Learning in transdisciplinary collaborations: A conceptual vocabulary

Abstract

This chapter presents a conceptual vocabulary for learning in transdisciplinary collaborations based on literature review. After discussing preliminary distinctions between interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, the chapter provides insights on the nature of integrative learning in interdisciplinary education, grounded in a shift from content-based to process-based integration, the theory of constructivism, and the concept of reflective equilibrium. It then defines transdisciplinary learning framed by the thematics of complexity and systems thinking and the concept of co-construction of knowledge as well as mutual, generative, deep, double-loop and triple-loop learning. The vocabulary expands when looking beyond the notion of collaborative learning in education to concepts of collective learning in the field of health and transdisciplinary orientation in the field of team science. The conclusion reflects on the shift from adaptive and generative learning to reflexivity, transformational learning, convergence, transactivity, and relational thinking. In aggregate, the concepts that shape this vocabulary underscore the pivotal relationship between communication and learning. Members of transdisciplinary research teams gain collective communication competence through joint activities, anchored by socio-cognitive platforms for interdisciplinary collaboration that are crucial to building a cooperation and communication culture.