Developing a measure of interdisciplinary competence

Abstract

Calls for greater investments in interdisciplinary education and a shift to outcomes-based accreditation criteria in engineering have led to a need for a measure to assess interdisciplinary learning. The present study describes the development and testing of a survey-based, self-report measure to assess the interdisciplinary competence of undergraduate engineers. Using a nationally representative sample of 5249 undergraduates from 31 institutions, three discrete scales related to interdisciplinary competence emerged from factor analytic procedures: Interdisciplinary Skills, Recognizing Disciplinary Perspectives, and Reflective Behavior. Construct validity of the metrics is demonstrated through a description of the rigorous research and development process for the survey items. Statistical analyses indicate that scales significantly distinguish groups of students (i.e., by engineering discipline and by class standing), thus demonstrating the metrics' concurrent validity.