In universities worldwide, there has been a movement away from mono-disciplinary towards multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary education, motivated by the notion that complex societal issues call for more than a single disciplinary perspective. To prepare students for a role in addressing these issues, flexibility within educational programs is…

Purpose: This study explored students' experiences of creative problem-solving using a design thinking approach in higher education, mainly focusing on the importance of empathetic approach in the problem identification and definition phase. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used a descriptive qualitative research design and thematic…

Objective: To evaluate the hypothesis that social problem solving (SPS) moderates strong emotion reactivity (ER) to stressful events in predicting suicide ideation (SI). Participants: 200 college students: mean age = 20.33; 75% women; 58% white. Methods: Participants completed the following self-report inventories: Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation,…

Although culturally responsive mathematics teaching is important, post-secondary education for preservice teachers (PTs) does not typically lead to learning opportunities for them to use mathematics to recognize the roles of social agents. To address this issue, we created a culturally responsive mathematical modeling task in which we invited PTs…

This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the implementation of Pancasila learning with the goal of improving critical thinking skills through the application of the six thinking hats model. The research adopts a descriptive approach utilizing qualitative methods. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Engineering, Universitas…

This research assesses how interdisciplinary pedagogical interventions can prepare students to tackle complex problems, such as the refugee and migrant crisis. The co-authors created a six-week interdisciplinary module, introducing students to refugee and migrant rights, experiences, and challenges from two disciplinary pedagogical and substantive…

The interweaving of various societal challenges into polycrisis makes resolving nowadays wicked problems increasingly complex, asking for a transformation of both our design and our education practices in the Global North. In this paper, we describe why and how we are developing and researching a multi-actor educational and learning environment…

The emerging field of social entrepreneurship seeks to address social challenges in environments where traditional public sector institutions are weak or absent. With its explicit focus on solving problems, social entrepreneurship is inherently interdisciplinary. A well-designed undergraduate course in social entrepreneurship can enhance…

In this study we designed, implemented, and evaluated a Problem-based Learning (PBL) course to teach undergraduate students about Viral Hepatitis from a Health Geography perspective. The course was attended by undergraduate students with no previous experience with PBL from a college in the Brazilian Amazon state of Acre. The course design was…

This paper explores the integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into service-learning for fostering global citizenship and addressing societal challenges. Beginning with an overview of the complex issues facing society in the 21st century, this paper emphasizes the importance of engaging students in critical thinking, problem-solving,…

Global environmental challenges brought on by over-consumption, limited resources, and climate change will task teacher education programs to prepare teacher candidates with new paradigms in problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation. Skills such as collaborating across cultures and borders, thinking critically and creatively, reflecting on…

This study examined the effect of multicultural acceptance on social problem solving in a sample of 159 university students in South Korea. A simple regression analysis revealed that multicultural acceptance significantly predicted social problem solving. Specifically, multicultural acceptance positively predicted positive problem orientation and…

In this study, an assessment tool was developed to measure the reasoning skills (RS) of preservice science teachers on socio-scientific issues (SSI). As a result of the literature review, the scale was developed based on five dimensions. These dimensions are complexity, questioning, having different perspectives, skeptical approach and the…

Although there are numerous studies and discussions about the concept of value, it is claimed to lack an objective basis. The concept of value is difficult to define from a single perspective because it relates to many disciplines, especially the social sciences. Philosophy, sociology, psychology, religious sciences, anthropology, and historical…

The purpose of the current study is to qualitatively explore how Thai preservice biology teachers make decisions on, and informally reason about, an agriculture-based socioscientific issue (SSI). The SSI arises mainly as a controversy between two social classes, namely the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, involving haze pollution.…