Meet the Minds: Nicole Wagner Identifies Interdisciplinary Individualities

Meet the Minds is a new monthly series designed to profile McMaster University’s scholars and their work in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am an Assistant Professor (Teaching-Track) in the Information Systems Area of the DeGroote School of Business. I teach project management as well as introduction to information systems courses, mostly at the graduate level.

I am also the Director of the MSc eHealth program, which is an interdisciplinary program offered through the Faculties of Business, Health Sciences, and Engineering. It is in this role that I identified a SoTL research topic that is a great fit for me.

Can you describe your SoTL research focus?

As the Director of an interdisciplinary program, I have experienced firsthand the uniqueness of delivering this type of program. Since they exist outside of or across traditional institutional boundaries (such as Faculties or Departments), interdisciplinary programs have many inherent complexities. My research aims to understand the nature of these complexities, how different programs approach them, and how institutions can support them. The goal is to discover best practices or suggestions for the support and evolution of these programs at McMaster, thereby improving student learning and experience where there is opportunity. I have been fortunate to collaborate with a diverse group of colleagues on this project. Members are directors or leaders in interdisciplinary programs from multiple Faculties, with consultation from members in the Vice-Provost Teaching & Learning office.

What are some key insights or outcomes from your research?

Although I knew at the outset of this project that interdisciplinary programs have some similar challenges, I was surprised to learn just how unique programs and circumstances are. We did discover some groupings of program characteristics that tend to exist together, but there are a wide range of programs and structures within our institution. This implies that the support and nurturing of these unique programs will be most effective when tailored appropriately. We hope that sharing our findings with the university community will encourage consideration of the uniqueness of interdisciplinary programs in decision-making for the benefit of all involved. For me, my initial challenge was finding a research topic that was really exciting and important to me. It took some time for that to happen in my case. Fortunately, by getting involved in working groups that seemed important to me (around interdisciplinary programs and learning), the research idea arose naturally from my activities. This was also a great way to encounter likeminded collaborators. I suggest keeping an open mind and getting involved in activities that ignite your curiosity and passion, and hopefully things will fall into place.

What advice do you have for others interested in SoTL?

For me, my initial challenge was finding a research topic that was really exciting and important to me. It took some time for that to happen in my case. Fortunately, by getting involved in working groups that seemed important to me (around interdisciplinary programs and learning), the research idea arose naturally from my activities. This was also a great way to encounter likeminded collaborators. I suggest keeping an open mind and getting involved in activities that ignite your curiosity and passion, and hopefully things will fall into place.

Anything else you’d like to share?

We were fortunate to be invited to present this topic at the Society for Teaching & Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) 2025 conference earlier this year. We also have a manuscript approaching completion for journal publication and are working on plans to communicate our findings within McMaster.

If you are interested to speaking further with Nicole Wagner about their SoTL research, please contact them at wagnernm@mcmaster.ca