Week 31 - My Interdisciplinary Connection Map - Activity 7

Week 31 - My Interdisciplinary Connection Map - Activity 7

Interdisciplinary Practice

What are the three models?

The Interdisciplinary Approach

• joins two or more disciplines
• critical-thinking skills
• in-depth content
• genuinely teacher directed
• some student contribution

The Integrated Approach

• more consolidated and realistic view of knowledge
• inquiry based, usually themed
• themes and activities are chosen and directed by the teacher
• goals are logical and consist of content, skills, and processes

The Integrative Approach

• students' and teachers' ideas
• student and teacher co-construct the curriculum
• goals are more affective - with the hope of having a positive impact on others, not just themselves
• personal purpose, collaboration, and citizenship skills

All the models/approaches summarized above make a vigilant push to provide students with more useful, and significant learning experiences, and encourages students to make connections to the real world (Mathison & Freeman, 1997).

Further arguments for interdisciplinary, integrated, or integrative approaches are listed by Stember (1991), where it is argued that, a) any domain is enhanced by concepts, practices, and processes from other fields; b) knowledge in the ‘read-world’ is connected and new connections are established daily; and c) the acquisition of knowledge is inhibited by a divided, decompartmentalized system.

A more holistic approach to teaching can take place if an an interconnected, theme-based approach is used. Teachers will have the freedom to acknowledge and respond to the needs of the whole student (Mathison & Freeman, 1997).

"...by focusing the curriculum on a problem or topic rather than on a discrete discipline, there is an increased opportunity to formalize the process of problem solving. By approaching a problem or topic from the vantage point of many teachers and/or disciplines, students are exposed to more information and more views, providing them with the raw material needed to construct understanding" (St Clair & Hough, 1992, p. 19).

Jones (2009) comments that students and teachers will advance in critical thinking, communication, creativity, pedagogy, and essential academia with the use of interdisciplinary techniques.

A disadvantage of using interdisciplinary, integrated, and integrative models is, how do we manage and sustain their divergent framework, and how do we assess and review them effectively? What directives and rules are required for teachers to adopt the model in the intended fashion? (Mathison & Freeman, 1997).

Another possible dilemma is what Jacobs (1989) addresses as the 'potpourri problem' where programmes become a tiny sample of a teeny bit of this and a skimpy bit of that and end up becoming courses devoid of an all-embracing logical structure or comprehensiveness.  

My future goal with respect to working in an interdisciplinary manner is to keep scaffolding and preparing our students for their Genius Hour projects, which they will commence in term 3 this year. Genius Hour lends itself well to interdisciplinary learning, especially the integrative approach. We are gradually giving our students more agency as time passes, but they will have even more ownership of their work once their projects get up and running.  

Another future interdisciplinary goal of mine is to use more inquiry based learning in maths so that students can take more ownership of their maths work.

References

Jacobs, H. H. (1989a). Interdisciplinary curriculum options: A case for multiple configurations. Educational Horizons, 68(1), 25-27, 33.

Jacobs, H. H. (1989b). Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation. Alexandria,VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI, 7(26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf:

St Clair, B. & Hough, D. L. (1992). Interdisciplinary teaching: A review of the literature. Springfield, MO: Southwest Missouri State University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 373 056)

Stember, M. (1991). Advancing the social sciences through the interdisciplinary enterprise. The Social Science Journal, 28(1), 1-14.