Ongoing projects:
Student project on mapping learning using large language models
At the Center of Interdisciplinary Education, we want to assess how students develop interdisciplinary competence. We therefore want to initiate a project where we will study how students develop interdisciplinary competence as reflected in the texts they write and want to study changes in text embeddings of OpenAI’s text-embedding-ada-002. To quickly start this project and investigate the potential of such a method, we are looking for a group of up to three students who can work on the project for 2-3 months from September to December this year. The end result of the project will be a written report that will form the basis for further use of such methods in our educational research. We are looking for students who preferably have experience in the use of large language models and who are able to work nearly full-time on such a project this fall.
Interested students are encouraged to contact Anders at malthe@fys.uio.no for a chat about the project.
Application deadline: 6th of September, 2023.
Completed projects:
Summer projects at INTED
In the summer of 2023, INTED employed students to work on various projects. The objective was for students to collaborate in exploring interdisciplinary topics and to generate reports that INTED can use for future center activities. The project resulted in three separate reports written by students, each covering a different theme:
- Review of the research literature on interdisciplinary education
- Workshop methods for interdisciplinary learning
- Mapping of interdisciplinary activity at UiO
Research on interdisciplinary education
The focus of the first report was to conduct a literature review on interdisciplinary education. It examines the literature on the use of interdisciplinary activities, as well as frameworks for assessing the interdisciplinary nature of courses and interdisciplinary competence in students.
Through these objectives, the report also provides insights into different approaches to and reflections on interdisciplinary education. The report highlights areas of concern in the research literature on interdisciplinary education, as well as potential hinders when carrying out interdisciplinary activities.
Teaching methods
The second report assessed different methods for conducting workshops and activities with interdisciplinary groups within a limited time frame. The report aims to provide an overview of methods that effectively promote interdisciplinary skills in students, drawing from research on these methods. This knowledge is useful in designing interdisciplinary activities when facing time constraints, for instance when one does not have the time span of a full course.
Interdisciplinary activity at UiO
The third report mapped interdisciplinary activity at UiO across bachelor’s and master’s programs, both at the program and course level. It assesses programs and courses categorized by faculties, listing relevant programs and courses, and discusses how interdisciplinarity is practiced in comparison to our definition thereof. The report serves as a valuable resource for gaining a comprehensive overview of all forms of interdisciplinary teaching at the university.
The reports were developed on behalf of INTED and can be used in the further development of center activities.
The student projects have:
- Mobilized student engagement and activity
- Provided opportunities for students to make use of their own competence in creating valuable contributions to the center's future planning
- Equipped the participating students with valuable competence and experience