A narrative review of interdisciplinary teaching and learning scholarship: closing the gap between theory and practice

Interdisciplinary teaching and learning (ITL) is lauded for its real-world applicability and supposed learning benefits. However, our experiences as educational developers suggest that the ITL literature does not represent the reality of instructors or learners. In this paper, we detail the limitations with ITL scholarship regarding data sources and study designs. Then, we share concrete strategies for designing empirical studies to better inform curriculum and course design, and to bridge the gap between ITL theory and practice. We hope to empower educational developers and researchers to enhance the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and provide actionable data for ITL practitioners.