Travelling Concepts

Experimenting with interdisciplinary conversations

This tool invites students to engage in interdisciplinary conversations through the notion of travelling concepts — concepts that move between disciplines and take on different meanings along the way. Rather than focusing on solving a problem, students explore how a concept is understood, used or transformed across disciplinary boundaries.

By comparing how different disciplines approach the same concept, students begin to recognise underlying patterns in how knowledge is shaped. These conversations help them better understand their disciplinary background and assumptions, while learning to identify contrasting perspectives and construct common ground.

Through dialogue, they discover how sharing stories, interpretations and ways of knowing can generate new meaning — a crucial skill for interdisciplinary and transition-oriented learning.

Learning outcome

The student is able to recognise how concepts travel between disciplines, identify emerging patterns and articulate these insights in an interdisciplinary dialogue

Students engage in interdisciplinary conversations using travelling concepts to uncover disciplinary assumptions, compare perspectives and construct common ground.

1.Preparation

1.5 hrs

To prepare, read the Travelling Concepts for Teachers handout, and both you and the students listen to two episodes of the Travelling Concepts on Air podcast series:

Episode 1 “Introducing Travelling Concepts“
One additional episode of choice

While listening, take notes on the following points to prepare for the classroom discussion and reflection:

How is the concept interpreted in each discipline?
How does the meaning shift between contexts?
What does each discipline focus on (methods, assumptions, language)?
Do you notice tensions or overlaps between disciplines?
Where do you see (potential) common ground?

Tip: to supplement the podcast episodes, you are encouraged to read the following two articles: Travelling in the Classroom: Podcasting as an Active-Learning Tool for Interdisciplinarity and Traveling Concepts in the Classroom: Experiences in Interdisciplinary Education.

2.Disciplinary Self-Reflection

30 mins

First, ask the students to share what discipline they most identify with.

Then, have students complete the Disciplinary Self-Reflection exercise (Van Goch, 2023). The form invites students to describe their preferred discipline by considering:

The kinds of phenomena it studies
It’s typical assumptions
Basic concepts and theories
Methodological approaches

Conclude with a plenary discussion in which students share their reflections. Use the guiding questions on the handout to support students who may struggle to articulate the fundamentals of their discipline.

Tip: let students know that this is not an easy task, and that’s the point. Struggling with this reflection can help surface tacit knowledge and disciplinary blind spots, which are key to the learning outcome.

3.Listen & Discuss

30-45 mins

Now, form students into interdisciplinary pairs, ideally across different faculties. Building on their disciplinary self-reflection, student pairs discuss their disciplines.

Guide the students with the following questions:

Are there shared themes, phenomena or research objects between their disciplines?
Do they use the same concepts to describe similar phenomena, or do they approach them differently?
How do disciplinary assumptions, methods or vocabularies align or differ?

Finally, instruct each pair to select one ‘concept’ (see the podcast series, for example) for the next steps.

Tip: encourage students to practise identifying both differences and potential common ground —in how the concept is understood and in how their disciplines relate more broadly to the topic, approach or object of study.

4.Reflection & Travelling

30 mins

In order to deepen students’ understanding of how concepts function across disciplines, this step invites a collective reflection on their paired conversations. It helps students articulate where disciplinary differences emerge, how concepts are used or understood differently, and whether their selected concept holds real potential for interdisciplinary exchange.

Facilitate a plenary discussion in which students reflect on their interdisciplinary dialogues. Use guiding questions to help them examine how disciplinary perspectives shape the interpretation and use of a concept, for example:

How is the concept used differently across the disciplines you discussed?
Are different methods, approaches, or theories applied?
Do your disciplines refer to similar or contrasting sources or scholars?

As part of the plenary or in follow-up, ask each pair to share the concept they selected for their assignment. Assess whether their choice:

Reflects insights from both disciplines
Reveals meaningful differences or connections
Provides a strong basis for interdisciplinary comparison or exchange

Approve or give feedback on the selected concepts before students continue to the next step.

5.Shared Expression

1 hr

Student pairs create a tangible product that captures the core of their interdisciplinary conversation. The aim is to give form to their shared exploration of a travelling concept and to practice communicating across disciplinary boundaries.

Ask each pair to produce a creative output that reflects the essence of their dialogue about the selected concept. Students are free to choose the format, but the product should convey how their disciplines engage with the concept, where their perspectives meet or diverge, and how they navigated the conversation.

Recommended formats include a podcast episode, a co-written essay or article and a visual piece (e.g. diagram, collage, illustrated conversation).

Please note, as part of assessment as learning, students write an individual reflection.

Assessment focuses on the final creative expression, the individual reflection on the learning process and participation in class.

Purpose

Assessment as learning aims to strengthen the learning process and the development of metacognitive skills. It empowers students to direct their own learning and to become independent, critical self-assessors.

Roles

Self-assessment and teacher-led assessment

Characteristics

Assessment of duo and individual process

Materials

Assessment rubric and individual reflection

Download Individual Reflection Assignment

Download Assessment Rubric

It could be helpful to read and learn more about the four-stage learning model for stimulating interdisciplinary thinking and for learning interdisciplinary skills, developed by the Interdisciplinary Education team at Utrecht University. This model draws on existing theories on interdisciplinary and cognitive development by Alan Repko and William Perry and acts as a foundation from which interdisciplinary courses and learning activities can be designed.

Download Travelling Concepts Handout

Download Experiences in Interdisciplinary Education

Download Podcasting as an Active-Learning Tool for Interdisciplinarity

Download Disciplinary Self-Reflection exercise

Diphoorn, T., & McGonigle Leyh, B. (2023). Traveling in the classroom: Podcasting as an active-learning tool for interdisciplinarity. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 12(1), 29–49.

Diphoorn, T., Huysman, M., Knittel, S., McGonigle Leyh, B., & van Gogh, M. (2023). Traveling concepts in the classroom: Experiences in interdisciplinary education. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 12(1), 1–14.

Programma Interdisciplinair Onderwijs. (2023, December 19). Pressure cooker travelling concepts.

Utrecht University. (n.d.). A four-stage model for interdisciplinary learning.

Utrecht University. (n.d.). Podcast: Travelling Concepts on Air.

Van Goch, M. (2019, August). Disciplinary self-reflection exercise [Handout]. Presented at the EARLI Conference, Aachen, Germany. Based on Repko, A. F., & Szostak, R. (2017). Interdisciplinary research: Process and theory (3rd ed.). Sage.