Disentangling the different layers of Interdisciplinarity

Interdisciplinarity for complex problem solving is a rising phenomenon. Each self-respecting university is trying to realise different programmes and approaches to interdisciplinary teaching and research. The debate on what interdisciplinarity is, how it may work as a substantial part of a university, which barriers are encountered to realising interdisciplinary teaching and research and what the added value is, is addressed in this paper from a social science perspective. Based on the attendance of a conference at the Volkswagenstiftung organised by the Humboldt University of Berlin, different scholarly viewpoints and examples are explored on Interdisciplinary teaching and (researching). Collaborations across the at-times-fragmented subfields of research and education ultimately yield insightful, informative, and even educational experience that creates space for mutual understanding and new ways of thinking about seemingly-established approaches to knowledge-building and communication.<br/

The international university curriculum: Challenges in English-medium engineering education

Technology, Policy and Managemen

Disentangling the different layers of Interdisciplinarity

Interdisciplinarity for complex problem solving is a rising phenomenon. Each self-respecting university is trying to realise different programmes and approaches to interdisciplinary teaching and research. The debate on what interdisciplinarity is, how it may work as a substantial part of a university, which barriers are encountered to realising interdisciplinary teaching and research and what the added value is, is addressed in this paper from a social science perspective. Based on the attendance of a conference at the Volkswagenstiftung organised by the Humboldt University of Berlin, different scholarly viewpoints and examples are explored on Interdisciplinary teaching and (researching). Collaborations across the at-times-fragmented subfields of research and education ultimately yield insightful, informative, and even educational experience that creates space for mutual understanding and new ways of thinking about seemingly-established approaches to knowledge-building and communication.Teaching & Learning Service

Pedagogies of integration in challenge based or interdisciplinary education

Integration is key characteristic of Interdisciplinary learning and often also of Challenge based Education. The definition and operationalisation in Engineering Education is, however debated widely. In this study we explored the tacit knowledge of Engineering Lecturers in HE education by doing semi-structured interviews. It yields suggestions for operationalising integration, boundary conditions and a peak insight into the beliefs and match with theoretical literature.Teaching & Learning Service

Interdisciplinary education: a case study

Today, interdisciplinary education is a hot topic. Gaining an insight into the nature of interdisciplinary education may help when making design decisions for interdisciplinary education. In this study, we argue that, derived from interdisciplinary research, the choice of problem, the level of interaction between different disciplines and constructive alignment are variables to consider when designing interdisciplinary education. Several models of analysis have been used in two descriptive case studies to gain insight into the design parameters for interdisciplinary education. In this study, we AIM to describe (a) the level and nature of integration, (b) the problem definitions as a guiding principle for constructive alignment for (c) the design and execution of interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary education.Teaching & Learning Service

Active learning in redesigning mathematics courses for engineering students

“Prepare, Participate, Practice”: active learning in designing basic maths courses for engineering students at TU Delft works! The PRoject Innovation Mathematics Education (PRIME) at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is all about redesigning mathematics courses for engineers. This paper describes the process of developing, implementing, evaluating and implementing again of three basic courses at TU Delft using a blended learning approach developed by a growing team of teachers from the mathematics department. Our findings suggest that the approach taken enhances students’ learning performance in maths education. The main results show that students have a more active learning experience compared to the traditional setup of these courses, leading to more engagement, more interaction and better results. An important role is played by meaningful examples taken from the engineering faculty where the students are studying, showing students from that faculty what role the mathematics play in their field of interest. This is also used to develop their skills in mathematical modelling.StatisticsTeaching & Learning Service

English Language Screening for Scientific Staff at Delft University of Technology,

Delft University of Technology (DUT) screened her (non-native English) scientific staff on their level of English proficiency in the academic year of 2006/2007. In this paper this large scale operation, involving planning, policy decisions, assessment means, advice and training are discussed. Since 2005 all the master programmes at DUT have been taught in English and since 3 years ago DUT has been an officially bilingual university with around 5,500 master students and 1,100 international students in the year 2008. Therefore, results are framed against the background of becoming an international universityOLD E&SS education center FOCUSEducation and Student Affair

The influence of Teacher cues on self-directed Learning in Math Education

Increasing class sizes forces universities to change their education in ways that allow for independent learning for students. This study looks at a case where blended learning was introduced to alleviate some of the educationally negative consequences of large class sizes. Independent learning requires from the students to become more self-regulated while at the same time they need efficient feedback from lecturers to enact these self-regulated learning activities. In this paper we investigate whether at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) student perceptions of lecturing behaviour is such as to stimulate student’s independent learning and whether self-regulated learning behaviour results in more active engagement with the learning materials.StatisticsTeaching & Learning Service

Impact of global forces and empowering situations on engineering education in 2030

Over the last couple of decades the world around us has changed at a dizzying pace by the globalisation and digitalisation, the horizontalisation of the socio-economic world, and the blending of technical, economical and societal cultures. The ways we communicate, work, play, travel and do business have changed dramatically, and are expected to change at an even faster pace in the future. We have entered an era where higher engineering education has to move from content coverage to content mastery. Are our programmes good enough to absorb the changes in the world 10 to 15 years from now? This paper discusses the results of an exploration by a Think Tank of academic staff about “what future engineers should learn in higher engineering education in 2030”. Key issues are the embedding of personal development in a meaningful way - the teaching of the “whole engineer”, the creation of purposeful engineering profiles for society, keeping them specific enough to create in-depth learning.Education Managemen

Effective lecturing behaviour in English-medium instruction: A pilot study

Today, the expansion of English education between non-native speakers with different language backgrounds requires insight into the problems encountered in the multicultural classroom and the consequences of English-medium instruction for local students as well as students of other nationalities. As English becomes the language of communication it may cause on the one hand an increase in lecturers'workload and adversely affect their lecturing behaviour and on the other hand it may affect students' workload and study behaviour and workload, resulting in a loss of academic achievements (Jochems et.all 1994). Both English speaking communities as well as other European Communities are aware of the necessity for research into the ever increasing activities in the area of internationalisation. In this booklet you will find 4 qualitative case studies, describing the nature of effective lecturing behaviour in English-medium instruction at TU- Delft