Assessing interdisciplinary competencies by designing with constructive alignment

Interdisciplinary competence is important for academia, employability, and sustainable development. Due to differences in teaching and assessment cultures and
traditions, educators experience difficulties in interdisciplinary team-teaching. This paper investigates how educators can successfully plan and execute interdisciplinary assessments following the principle of constructive alignment. Based on this principle, we define interdisciplinary learning goals as the further development of interdisciplinary competence (understanding disciplinary perspectives, interdisciplinary skills of integration and reflection), aligned assessments (depth of insight, additional value of integration and reflection) and teaching methods (addressing understanding, teamwork, and critical reflection). Based on these theoretical concepts, we explain the implications and make recommendations for designing
and implementing interdisciplinary teaching and assessment in interdisciplinary team-teaching.