Integrating sustainability themes for enhancing interdisciplinarity: a case study of a comprehensive research university in Japan

Interdisciplinary education and education for sustainable development provide a complementary approach to enhancing learners’ interdisciplinary and sustainability competencies. An interdisciplinary approach is considered a crucial method for enhancing university students’ competencies in sustainability. However, the use of integrating sustainability issues for the purpose of enhancing interdisciplinary education in universities is still under investigation. In contrast to the analyses of sustainability studies programs, this case study explores how sustainability issues could enhance interdisciplinarity in teaching and learning in non-environmentally related courses that do not have special learning objectives related to sustainability. By borrowing Biggs’ comprehensive model of teaching and learning in higher education, this case study analyzes an undergraduate general education course and a postgraduate course at a comprehensive research university in Japan from four perspectives: students’ perspectives learning environment, learning process, and learning outcomes. This qualitative case study data were collected through mixed research methods, including questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with instructors and learners. Findings demonstrate that interdisciplinary teaching and learning can be enhanced by integrating sustainability issues into non-environmentally related courses. By integrating sustainability issues into the curriculum, students and instructors from various disciplines can collaborate with the intention of enhancing students’ abilities to integrate knowledge and communicate with people from different backgrounds and experiences. The paper concludes by discussing the achievements of and barriers to incorporating sustainability themes into interdisciplinary teaching and learning in non-environmentally related courses at universities. Moreover, it provides implications of utilizing a complementary relationship between sustainability and interdisciplinarity to innovate and rethink teaching and learning in higher education to prepare students to build a sustainable future.