Exploring Pathways towards Interdisciplinary, Inter-University Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This case study is built on an online interdisciplinary, inter-university bachelor course on sustainability education in the Netherlands. Our research is based on and inspired by recent scholarly debates in online education on ‘Transactional distance’ and ‘Community of Inquiry’ (CoI). The aim of this study was to investigate how transactional distance and presence are perceived by students enrolled in our course. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied including students' reflection forms, interviews, and perception questionnaires. From this study, we can draw conclusions about the perceived strengths and weaknesses of online challenge-based learning