Creating Inspiring Workshops and Courses in Transdisciplinarity: A Guide - Manual / Resource - Page 7
Pause and read this page!
What is the focus of this guide?
We know you want to get to
the actionable part, but these
definitions are foundational.
Important terms and acronyms
i
In this guide, we repeatedly use terms that are not
universally understood or used. So, to start, we define
these key terms and explain why we use them.
i
We use the term “training” rather than “teaching” to
emphasize the skill-building, and practice aspects of
learning TD, rather than the often more concept-heavy,
understanding-focused dimensions of teaching, especially
in universities. The term “training” also travels more easily
across different institutional contexts, participants, and
topics that you as a trainer or facilitator of TD workshops
and courses may encounter. We expect this guide to be
useful for designing workshops, classes, entire courses,
research schools, professional development events for
research funders, institutional leaders, or members of a
research team.
Transdisciplinarity, TD, and TDR
We have chosen to use the term “transdisciplinarity” (TD)
or “transdisciplinary research” (TDR) for research that
crosses and integrates across disciplines and fields of
study within academia and crosses boundaries between
academia and wider society with an intent of making
scientific research more societally relevant and useful for
decision-making.
Across the globe, and across disciplines and fields of
study, there are many different terms used for TD and
TDR, as the cover graphic of this guide shows. We use
transdisciplinarity, because it is dominant across the
world, and common in many academic contexts. Our focus
on TD, as broadly defined here, does not deny the subtle
differences among the many other, related terms, but
elevates what is common across these allied approaches.
That said, TD is still not a mainstream approach in
research. By developing a guide that helps those who wish
to train others in practicing TDR, we hope to accelerate
the adoption of this approach by a growing number of
individuals.
See Attributes
(page 63)
About the guide What’s the focus?
Training
i
Know/Do/Be
Because the range of possible training audiences is
wide, this guide defines three levels of proficiencies –
foundational, intermediate, and advanced – and for each
level describes what trainees should KNOW, be able to DO,
and how to BE as a result of the training. Standardizing
these achievement levels goes a long way toward building
capacity for TD and advances the field, but leaves you
room to tailor your training or course to the specific needs
of your audience.
IV
p. 2
