The learning session on “Impact of a Training of Trainers Approach to Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning” was organized during the conference “Delivering for Nutrition in South Asia: Towards Impact at Scale” on December 3rd, 2025, in Kathmandu, Nepal. This learning session was organized by ANH Academy.
The objective of this learning session was to showcase the impact of a Training of Trainers program one year after an in-person learning workshop in Sri Lanka, sharing learnings, challenges, and how others can use a similar model, as well as sharing open-access resources for interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
The session was started by Chau Yo, Research Impact Manager at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She then began her presentation with a slide on the necessity of the Curriculum Enrichment Working Group. In this, she talked about the articulated demand for more learning and training opportunities. Further, she stated that in the SCANR portal of the ANH Academy, there is a suite of open-access blended teaching materials. Chau took the stage and provided details on the number of curriculum enrichment initiatives. In this journey, 46 regional trainers from Africa and Asia were trained. These trainers then trained 7,200+ students in 30 countries. Through these trainings, teaching and understanding of ANH topics have improved, and collaboration has increased.
Chau also shared the contributing factors for the success of interdisciplinary teaching and learning, such as needs assessment, funding/investment, competent trainers, provided certifications, adaptation of materials, inclusive teaching, and evidence-based active learning.
Then, Rosemary informed the audience about the process of the Curriculum Enrichment Training of Trainers, in which the pilot interdisciplinary modules were created in 2022, followed by Master Training conducted in 2023 to select regional experts in the use of these modules, and finally regional training conducted for one week for lecturers in Africa and Asia in 2024. Afterwards, the regional trainers are conducting TOT activities in collaboration with ANH Academy. She further stated that regional trainers conduct training locally for colleagues and students.
Next, Anjali Ganpule Rao discussed the approach of regional training. She mentioned that ANH material is designed to be adapted to suit the context of regional trainers, encouraged self-reflection as learners during Master Training sessions, and provided space for discussion on how students and trainees can learn most effectively, with an emphasis on engagement and rapport. Rao also provided six aspects of pedagogy aiding adaptation, including techniques for engaging students and trainees before, during, and after sessions. During Rao’s session, she said that simple and clear messaging, accepting limitations of the setup, avoiding overcrowding, not being too ambitious, and adjusting to the pace of the audience always worked during training sessions. Unfortunately, things like long sessions, no responses from participants or organizers, unclear communication, and technical glitches prevailed and had a negative impact on the sessions.
The session concluded with a group exercise where attendees were split into groups and provided with key questions such as barriers and enablers to interdisciplinarity, what individual institutions are doing to promote interdisciplinarity, and personal interest in promoting interdisciplinarity within the organization. Most groups communicated that enablers and barriers can be turned into one another depending on the context and that a suitable academic ecosystem, among other things, inclusiveness, is indispensable for an interdisciplinary collaboration to take place.
At last, Chau closed the session with a key takeaway by mentioning that collaboration and partnership are needed for interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
