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

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.

Use of Generative AI (GenAI)

This course follows the BETA Faculty policy on GenAI use. Use

GenAI responsibly and in line with the VU academic integrity policy and the VU recommendations on responsible use of GenAI.

Explanation Canvas

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