Challenges faced integrating an interdisciplinary learning line in a new master in material science

Abstract

In 2022-2023, the new Master of Materiomics started at the Faculty of Sciences (Hasselt University, Belgium). This study program is designed for students with a passion for developing sustainable and innovative materials. To tackle increasingly complex materials-related societal issues like the energy transition, changing industrial processes, finite resources,... this new master in material sciences focusses on an interdisciplinary approach, wherein students are trained to build bridges between chemistry and physics as well as between experimental and theoretical, computational methods. Throughout the curriculum, students are gradually introduced to different perspectives and approaches, building on the four learning mechanisms from boundary crossing theory: identification, coordination, reflection and transformation (Kluijtmans, 2019, based on Akkerman & Bakker, 2011). Students start by making connections between different perspectives, synthesize them through group work and assignments, and apply all this to new, complex material problems through an hands-on project, internship in a company, and their master's thesis. To support the implementation of this interdisciplinary learning line and the development of interdisciplinary competences in students, students document their interdisciplinary skills in a learning portfolio (discussed three times a year with a professor of the master-this is called the mentoring programme). Each semester focus groups with the educational teams of the Master in Materiomics are organized to closely monitor how the interdisciplinary learning line is implemented in practice. The output of these focus groups forms the basis of a design-based research wherein the curriculum and the interdisciplinary learning line is optimized year by year. In this paper, we discuss the construction of the interdisciplinary learning line of Materiomics and present the results of the focus groups with the educational teams of each of the eight courses in the first semester of the master. The most important benefits and hurdles to interdisciplinarity experienced by the educational teams will be highlighted and possible modifications for the future will be discussed.