Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning: Defining Challenges In a Multi-Stakeholder Context

Course Objective

The objectives of the course Interdisciplinary Community Service
Learning: Defining Challenges in a Multi-Stakeholder Context are that
students:
• Become familiar with and acquire practical experience in inter- and
transdisciplinary research and Community Service Learning (CSL).
• Acquire insight in the complexity of wicked problems and corresponding
multi-actor systems.
• Be able to identify and integrate various societal issues and the
perspectives of different societal actors in practice, though
co-creation in a real life situation. Thereby learning how a
transdisciplinary approach can contribute to research directions for
current societal challenges.
• Gain (basic) experience with qualitative community-based research
methods (interviews, dialogue sessions).
• Develop the ability to report findings and implications of the
co-creation sessions to a broad audience including community members and
partners.
• Gain experience with critical self-reflection to become aware of their
own position and take an active role in their own learning process.

Course Content

In the 21st century, we increasingly face complex societal challenges,
such as climate change, pollution, social segregation, digitalization
and inequality in health, literacy, and wealth. These so-called ‘wicked’
problems urge the involvement of various disciplines and involve a wide
variety of actors.
This complexity often causes these problems to remain ill-defined, while
a universal definition is essential to addressing them effectively. Due
to their complex and inter-related nature, defining the challenges and
corresponding research questions requires an inter- and
transdisciplinary approach: integrating knowledge from different
academic disciplines and actively involving relevant actors at and
beyond the campus.
This course provides theoretical knowledge about, as well as practical
experience with, analysing multi-actor systems and defining complex
societal challenges. It examines a large societal topic through
literature, (online) lectures, and interviews with societal actors.
The course builds up to a public event hosted by the students, at which
the actors are brought together. This allows for integration of their
different perspectives to reach a widely embraced definition of the
issues which takes the different stakes, perspectives and needs of all
actors into account. The definition of the issues and corresponding
research questions constitutes the end product of the course, which will
be addressed in subsequent projects in the follow-up course
‘Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning; Addressing Challenges
through Transdisciplinary Research’.

Additional Information Teaching Methods

Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning; Defining Challenges in a
Multi-Stakeholder Context is a part-time course of eight weeks (3 ECTS).
The total study time is 80 hours. Tuition methods include lectures
(online/offline), workgroups, group project work, a public event and
self-study. The different elements have the following study time:
• Online lectures: 8 hours
• Face-to-face meetings (lectures, workgroups and training, public
event): 22 hours
• Project work (preparation of event, performing interviews,
assignments, reflection) and self-study: 50 hours

Self-reflection is an important component of this course. This allows
for deeper processing of the learned materials and personal learning
from the practical experiences during the course. Mandatory reflection
exercises have to be completed throughout the course.
Attendance to the workgroup sessions is compulsory. If you miss one
workgroup, with a good reason, you will receive an additional
assignment. If you miss more than one workgroup session it is no longer
possible to pass the project part of the course. Attending the public
event is mandatory, it will not be possible to pass the course without
having attended the Public Event.

Method of Assessment

The course grade is based on two grades for the end products: a written
report (group grade) and a grade the facilitation of the group
discussion at the Public Event (individual). Each component of the
course grade needs to be 5.5 or higher to pass the course.

Entry Requirements

No specific prior knowledge is needed.

Literature

All lectures, reading materials, videos, assignments and further
information will be provided on Canvas.

Additional Information Target Audience

The course ‘Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning; Defining
Challenges in a Multi-Stakeholder Context’ is an elective within the
master program ‘Management, Policy Analysis and Entrepreneurship in
Health and Life Sciences’, but it can be followed as an optional course
for master students from across the VU University.
The course is especially relevant for students who want to explore
hands-on interdisciplinary cooperation to find and explore effective
approaches for societal challenges.
Please contact the course coordinator prior to enrolment.

Additional Information

• Registration through VUnet
• The entire course is in English
• For more information about the course, see www.vu.nl/icsl. The website
also features a video with the experiences of students who participated
earlier in this course.
• A related course (Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning:
Addressing Challenges through Transdisciplinary Research) follows up on
the findings of this course and runs in the second semester in parallel
to conducting master theses. In this follow-up course, students address
those challenges through a collaborative research project parallel to a
thesis or internship and integrate the insights from the different
individual disciplinary master projects.

Explanation Canvas

All lectures, reading materials, videos, assignments and further
information will be provided on Canvas