Facilitating boundary crossing in online learning: four exemplary learning activities

Gerlo Borghuis, a lecturer in Water Resources Management, shared his experience with designing and facilitating BC learning activities in the MOOC ‘Agricultural Water Management’ during the inspiration meeting on 2021. He showed that the majority of participants ‘scores’ themselves as having a disciplinary background at the beginning of the course, but at the end of the course they see themselves as being more interdisciplinary focused. This impact is also noticeable when looking at the end products (a consultancy advice) of the course. Using real-life cases, and combining knowledge from several disciplines, the set-up of the course makes participant cross boundaries along the way. To be able to understand this process is guided or facilitated in the MOOC, more explicit monitoring of the learning mechanisms would be interesting.

You can find some of the learning activities that Gerlo designed and used for his course in the BC toolbox:

• Personal identification & reflection exercise
• Stakeholder identification activity
• Stakeholder perspective activity

To find out more about what Gerlo did in his course, please contact him at gerlo.borghuis@wur.nl.