This paper explores the integration of design thinking in education, focusing on the Ideate phase of Stanford University's design thinking process. It takes an interdisciplinary view and examines the concept of Education 5.0, which promotes the development of essential 21st century skills through interdisciplinary learning. The paper explores the integration of LEGO Serious Play (LSP) into the Ideate phase and highlights its potential to enhance ideation, collaboration, and creativity. The benefits of using LSP in education are discussed, along with considerations for successful implementation. By using design thinking and LSP, educators can empower students to become critical thinkers, effective communicators, and lifelong learners. The paper provides valuable insights and practical guidance for educators, practitioners, and researchers seeking to use innovative methods in education to prepare students for the challenges of a complex and dynamic world.

A smart city makes use of available technologies to improve the efficiency of its operations and enhance the quality of life of its citizens. The technologies that have had and continue to have a significant impact on smart cities include hyperconnected networks such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). AI is increasingly becoming involved in all aspects of human existence. Many see the emergence of AI as a revolution that will impact every aspect of our lives. Some see it as an evolution based on the recent advances in powerful computational platforms, and access to massive amounts of data. IoT provides an elaborate platform for collecting data from various applications. AI can analyze this data and make intelligent decisions enabling the development of smart systems. This combination is leading to the rapid development of smart systems. These systems include smart healthcare, smart transportation, smart energy, smart agriculture, and many more, addressing the needs of smart cities. Using these technologies in smart cities will certainly promote cohesive, connected, healthier, and happier communities. This paper examines the current state of AI in smart cities and discusses potential AI applications for the further development of smart cities.

This paper presents a theory of good pedagogy that i) unifies several current theories, ii) is cybernetic, that is, content independent, and iii) operationally defined. The paper builds off a recent theoretical unification of pedagogy using the four pedagogic pillars of executive function, goal-setting, attribution theory, and self-efficacy. A novelty of the theory is avoidance of jargon, such as higher cognitive, which, while having intuitive appeal, has meaning which is ambiguous. The theory also avoids secondary terms such as creative or analytic and instead focuses on root psychological processes such as executive function and multiple modalities. The theory is applied in a multi-disciplinary setting addressing both machine and human mastery of tasks. This multi-disciplinarity is synergistic allowing simultaneous considerations of emotional (human) and efficiency (machine) issues. The theory is easily applied to new situations without the need for special training. It is hoped that instructors will begin to use this approach in their instructional design.

This paper scrutinizes the integral role of Trans-Disciplinary Communication (TDC) in conceptualizing and implementing Data Management and Sharing (DMS) plans in alignment with federal guidelines such as those from NIH and NSF. We begin by dissecting existing federal mandates for research data management, elucidating their pivotal role in maintaining data integrity and enabling accessibility. Using a case study as our methodological approach, we exemplify how TDC can effectively enhance the dialogue and practices surrounding DMS plans, fulfilling the requirements imposed by funding organizations. Furthermore, this research offers a novel contribution to the ongoing discourse by highlighting how DMS plans are foundational in promoting effective TDC and, by extension, advancing discussions in areas like Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), STEM Education, and Collaboration.

Modern trends in the labour market demonstrate a significant change in the paradigm of intersectoral and interdisciplinary interaction in a changing reality. In this study, current trends in the HR market will be considered. The World Economic Forum 2023 Future of Jobs report stated, that the past three years have been shaped by a challenging combination of health, economic and geopolitical volatility combined with growing social and environmental pressures. These accelerating transformations have and continue to reconfigure the world’s labour markets and shape the demand for jobs and skills of tomorrow.

The obvious importance of transdisciplinarity in today's labour market is not always reflected in reality. This is largely due to the unwillingness to change, which in many respects goes back to the field of psychology. In this context, Kurt Lewin's theory of change is considered, which confirms that there is always a balance in life, which in relation to life changes manifests itself in the following: there is a certain driving force that gives changes and changes in people's lives for the better, and the same resistance force, which opposes it and wants to keep the usual order, to leave everything unchanged.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming businesses, altering the industry dynamics, and opening up new possibilities for development and innovation. In fact, AI is also allowing businesses to enhance choices, increase efficiencies, and improve customer experiences because of its capacity to analyze enormous volumes of data, automate processes, and deliver predictive insights. The automation of jobs and procedures is one of AI's most significant effects on business. AI-powered solutions are rapidly being utilized to automate repetitive jobs like data entry, customer support, and inventory management, freeing up humans to concentrate on higher-value tasks that call for creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities.

AI is also transforming how businesses communicate with their customers. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are growing, offering customers 24-hour assistance and customized recommendations. In order to assist businesses better understand their consumers' requirements and preferences, AI is being used to examine customer data and generate insights. This allows businesses to better customize their products and services to their target industry's needs.

The emergence of AI has raised questions regarding data security and consumers’ privacy, employment displacement, and AI's ethical application, however. As AI-powered technologies grow more prevalent in the workplace, businesses will have to ensure that their employees have the necessary skills to work alongside them. They also need to make sure that they have procedures in place to preserve the data security and privacy of consumer data. Thus, there will be a large and extensive effect of AI on business in the future. The advantages of AI in terms of boosting productivity, enriching consumer experiences, and encouraging creativity and development are apparent, even though there are some challenges that need to be resolved. The businesses organizations who adopt AI and make plans to take its advantages are likely to prosper in the coming years.

The ubiquitousness of Artificial intelligence (AI) now grows faster than a weed in a garden patch. This momentum frequently raises questions about how to implement inclusivity and ethical research standards. It also suggests the need to integrate lived experience rather than taking only the shortcut to AI's information highway. We wonder, Does the nature of technology present geographic bias? As we speed up the process of "knowing," do we lose a bank of knowledge based on natural observations and shared intentions?

This paper examines the nature of AI's Socratic conversations compared with the communications invoked by global grassroots research study, to evaluate how each can contribute unique pathways linking science to social science. Pivoting around AI's summary of four water-conservation practices, survey questions were sent to seven locations in Sub-Saharan Africa where direct onsite farm research projects emphasized relationships between nature's processes and local quality of life. The results shed new perspectives on the value of supplementing formal online data with communications derived from grassroots sources – and the resulting implications for global knowledge and the sustainability of human systems.

Since the world was affected by the epidemic in 2020 and older adult education was still going on. Adult teachers encountered challenges during the transformation from physical to online teaching. This study examined the difficulties and coping strategies that adult teachers experienced when transitioning to online teaching. This study used a qualitative research approach to understand the transformation of adult teachers' online teaching experiences during the epidemic. Researchers conducted semi-structured one-to-one in-depth interviews with 10 adult teachers who experienced the transition from physical to online teaching and had at least 2-year-experience of teaching older adults. The study findings are listed as follows: 1) Adult teachers encountered difficulties, including older learners did not have the required equipment nor stable connections, not familiar with operating phones to participate in online classes, extra burdens for older learners' vision resulted in learning drop-outs, and the lack of experience in operating the equipment that disturbed the courses, the decreased learning quality worsened the learning situation. 2) Adult teachers coped by asking family members to assist with the equipment, demonstrating and taking pictures of the steps, spending more time preparing for teaching, and using various teaching methods to enhance the interactions.This study found that adult teachers need to adapt their teaching strategies to the characteristics of older learners to transition from physical to online teaching. Particularly, solving equipment and technological issues will allow older learners to achieve the goal of "nonstop learning".

Trans-disciplinary research combines different fields into new conceptual and methodological frameworks. In this study, the SECI model of knowledge creation, which consists of Socialization, Externalization, Combination, and Internalization conversion modes, is used to analyze the implementation of a structured budgeting visualization system by a trans-disciplinary team. Through applied research in implementing a global budgeting system, budgeting assumptions are made explicit through visualization, transforming the approach to the budgeting process and its accuracy. This visualization, in turn, is enabled by assumptions underlying revenue planning, business services and employee compensation, and a visual process. The system displays a stepped approach, indicated by icons, representing the tasks involved in the budget process. For example, the system requires uploading the previous year’s information, setting the assumptions, calculating the suggested figures based on assumptions, and amending the proposed outcome. As adapted by Rice and Rice (2005), SECI is applied as the socialization of tacit-to-tacit budgeting assumption knowledge is solidified during the design phase of this transformation exercise. The externalization phase, in which budgeting assumptions are transformed from tacit to explicit, is evidenced during the configuration phase of the new system. The systemic collaboration results in the explicit assumptions being collectively leveraged across the regions during and after the “go-live” phase of system development. Finally, the internalization phase involves the explicit assumptions being transformed into new tacit knowledge as the experts evolve new assumptions derived from the transformation process. Semiotics provides variance information through hue, with, for example, darker colours indicating higher variances. This trans-disciplinary communication provides the means for increased efficiency and effectiveness. The resulting budget framework is visually validated through a heatmap by comparing the budgeting accuracy and assumption 1 Contact author 2 Peer-Editor: Prof D Sewry. Dean of Commerce, Rhodes University. complexity between the different regions where it was implemented. In summary, value is added in developing a new data visualization process, focusing on the role of budgeting assumptions and using planning process visualizations. This approach improves communication efficiency, effectiveness, and understanding of budgeting while enhancing accuracy.

This paper presents a transdisciplinary approach to define the field of cybersecurity. The main purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of the impact of cybersecurity in different aspects of life, improving the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary relation focusing on the impact of cybersecurity on other disciplines. The more specific purpose is to determine how cybersecurity professionals, including academics and researchers, can better approach cybersecurity as a transdisciplinary field to ensure data security and privacy. The paper focuses on how cybersecurity affects the different aspects of society, such as legal systems, online business and services, etc., on personal and organizational levels. Additionally, it focuses on how trans-disciplinarity involves academic researchers from different, unrelated academic disciplines as well as non-academic stakeholders or end-users to create new knowledge. Based on the extensive literature review on multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity research in cybersecurity, this study found that a transdisciplinary approach is needed to ensure cybersecurity in organizational and individual level. For that purpose, the academics, researchers, and practitioners from different disciplines must engage with their content extending beyond their traditional academic boundaries and reaching out to non-academic stakeholders or end-users of digital technology.

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) technologies has propelled human-machine interaction and immersive experiences to unprecedented levels. Current discussions revolve around Trans-disciplinarity, transdisciplinary communication, metaverses2, and a paradigm shift ushered in by ChatGPT, an intelligent conversational agent powered by OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 architecture. Its integration into VR and metaverses for education and transdisciplinary communication is also being explored. The objective is to discuss and reframe ethical issues arising within the global discourse surrounding technology adaptation, and the innate promises, potential, and pitfalls. By examining the technical and ethical implications of such a potential integration, the paper aims to uncover the broader contexts of these advancements. A deeper understanding of the challenges ahead can be achieved by critically examining the risks and opportunities presented by ChatGPT, virtual realities, and metaverses. The paper emphasizes the need for initiative-taking measures to guide the development and deployment of these transformative technologies. Furthermore, the intersection of AI, VR, metaverses, education, transdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinary communication will be investigated and examined.

This paper reports on a workshop conducted at the NSF's 2023 Eddie Bernice Johnson, INCLUDES National Network Convening: Sustaining Equity-Driven Systems Change, held in Washington, DC, from August 2-4, 2023. Titled "Enhancing Inclusivity through Expertise Sharing: A Reflective Group Activity on Effective Policy Development," the workshop employed Trans-Disciplinary Communication (TDC) as a methodological framework. Participants represented a cross-section of academia, nonprofits, federal agencies, and the general public, focusing on STEM Education, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and traditionally underrepresented groups (TUG). The paper delineates the protocol for eliciting robust participation and facilitating knowledge sharing. Subsequently, it scrutinizes the outcomes of these interactive discussions, culminating in an analysis of the broader implications of the activity. A significant finding emphasizes the pressing need for greater dissemination and divulgation by successful programs. A pivotal question underpinning this study is: How can Trans-Disciplinary Communication (TDC) be operationalized to foster equitable and innovative policy development in STEM fields? This inquiry fosters actionable steps and constructive dialogue toward achieving equity-driven systems change.

This article examines the importance of Trans-disciplinary Communication (TDC) in knowledge sharing when utilizing collaborative co-design (CCD) as a tool for large-scale collective change social innovation projects. The article describes CCD and important frameworks like "Collaborative Infrastructure" and the "Collaborative Convergence Pyramid." Next, the paper discusses knowledge sharing in this context as an essential mechanism to engage the participants effectively. As the co-design process is initiated and the work progresses, several tools of TDC are imperative, such as listening, translation, and facilitation. Then, the article presents how the tools of TDC allow for the effective CCD to progress and be led by the author. Finally, some practical, real-world examples of TDC in action for CCD will be shared. By illustrating practical, real-world examples of TDC in an effort for CCD, the article offers an insightful overview of this empowering process, not merely as a theoretical construct but as a dynamic and practical approach. This article underscores the innovative potential that TDC brings to knowledge creation and dissemination, making it an essential read for academics, practitioners, and policy-makers interested in collaboration, inclusivity, and transformative change.

Digital games have emerged as a promising tool in educational settings, offering engaging and interactive experiences that improve student motivation and learning outcomes. This paper explores the interdisciplinary nature of the use of digital games in education, highlighting their potential impact across disciplines and subject areas. Drawing on literature from fields such as psychology, education, computer science, and game design, we examine the key elements of game-based learning, including serious games, gamification, game mechanisms, and player experience. We also discuss the criteria for selecting games in educational contexts and provide practical recommendations for finding and modifying games to meet specific learning objectives. We also provide examples of games that can be used effectively across disciplines, including science, mathematics, computer science, and social science. Through this interdisciplinary lens, we emphasize the importance of integrating digital games into educational practices to foster student engagement, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration skills. By embracing the potential of digital games, educators can harness their transformative power to create dynamic and immersive learning environments that prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century.

This article explores the risks of disciplinary inbreeding caused by disciplinary isolations in what has been called disciplinary silos. Disciplinary isolation necessarily reduces the disciplinary intra-variety and, according e the First Law of Cybernetics, it diminishes its level of adaptability. Hence, an isolated discipline loses the effectiveness to adapt to the changes that the same discipline may generate, let alone the changes generated by other disciplines and by the ex-disciplinary real world, This is an evident and real problem that disciplinary silos seem not to be perceiving or do not want to perceive.

To face this situation, it is necessary to generate the opposite phenomenon. Since the meaning of Academic Inbreeding is associated with the analogy of Biological Inbreeding, then what we need is the analogy of its opposite in Biology, which is heterosis, hence it would be called Disciplinary Heterosis”, which is oriented to inject variety in disciplines by means of relating them, and the more distant the better as it happens in biological evolution.

This "disciplinary heterosis", analogously to “biological heterosis" may lead to innovation and a more complete understanding of complex problems. and this is achieved via inter- and trans-disciplinary communication and collaboration. This necessarily requires inter- and trans-disciplinary communications and collaboration. This is a source of diversification, variety (in terms of The First Law of Cybernetics), individual analogical thinking, collective parallel thinking, and, hence, individual and collective creativity.

This is the context of the article, which is mainly centered on Disciplinary Inbreeding, its risks, and potential dangers. The implicit objective of this focus is to reason the importance and even the necessity of Disciplinary Integration,just as which would be achieved via inter- and trans-disciplinary communication, education, and continuous self-education. This article is a step toward complementing other articles related to the importance of inter- and transdisciplinary communication oriented to show that what has been important is increasingly being required, because of the risk and potential dangers that may be present if Disciplinary Inbreeding is not balanced with its opposite: “Disciplinary Heterosis”, through disciplinary integration, via inter- and trans-disciplinary communication and education.