Transformation processes towards sustainability have emerged as a paramount concern, transcending disciplinary boundaries, and necessitating a comprehensive, multifaceted approach (Rowe, 2007). Higher education institutions, as hubs of knowledge and innovation, are uniquely positioned to lead the charge in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to address the pressing issues not only of sustainability (Sonetti et al., 2019) but also for dealing with a rapidly changing world with increasing complexity (Denham et al. 2021). The integration of diverse perspectives and disciplines within the realm of higher education requires a future-oriented design of teaching and learning opportunities that enable students to deal with socially relevant challenges not only within but also across their disciplines and learn the necessary skills to make science-based decisions and actively participate in shaping a just and sustainable society (Spelt et al. 2009). 

This study examines one example for future-oriented higher education. It was conducted at a mid-sized German university, where the undergraduate study program follows a liberal education approach (e.g., Humphreys 2006; Mulcahy 2009). This three-year program is characterized by a high proportion of interdisciplinary teaching in the first semester, which begins with an interdisciplinary opening week for all first-year students (approx. 1.500), regardless of their major, and continues with five modules, two introducing the major subjects. This study focuses primarily on the remaining three interdisciplinary modules that focus (i) on acquiring the fundamental skills of academic study as well as (ii)  on the development of critical thinking and sustainability competencies. All three modules follow a similar structure: students attend a lecture together and choose a seminar that further explores individual aspects of the respective module. 

One of the modules introduces critical thinking and scientific work from a humanities and social science perspective and is dedicated to reflecting on social coexistence.With the second interdisciplinary module, students receive an overview of different research methods and their historical and (subject-specific) cultural localization. Also, students get to know and try out scientific methods outside their discipline. The third module deals with social responsibility and the relationship between science and society in the face of social change. Besides an introduction to the sustainability discourse from different perspectives, students develop their first manageable research project in small research groups, following the principle of inquiry-based learning (e.g., Riga et al. 2017). Parallelly, they develop data literacy and programming skills within an exercise (DATAx). At the end of the first semester, they present the results to the (university) public at the three-day conference week, which also marks the festive conclusion of the first semester. (Weiser et al. 2019)

This study aims to test a first methodological approach to gain insights for this unique study model as an integrative, interdisciplinary approach to developing first academic research skills as well as sustainability competencies. The overarching research question is:

What are challenges and enablers of learning of first-semester students in an interdisciplinary study model at Leuphana university?

Specific aspects we focus on are the development of general academic skills as well as learning for sustainability. To contextualize these results, we need to improve our understanding of different factors which might enable or hinder learning. Therefore, we try to get a broad understanding of the challenges the students are facing. These challenges could cover study-related (e.g. complexity of content) as well as external factors (e.g. challenges concerning everyday life). On the other hand, we would like to figure out which factors like personal attitudes might foster learning (towards sustainability) in an interdisciplinary approach. 

We conducted two bi-lingual surveys in German and English during the running program. The first survey took place in October 2024, with 1,281 participants (N=1577) who provided informed consent for research use. We queried 96 variables, of which 43 are Likert-scale variables, 30 are categorical variables, 14 are text-based variables, 5 are continuous variables, and 4 are categorized as other. The second survey was conducted between December 9, 2024, and January 7, 2025, with 860 participants who provided informed consent. Here, we queried 103 variables, consisting of 50 Likert-scale variables, 25 categorical variables, 24 text-based variables, and 4 classified as other. To analyze the comparability of the two surveys, we examined their temporal gap of approximately two months. 663 participants completed both surveys. Within the dataset, 25 questions are identical between both surveys, while the other questions relate to the specific time of the running study model. The survey queries students' motivation for selecting a major including the interdisciplinary study model, and queries the students' understanding and mindset towards sustainability, critical thinking, technology, science and scientific work, gender, and trust. Changes in knowledge are derived from free text answers and rating questions. In open-ended responses, students were asked at the beginning and at the end of the semester to define core concepts of the respective modules - sustainability, science, critical thinking and IT. In additional rating questions students were also asked to self-assess their knowledge of these topics. Changes in attitudes are analyzed using rating scales and multiple-choice responses. Among other things, students were asked to rate the relevance of their experiences in the first semester (e.g. for their personal or professional development). Their motivation to attend courses and their trust in science were also recorded. Changes in students' competencies are measured by a number of assessment questions. Data preprocessing was carried out using Python for data cleaning and transformation. The analysis plan includes several multivariate statistical techniques to explore patterns and relationships within the data. A Cluster Analysis and an adapted Indicator Species Analysis will be applied to continuous variables and Likert-scale responses to identify latent patterns and clustering structures. Correlation analysis will be conducted for Likert-scale responses to determine relationships between variables. For textual responses, word frequency analysis and WordCloud visualizations will be employed. Given that a significant proportion of participants provided single-word responses, a frequency-based approach will be used to interpret these inputs effectively.

As a result, we expect to be able to draw conclusions about students' perceptions of the study model and its integrative, interdisciplinary approach. Of particular interest are possible developments in students' knowledge, attitudes, and skills with a special focus on sustainability-related abilities, concerning the three modules and their teaching contents - and the factors that influence these developments. These moderating factors are referred to as challenges and enablers. They may include the students' field of study, their social integration and the challenges they perceive in their everyday studies. Additional factors, which were only collected in the second survey, include students' assessment of the workload in each module, their course attendance, and their preferred tools for overcoming problems and obstacles. These results will support the evaluation and improvement of students’ academic development in an integrative, interdisciplinary study model and lead to recommendations which might be transferred to other cases. It is also serving as a starting point for further research towards questions into the extent to which an interdisciplinary introduction into higher education can influence students’ reception of higher education as well as how the Leuphana Semester shapes students’ agency towards the role of education in addressing global challenges.

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