Abstract

SOTO KIEWIT, Luis Diego  and  ROJAS MENA, Pamela Sofía. Where Are the Multi-, Inter-, and Transdisciplinary Approaches in Costa Rican University Education?. Innovaciones Educativas [online]. 2025, vol.27, n.43, pp.161-176. ISSN 2215-4132.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22458/ie.v27i43.5654.

This article reflects on the integration of multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity (MIT) in undergraduate and graduate curricula at Costa Rica’s five public universities. The underlying research adopts a qualitative approach and seeks to identify how these three approaches are addressed in Costa Rican higher education teaching. First, an exhaustive review was conducted of the curricular frameworks of all academic programs offered at the five public universities. Then, the conceptions embedded in individual course syllabi were analyzed. This allowed for a mapping of the presence and treatment of MIT-related content in the national higher education context. The findings reveal that these discussions are rarely addressed, and when they are, the terms are often used superficially without solid grounding in course content. The study highlights the need to reconsider current professional training, which remains largely discipline-centered, in order to align more closely with the demands of the labor market- demands that increasingly require collaborative and multidisciplinary competencies. The article concludes with a call to strengthen education grounded in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, positioning them as key strategies for addressing contemporary challenges in professional formation.

Keywords : science of science; higher education; institutionalization; education; interdiscipline; multidiscipline; transdiscipline..

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