Going beyond the AHA! moment: insight discovery for transdisciplinary research and learning

In this paper, we develop and apply the concept of ‘insight discovery’ as a key competence for
transdisciplinary research and learning. To address complex societal and environmental
problems facing the world today, a particular expertise that can identify new connections
between diverse knowledge fields is needed in order to integrate diverse perspectives from a
wide range of stakeholders and develop novel solutions. The capacity for “insight discovery”
means becoming aware of personal mental representations of the world and being able to
shape and integrate perspectives different from one’s own. Based on experiences and
empirical observations within the scope of an educational programme for Masters students,
PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers, we suggest that insights are the outcome of a
learning process influenced by the collective and environment in which they are conceived,
rather than instant moments of individual brilliance. The process which we describe, named
the insight discovery process (IDP), is made up of five aspects. Within a group setting, a
person begins with an “original mental model”, experiences an “insight trigger”, processes
new information within the “liminal space”, “formulates an insight” and eventually forms an
“adapted mental model”. There is a potential for incorporating such process as a fundamental
competence for transdisciplinary curricula in undergraduate and graduate programmes by
cultivating specific practices and safe learning environments, focused on the enquiry,
exchange and integration of diverse perspectives.