Universities globally are called to educate collaborative and ethical engineers. In response, interdisciplinary problem-based learning is increasingly used to equip students with competencies needed to solve grand societal challenges. However, complex problem-solving in interdisciplinary teams can challenge students’ existing beliefs and cause confusion. Our study examines these challenges through the lens of ‘disorienting dilemmas’ from transformative learning theory and investigates students’ coping strategies. Through twenty-nine student interviews, we uncovered disorienting dilemmas related to self-identity, problem-solving, disciplinary perceptions, conceptual understanding, and collaboration. Additionally, based on varied cognitive and behavioural responses, we identified four coping strategies: integrating, investigating, negotiating, and withdrawing. Notably, we observed shifts in students’ use of coping strategies. Our research advances transformative learning theory through its focus on shared learning and the recognition of diversity of coping strategies, thus providing insights for designing supports that guide students towards more constructive strategies and facilitate transformative learning.

Creativity is widely recognised as a key competence in higher education for future graduates to address societal challenges through creative thinking and problem-solving. However, despite multiple definitions of creativity and pedagogies across disciplines, challenges remain in fully integrating creativity into teaching. Based on interviews with 18 educators, we uncovered various creativity teaching dilemmas related to identity, practice, and the broader educational system. These dilemmas constitute a ‘dilemmatic space’, requiring educators to continuously adapt their identities and teaching while confronting systemic challenges. Further, we found that educators navigated these dilemmas by leveraging knowledge, expanding expertise, adjusting scaffolding, reforming curriculum, and providing emotional support. We conceptualised an ‘actor space’ associated with the educators’ utilisation of navigation strategies, emphasising the role of diverse actors in this process. The actor space complements dilemmatic space, highlighting diverse actors in supporting educators’ transformative learning as they tackle disorienting dilemmas in creativity teaching.