the ability to integrate them. Superficiality appears when both are sacrificed.
How do you start designing an interdisciplinary degree?
From the graduate profile and the problems graduates will need to tackle, not from existing subjects. Xavi Pascual explains this approach in his article on designing interdisciplinary degrees.
Designing an interdisciplinary degree?
Xavi Pascual supports the design of new degrees starting from the profile, not the subjects. Message him on WhatsApp.
Personal reply from Xavi Pascual, usually within one business day.