Putting interdisciplinary teaching on the map.

How do you develop a good interdisciplinary course? What are the do’s and don’ts?

Putting interdisciplinary Teaching on the Map

Within Leiden University, interdisciplinary education is offered in all types and sizes: from broad bachelor’s programmes such as Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) or International Studies, to specific courses such as Honours Classes.  

Both students and lecturers are highly enthusiastic about this type of teaching. For the first time, students experience what their field entails. What are the boundaries of the field? And what is the added value of their discipline to society? Lecturers, too, broaden their horizons through this type of teaching and gain new and unexpected insights for research. It’s a very successful way of teaching.

But how is an interdisciplinary course developed? What are the do’s and don’ts? How do you implement course objectives or learning outcomes found in educational in interdisciplinary teaching? In practice, lecturers who are interested in this type of education seem to re-invent the wheel themselves.

For my LTA project I want to develop an online teacher’s manual for lecturers throughout the university that are interested in setting up interdisciplinary programmes.

The manual will make the educational literature in the field accessible and will also provide an overview of the best practices that I collect based on interviews with lecturers and students.

Would you like to participate in my project, either as a lecturer or as a student? Let me know! Send a message to c.de.kruif@law.leidenuniv.nl

Progress of the project

In 2016 I collected best practices and educational literature on interdisciplinary education. I also talked to teachers about how an interdisciplinary course should be structured. In 2017, I hope to set up a pilot course in which we can experiment with the knowledge I have gathered.

Chris de Kruif, Faculty of Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law

‘I would like to see “interdisciplinary teaching” integrated more in Leiden University’s curriculum. This is something I do as Director of Education for the Honours Academy, but it also helps to be a Fellow of the Leiden Teachers’ Academy. I look forward to discussing my plans with other fellows and hope through them to gain access to the right themes and lecturers.’