In the rapidly evolving landscape of higher education, equipping both faculty and undergraduate students with the ability to conduct convergence research—a method that synthesizes knowledge from multiple disciplines to solve complex problems—has become increasingly crucial. A novel educational framework known as the Research-to-Action Multidisciplinary (RAMP) course has emerged, demonstrating promising effectiveness in this arena. This innovative course design capitalizes on collaborative group projects centered around a single, multifaceted “wicked” problem, fostering the development of meta-cognitive skills essential for integrating disciplinary knowledge into collective problem-solving endeavors. The RAMP course is distinguishing itself not merely as a teaching experiment but as a transformative vehicle for instilling essential convergence competencies in academic communities.
Central to the RAMP model is an instructional structure meticulously designed to support interdisciplinary integration. Unlike traditional courses that isolate subject matter within departmental silos, RAMP emphasizes sustained, high-quality engagement between students and faculty across multiple projects. This setup creates a dynamic environment where participants continuously interact, exchange perspectives, and co-construct knowledge from diverse disciplinary lenses. The model also incorporates frequent, guided moments of individual reflection, which serve to deepen participants’ awareness of their cognitive processes and reinforce their ability to synthesize varying intellectual approaches. Importantly, project themes are carefully calibrated to strike a balance between complexity and manageability, ensuring that tasks remain sufficiently challenging to stimulate integrative thinking without overwhelming the participants.
Implementing a course with such an interdisciplinary thrust involves navigating significant institutional and logistical hurdles. Faculty team-teaching, a cornerstone of the RAMP approach, encounters systemic resistance rooted in entrenched academic structures that typically reward individual achievements and disciplinary specialization. Overcoming these barriers demands administrative flexibility and strategic investment. Appalachian State University’s experience with RAMP highlights how modifying curricular pathways and consciously allocating resources toward key integrative roles can create an enabling environment. In particular, shared funding frameworks—such as those provided by initiatives like STEPS—play a catalytic role by incentivizing faculty collaboration and underwriting the financial demands of project-based instruction.
One of the practical challenges in delivering the RAMP course lies in its organizational complexity. Since many faculty members are unaccustomed to team-teaching formats involving multiple disciplines and shared responsibilities, clear delineation of roles and coherent coordination become indispensable. Assigning an instructor of record to oversee the myriad organizational elements—like scheduling lectures, creating assignments, and managing grading—has proven to be an effective strategy. Such centralization helps alleviate the administrative burdens on faculty members, enabling them to focus more fully on interdisciplinary dialogue and mentoring students throughout the iterative research process.
Preliminary evaluations of RAMP, particularly through qualitative analyses of faculty interviews, reveal compelling insights into its pedagogical impact. Faculty participants report substantial gains in cross-disciplinary communication skills, alongside enhanced proficiency in cognitive habits pivotal to convergence research—such as adaptability, systems thinking, and collaborative problem-solving. This faculty co-learning dynamic fosters a cultural shift, seeding a community of practice where insights and methods flow fluidly across traditional academic boundaries. However, these gains tend to manifest primarily through faculty interactions, with student involvement often remaining observational rather than participatory in a leadership capacity. This suggests further refinement in pedagogical design may be necessary to empower students as active drivers of convergence inquiry.
Despite the absence of immediate, tangible research outputs—such as published studies or novel empirical findings—within the compressed timeframe of the course, RAMP achieves critical foundational goals. It cultivates an emerging culture of convergence characterized by heightened awareness of integrative methodologies and the internalization of metacognitive practices among both students and faculty. These outcomes represent essential precursors to successful, future convergence research endeavors, establishing a knowledge groundwork that primes participants for more thorough investigation and application beyond the classroom setting.
The significance of this course extends beyond its immediate academic context. Addressing a wicked problem collaboratively simulates the complexities faced by real-world interdisciplinary teams in sectors ranging from public policy to environmental sustainability to health sciences. By engaging participants in active problem-framing, iterative solution-building, and reflective practice, RAMP replicates core elements of professional convergence research, thereby preparing graduates with the adaptable skillsets demanded by today’s multifaceted global challenges. This experiential dimension differentiates RAMP from conventional disciplinary instruction, positioning it as a forward-thinking model aligned with contemporary research and workforce trends.
The RAMP model’s emphasis on metacognition deserves special attention. By prompting students and faculty alike to reflect systematically on their thinking patterns, assumptions, and disciplinary blind spots, the course fosters self-awareness that is critical for transcending rigid academic frameworks. This meta-level of cognitive engagement helps participants recognize when integrative shifts are necessary and equips them with the flexibility to navigate epistemological tensions that often arise in multidisciplinary settings. Such metacognitive cultivation is a subtle but transformative aspect of the course, underpinning the development of habits of mind essential for sustained convergence research participation.
Moreover, the course’s design foregrounds the social dynamics of interdisciplinary teamwork. It recognizes that convergence is not merely an intellectual task but intimately tied to relational skills, including trust-building, negotiation, and mutual respect across distinct academic cultures. Faculty gain opportunities to practice and model these interpersonal dynamics, which in turn influence student perceptions and behaviors. This social scaffolding supports the emergence of a convergence culture characterized by openness, inquiry, and collective agency—conditions that empirical research identifies as pivotal for successful interdisciplinary collaboration.
Despite its promise, the successful replication of RAMP at other institutions will require careful navigation of the contextual variables inherent to each academic environment. Institutional inertia, funding constraints, and faculty readiness vary widely, necessitating customized strategies that honor local cultures while aligning with the core principles of the RAMP model. For example, sustained leadership commitment, transparent communication channels, and embedded incentives aligned with faculty reward structures all emerge as critical factors driving enduring adoption. These considerations underscore that RAMP is not merely a course design but a strategic curricular innovation demanding systemic support.
Longitudinal tracking of RAMP alumni and faculty participants would offer valuable data about its longer-term impacts on research trajectories, career development, and cross-sector engagement. Early indications suggest that the convergence competencies incubated through this course impart a durable advantage, enhancing participants’ abilities to navigate complex research landscapes and contribute to multifaceted problem-solving initiatives. Such outcomes resonate with broader educational and policy objectives emphasizing interdisciplinary fluency as a 21st-century imperative.
The iterative development process behind RAMP also exemplifies an adaptive educational innovation pathway. Faculty and administrators are continually refining course components—including project scopes, reflection modalities, and team teaching logistics—responding responsively to participant feedback and emergent challenges. This iterative approach embodies the very convergence mindset the course seeks to nurture, emphasizing co-creation, flexibility, and ongoing learning within academic systems traditionally resistant to rapid change.
Furthermore, RAMP’s focus on wicked problems situates it within contemporary efforts to leverage higher education as a crucible for societal problem-solving. Wicked problems—complex, ambiguous, and resistant to easy solutions—demand integrative research approaches that blend disciplinary strengths to generate innovative, context-sensitive answers. By engaging students in tackling such problems, RAMP fosters not only intellectual sophistication but also social responsibility, preparing graduates to engage meaningfully with the world’s most pressing challenges.
Looking ahead, the evolution of the RAMP course will likely incorporate enhancements aimed at elevating student agency and leadership within convergence processes. Strategies under consideration include embedding scaffolded leadership roles within project teams, integrating co-designed research questions that resonate with student interests, and expanding mentorship structures that promote student autonomy. Such developments could amplify the course’s impact, transforming students from observers into co-creators of convergence knowledge.
In sum, the innovative Research-to-Action Multidisciplinary course represents a pioneering educational model that is reshaping how convergence research competencies are cultivated within academia. Through deliberate course design, strategic institutional support, and ongoing pedagogical refinement, RAMP fosters the cognitive, social, and cultural dimensions essential to multidisciplinary collaboration. While challenges remain in scaling and fully activating student leadership, the foundational gains in metacognitive awareness and faculty cross-disciplinary communication underscore its transformative potential in preparing the next generation of researchers to confront complex, wicked problems with integrative, convergent approaches.
Subject of Research:
Development and assessment of an undergraduate convergence research course designed to cultivate interdisciplinary integration skills through collaborative problem-solving.
Article Title:
Research-to-action multidisciplinary projects: an undergraduate convergence research course.
Article References:
Bourne, K., Rickabaugh, J., Hambourger, M. et al. Research-to-action multidisciplinary projects: an undergraduate convergence research course. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 875 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05202-2
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