Interdisciplinary Studies Final
integrative thinking
requires flexibility and develops a broad range of cognitive and technical skills
3 different charts that can be used for project organization
sample WBS, Gantt style chart, CPM style chart
2 movements were related to the development of disciplines
1. enlightenment 2. scientific revolution
3 types of project research
1. interviews with experts 2. reading the literature 3. primary research such as surveys
Results of interdisciplinary practice in the new millennium
1. science and technology 2. social sciences 3. new humanities
The past is important because
1. it shapes our identity and the core of our humanity 2. allows us to discover our roots, detect change, and discern trends 3. enables us to reconstruct cause and effect and act in the world as moral agents 4. makes the present comprehensible
Why is "the past is prologue" important
1. it shapes our identity and the core of our humanity 2. learning about the past allows us to discover our roots, detect change, discern trends 3. enables us to reconstruct cause and effect in the world as moral agents 4. studying the past makes the present comprehensible
concerns about overspecialization
1. leads to reductionism 2. Integration was occurring more between industry and education, rather than across disciplines 3. Specialization tends to produce tunnel vision
Characteristics of a good leader
1. motivates 2. understands the project and sets appropriate goals 3. makes good, timely decisions
characteristics of a good team leader
1. objectives are clear and easily understandable 2. each objective should be concise and separate 3. all objectives should be committed to writing 4. all objectives should be communicated to all parties who will be involved in the project 5. objectives should be quantifiable with success criteria specified
6 components of a project life cycle
1. opportunity/ problem recognition 2. research 3. proposal 4. planning 5. implementation and control 6. termination and evaluation
defining elements of a discipline
1. phenomena 2. epistemology 3. assumptions 4. concepts 5. theory 6. methods 7. data
purpose of disciplines
1. provide members with organizational support 2. interpret reality according to prescribed guidelines
3 R's of appropriate management
1. recognition 2. reward 3. responsibility
2 criticisms of disciplines in the 60s and 70s
1. saw disciplines not just as a way to produce knowledge but also a sophisticated mechanism for regulating human conduct and social relations 2. saw deepening isolation of disciplines from one another
What perspective thinking does
- reduces the human tendency to negatively stereotype individual and groups - helps move us developmentally from a clear understanding of differences between disciplines and their perspectives to recognizing disciplines distinguishing characteristics of disciplines - facilitates our ability to assemble new sets of potential solution to a given problem - heightens our awareness that we are biased in the direction of our own knowledge not matter the source - invites us to engage in role taking
multidisiplinary
"bowl of fruit"
6 drivers of interdisciplinary studies
1. complexity of nature, society, and individuals 2. complexity of the global workplace 3. need for systems thinking and contextual thinking 4. changing nature of research 5. pressing needs of the public world 6. societies need for both disciplinary and interdisciplinary work
Why did interdisciplinary begin to acquire academic legitimacy in the 80s and 90s?
1. Academic legitimacy: "honors" was said to by synonymous with interdisciplinarity 2. included collaborative learning, multicultural education, writing across the curriculum, civc education, service learning, and study abroad
Things that occurred in the 60s and 70s that contributed to interest in interdisciplinary studies
1. Harvard report 2. Civil rights movement 3. political tensions over Vietnam war 4. interdisciplinary became programmatic, value laden tern standing for reform, innovation, progress, opening universities to previously un-server groups 5. Creating of new fields 6. interdisciplinary came to be identified with development of experimental colleges, radical curricular experiments
Good objectives
1. committed to writing 2. concise and separate 3. communicated to all parties involved
5 assumptions of interdisciplinary studies
1. complex reality beyond the university makes interdisciplinary necessary 2. the disciplines are foundational to interdisciplinary 3. the disciplines are inadequate to address complexity comprehensively 4. interdisciplinary is able to integrate insights from relevant disciplines 5. the disciplines and the institutional policies that reinforce them often present major barriers to interdisciplinary
values fostered by interdisciplinary studies
1. empathy 2. ethical consciousness 3. humility
6 limitations of disciplinary specialization
1. specialization can blind us to the broader context 2. specialization tends to produce tunnel vision 3. specialization tends to discount or ignore other perspectives 4. specialization can hinder creative breakthroughs 5. specialization fails to address complex problems comprehensively 6. specialization imposes a past approach to the present
attributes of effective goals
1. specific, defined and clear 2. measurable and written down 3. may consist of short, intermediate, and long-term
components included in a final report
1. the original reason for beginning the project 2. a history of the project including pertinent research and planning data 3. an evaluation of the project including- timeliness, budget adherence, and quality control 4. recommendations
3 criteria for project evaluation
1. timeliness 2. budget adherence 3. quality control
4 cognitive capacities to engage in interdisciplinary perspective taking
1. viewing yourself: influence of culture, politics, religion, socio-economic, background on your own views 2. viewing others: identifying and examining perspectives of other and identifying influences on those perspectives 3. viewing cultures: explaining how different access to knowledge, technology, and resources affects cultures 4. viewing disciplines: explaining how communities of expertise understand a situation, event, issue, or phenomenon
A personal branding statement should answer all these statements
1. who you serve (audience) 2. how you do it uniquely (selling points) 3. what you are the best at (value)
Number of hours total needed in IDSC degree plan
120 hours
Amount of core hours needed for IDSC degree plan
41-42 hours
amount of major course hours in areas of emphasis needed for IDSC degree plan
45
amount of IDSC supporting course hours needed for IDSC degree plan
9
highest level of intellectual behavior
Creating
T or F: Each discipline's community of scholars shares a single outlook
False
T or F: complexity theory states that interdisciplinary studies is necessary for all current problems
False
T or F: interdisciplinary studies always relies on inductive logic as opposed to deductive logic
False
Humanities
In the "New Millenium" deconstructing knowledge while paying attention to political context is most associated with interdisciplinary work in:
use of perspective taking
It brings a comprehensive understanding not just a more comprehensive perspective
conferring diplomas is an example of
Legitimization
The journal Obesity publishes a volume that includes separate articles by an economist (discussing the link between obesity and low income), a nutritionist ( discussing the link between obesity and specific dietary behaviors), and a kinesiologist (discussing relationship between childhood obesity and organized sports activities. This volume would be considered
Multidisciplinary
Informed borrowing
Selecting one path to understanding while "bracketing" others
Assumption: there is order to society is most closely related with the disciplines in
Social Sciences
Broad model
The _______________ model draws on all disciplines, for insights, uses all "disciplinary tools," maps complex problems to reveal their complexity and causal links, makes the steps of integration explicit, and creates common ground on the basis of one or more key assumptions, concepts, or theories.
problem centering
The ________________________ approach to integration seeks to attack a pressing problem by drawing on all available disciplinary tools to solve it. The goal of this approach is thus not to advance fundamental knowledge or to make knowledge personally meaningful, but rather to come up with recommendations to address a specific concern.
the advancement of quantitative research methods & the development of area studies
The two most recent influential developments affecting interdisciplinarity in the social sciences
T or F: The final report of a project should include recommendations
True
T or F: conceptual integration explains the innate human ability to create new meaning by blending concepts
True
T or F: the post- WWI desire to reform general education in the USA arose in part because of a perceived lack of national cultural unity linked to rising immigration
True
critical interdisciplinary
a way to solve complex problems (primary focus solve complex problems)
integrative thinking
ability to knit together information from different sources to produce a more comprehensive understanding or create a new meaning
intellectual dexterity
ability to speak to a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience
contextual thinking
ability to view a subject from a broad perspective by placing it in the fabric of time, culture, or personal experience
contingency in certainty
able to create common ground among insights and integrate them in order to create a more comprehensive understanding of the problem. and recognizes that understanding any complex problem is an ongoing process
communicative competence
able to interact with individuals whose disciplinary training, values, and beliefs are different than yours
interdisciplinarity
abosrbs or includes multidisciplinary and transcends it by integrating ideas
concepts
abstract ideas generalized from particular instances or symbols expressed in language that represent phenomena
When a picture of a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales is shown to Susan, she thinks about the impartiality of a fair justice system. This is an example of
abstract thinking
communicative competence
allows constructive interaction with individuals who have different perspectives, training, and values
practical intelligence
applies an idea in an effective way
interdisciplinary thinking
approach to study that is distinct from disciplinary approaches; "intellectual essence" of the field
metacognition
awareness of our own learning and thinking process
discipline/disciplinary
branch or learning body of knowledge; system of knowledge specialities called disciplines
analytical intelligence
breaks problems down into component parts, solves problems, and evaluates the quality of ideas
critical thinking
capacity to analyze, critique, and assess. Shifts focus from narrow disciplinary context to a broader interdisciplinary context
perspective taking
capacity to view problem or subject or artifice from alternative viewpoints resulting in a more comprehensive understanding
self-relfection
careful thinking about your behavior and beliefs, choices, and how these have affected the outcome
critical interdisciplinarians
challenge disciplinary dominance and question the control the disciplines impose on thinking and behavior
interdisciplinary studies
characterized as "smoothie"
contextual thinking
characterized by wholeness, relationship between parts, and assumption that knowledge changes
integrated definition of interdisciplinary studies
cognitive process by which individuals or groups draw on disciplinary perspectives and integrate their insights and modes of thinking to advance their understanding of a complex problem with the goal of applying the understanding to a real world problem
creative thinking
combine previously unrelated ideas, form new relationship among ideas, and thinking outside the box of a narrow disciplinary
transdisciplinarity
combines interdisciplinary with a participatory approach
skills
competencies in applying knowledge effectively or performing a task creatively
successful intelligence
creative intelligence + analytical intelligence + practical intelligence
what is the payoff of integration?
critically evaluating disciplinary insights, locating sources of conflict, creating common ground, and constructing a more comprehensive understanding of the problem
metacognition
detach yourself from your own world view and attitudes and think about how you assembled your own thoughts about things
An agronomist (plant specialist) publishes a study about the response of corn yield to nitrogen applications. The work would be considered
disciplinary
traits
distinguishing characteristics of a person
multidisciplinary approach
each participating disciplines retains separate identity
epistemology of IDSC
embraces epistemological pluralism, rejects the notions of absolute truth and embraces ambiguity arising form conflict and difference
Traits and skills fostered by interdisciplinary studies
entrepreneurship love of learning self reflection communicative competence abstract thinking creative thinking metacogntion
love of learning
even if new ideas challenge ones own thinking
Viewing disciplines
explaining how communities of experts understand a situation, event, or phenomenon (cognitive capacities)
perspective taking theory
five important claims critical to becoming interdisciplinary and functioning successfully in the contemporary world
civic engagement
flows from sense of empathy, ethical consciousness, and heightened sense of responsibility
discipline/disciplinary
focus on a problem or part of a problem the discipline is interested in; no effort to involve other disciplines
disciplinary approach
focus on a problem or part of a problem the disciplines is interested in; no effort to involve other disciplines
creative thinking
form new relationship among ideas, thinking outside the box
creative intelligence
formulate ideas, makes connections
theory
generalized scholarly explanation about some aspect of the natural or human world, how it works, why specific facts are related, that is supported by data and research
revolutionary insights
ideas that have capacity to transform how we learn, and produce new knowledge. Combing ideas from very different areas of understanding
common ground theory
implicity in the concept of integration; created between conflicting disciplinary insights, assumptions, concepts or theories and makes integration possible
"past is prologue"
it affects the present
theory of conceptual integration
interdiscipinarians reject the idea that integration is THE defining feature of genuine interdisciplinary care belief: integration is usually not achievable- epistemological barriers between disciplines, conflicting disciplinary perspectives and modes of thinking, variety of possible results
Seeing commonality amid difference and conflict
interdisciplinarians find the best available solution in a particular contact, given the insights that can currently be drawn from relevant disciplines
an economist, a psychologist, and an expert in special education work together to design a study to assess the full costs of lead exposure in children. This work would be considered
interdisciplinary
complexity in the familiar
interdisciplinary views homelessness as a complex problem of multiple factors that are interconnected proposes solutions that are more comprehensive than are the narrow disciplinary ones
commonality amid difference and conflict
interest in investigating all possible causes of the problem being studied, draws on all relevant disciplinary insights, scrutinize these insights for conflicts, develops and understanding of why the conflicts exist
Purpose of disciplines
interpret reality according to certain prescribed guidelines and provide its members with organizational support
transdisciplinary
involving academic researchers from different unrelated disciplines as well as nonacademic researches from different unrelated disciplines as well as nonacademic participants to create new knowledge and theory and delve into a common question
integrative thinking
is not a defining characteristic of interdisciplinary learning
abstract thinking
mental adaptability and flexibility enables you to use concept and make generalizations
abstract thinking
mental adaptability and flexibility enables you to use concepts and make generalizations
generative technologies
novelty and power find applications of great value; capacity to transform sectors of the economy, develop new sources of wealth, and create new jobs and professions
appreciation of diversity
open to information from any and all relevant sources; respect for people because of our common humanity
tolerance of ambiguity
openness to more than one interpretation, depending on immediate contact, and understanding any complex problem is an ongoing process
complex problems in context
places homeless person in the broadest context possible and ideally draw on all relevant sources of knowledge to more fully understand the cause of the person issues
multidisciplinary
placing side by side of insights from 2 or more disciplines; additive not integrative; relationship is cumulative not interactive
methods
procedures or processes or techniques used by disciplines practitioners to conduct, organize, and present research
most important purpose of interdisciplinary studies
produce a more complete understanding of the problem by integrating the best elements of competing concepts
integrative thinking
producing revolutionary insights and generative technologies requires a capacity for integrative thinking
perspective taking
reduces stereotyping, improves decision quality, develops over time, increases creativity, allows adoption of a broader perspective, and aids integration
minimum depth
refers to knowing the perspective in an overall sense of each discipline relevant to the problem being discussed
epistemology
study of the nature questions such as what is the nature of knowledge how can I know what I know. Different disciplines have different concepts of what constitutes knowledge, how it is produced, and how it should be applied
phenomena
subjects, objects, behaviors within a disciplines research domain
Revolutionary insights and generative technologies require
successful intelligence and integrative thinking
critical interdisciplinary
take methods and tools from various disciplines, "hands on", questions disciplines but hostile to them; aware disciplinary understanding is biased but believe they can evaluate and reveal less-biased insights and integrate into more holistic understanding
entrepreneurship
taking risk to achieve a particular goal
silo perspective
tendency to see world through narrow lens of that disciplines; fails to provide context of that whole system
data
that which is observed can be inanimate object, living things, events, or interactions between people and objects
systems thinking
the ability to break a problem down into constituent parts revealing internal and external factors, figure out how each part relates to the others and to the problem as a whole, identify which parts different disciplines address, and useful to understand how complex problems function and how various parts interrelate- can see how they affect our lives
natural sciences
the assumptions that 1. nature is orderly 2. knowledge is based on experience 3. all phenomena have natural causes
perspective taking
the intellectual capacity to view a complex problem, phenomenon or behavior from multiple perspectives, including disciplinary ones to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the problem
pluralism
the label given to those whole think that reality cannot be explained by one substance or principle; embedded through different forms of study programs
Blooms taxonomy
the levels of intellectual behavior
complexity theory
there are multiple, interconnected and interacting parts; interaction is not always linear or as expected. IDSC is necessary when the phenomenon is multifaceted and functions as a system
interdisciplinary studies
they emphasize process, connection, integration, comprehensive understanding of complex issues, and creation of new approaches and solutions
assumptions
things accepted as true or certain- each discipline makes its own assumptions about that natural and human worlds
purpose of IDSC
to produce more complete understanding of the problem by integrating the best elements of competing concepts, assumptions, theories, or methods
civic engagement
use of nonpolitical and political means to affect the quality of life in a community
