Interdisciplinarity in university academic practice: achievements and challenges from a research-action project

Author(s)

Renata Evangelista de Oliveira ^[1] ; Rodolfo Antônio de Figueiredo ^[2] ; Fausto Makishi ^[3] ; Adriana Cavalieri Sais ^[4] ; Alexandre de Azevedo Olival ^[5] ; Liliane Cristine Schlemer Alcântara ^[6] ; Jozivaldo Prudêncio Gomes de Morais ^[7] ; João Paulo Candia Veiga ^[8]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade Federal de São Carlos. Programa de Pós-grad. em Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Rural - Brasil

^[2] Universidade Federal de São Carlos. Programa de Pós-grad. em Ciências Ambientais - Brasil

^[3] Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Programa de Pós-grad. em Sociedade, Ambiente e Território - Brasil

^[4] Universidade Federal de São Carlos. Programa de Pós-grad. em Agroecologia e Desenvolvimento Rural - Brasil

^[5] Universidade do Estado do Mato Grosso. Programa de Pós-grad. em Biodiversidade e Agroecossistemas Amazônicos - Brasil

^[6] Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso. Faculdade de administração e ciências contábeis - Brasil

^[7] Universidade Federal de São Carlos. Departamento de Biotecnologia e Produção Vegetal e Animal - Brasil

^[8] Universidade de São Paulo. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência Política - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Avaliação: Revista da Avaliação da Educação Superior (Campinas); v. 26, n. 2, p. 377-400, 2021-07-19.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the reflections of a group of professors and researchers, with different backgrounds, profiles and areas of expertise, on the process of building a new interdisciplinary research and extension agenda, with a view to transdisciplinarity. For that, it describes a process of conception and elaboration of projects, based on the concept of action research and having interdisciplinarity as a goal, in the characterization of complex socio-ecological systems. The projects carried out focused on the resilience of family farming, in the agricultural frontier in the region called ‘Portal da Amazônia’ (MT). From this process, the possibility of dialogical construction of projects is discussed, narrating its main challenges in the search for the real inseparability between teaching, research and extension. The conclusion points out that the choices related to the theoretical and methodological foundations that supported the projects were essential for the construction of interdisciplinary academic practice. The action research process, as constructed and described here, enabled the dialectical relationship between transdisciplinarity and the three dimensions of academic knowledge, constant in current discussions on the evaluation of Higher Education in Brazil. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/11165-4 - Conceptions, practices and connection of teachers and students with nature in rural schools in North of Mato Grosso and the resilience of family farming in the Amazon
• Grantee: Rodolfo Antônio de Figueiredo
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants