Abstract
Transdisciplinarity emerged as a response to academic compartmentalisation, providing a framework for tackling complex societal challenges. This has driven efforts to integrate transdisciplinarity into higher education curricula to equip students with the competencies needed to navigate these complexities. To better understand the operationalisation of transdisciplinarity in education, a comprehensive review of its evolution and implementation is long overdue. This study addresses that gap by conducting a scoping review and synthesising insights from 25 studies. Our analysis reveals that while the conceptual flexibility of transdisciplinary education fosters experimentation and innovative teaching methods, it also poses significant challenges in practice. Course objectives struggle to fully capture the essence of transdisciplinarity; learning activities tend to mirror research processes rather than extend beyond them, and competencies as learning outcomes frequently lack clear definitions and rigorous assessment methods. This poses a risk of opacity in aligning key elements of course design—objectives, learning activities and competency assessment—potentially reinforcing a ‘black-boxing’ effect. We propose aligning conceptualisation, course configuration and competency assessment (3Cs) to enhance the design of transdisciplinary education. This alignment will enhance curriculum coherence, support student expectations and improve assessment methods, ultimately fostering a more effective positioning of transdisciplinary education in students’ learning journeys.
Context and implications
Rationale for the study: The surge in publications empirically claiming transdisciplinary education’s effectiveness profoundly shapes the field, highlighting the need to critically examine how such studies conceptualise and operationalise transdisciplinary education in practice.
Why the new findings matter: We identified blind spots in transdisciplinary education and suggested ways to address them to advance its research and practice critically.
Implications for researchers, practitioners and policymakers: This study offers an opportunity to expand the discourse on transdisciplinary education, moving beyond recurring discussions to encourage a more critical and reflective engagement. By examining ‘transdisciplinary education’ in relation to well-established educational concepts and student development, it invites researchers and practitioners to reassess its foundations and implications. This approach aims to strengthen the positioning of transdisciplinarity within the broader educational landscape.