Stem Education Is An Interdisciplinary Approach To Learning Where?
“STEM education is an interdisciplinary approach to learning that removes traditional barriers separating the four disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and integrates them into real-world, rigorous, and relevant learning experiences for students.” – STEM Lesson Essentials by Jo Anne Vasquez and Michael Comer (pg.4) STEM is the acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
- It is an approach to education that strives to remove the traditional lines of subject areas.
- Students undertake real-world learning activities that incorporates the skills and knowledge of multiple subject areas.
- According to Jo Anne Vasquez’s article, STEM: Beyond the Acronym, STEM education should involve the application of skills and knowledge to complete authentic tasks and the use of the engineering design process to create products and solutions.
The article also included The Inclined Plane of STEM Integration chart that showcases the different levels of STEM integration. The first level, Multidisciplinary, connects multiple subject areas through a common theme. However the set of skills and knowledge of each subject are taught separately from one another.
The Interdisciplinary level involves more collaboration from teachers to develop curriculum where skills and knowledge of multiple subject areas are “interconnected and interdependent.” The ideal level of STEM integration is called Transdisciplinary, This level consists of project-based or problem-based learning that connects multiple subject areas through a driving question (an inspiring, open-ended question that involves the use of targeted skills and knowledge for it to be answered).
This driving question leads students to create a solution that incorporates the skills and knowledge of multiple subject areas.
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Contents
What is interdisciplinary approach to learning?
Interdisciplinary instruction develops strong systems of engaging and efficient whole student experiences. When we think of each content area or academic field as a cog in the instructional system educators can feel overwhelmed by the complexities and expectations of teaching.
- By taking an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, schools can – and should – integrate multiple academic fields.
- Interdisciplinary instruction relies on multiple content cogs working together to develop student knowledge, problem-solving skills, self-confidence, self-efficacy and a passion for learning while supporting students’ various learning styles, diverse backgrounds, interests, talents, backgrounds, and values.
By focusing on providing interdisciplinary and project-based learning opportunities, student engagement in learning increases, whereby a culture of student-directed learning becomes the norm, not the exception. Shifting instruction and assessment from siloed content area learning to interdisciplinary will provide educators and students unique opportunities to explore learning that is both relevant and interesting to them – cultivating an environment that excites learners and sparks continuous curiosity. There are many different ways to offer students a learning experience that includes knowledge and skills from several disciplines. While none of these approaches are novel, Maine DOE’s support of interdisciplinary learning better prepares our students to find an engaging and rewarding pathway. These are the approaches and how we define each :
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What is the STEM approach?
STEM is an approach to learning and development that integrates the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Through STEM, students develop key skills including:
problem solving creativity critical analysis teamwork independent thinking initiative communication digital literacy.
What is an example of interdisciplinary teaching approach?
Examples –
- Travel and vacation can serve as a theme for cross-curricular interdisciplinary instruction. In social studies, student might study the geography of popular travel destinations, the history of tourist sites in the local community, and how travel changed dramatically during the 19th century Industrial Revolution. Analysis of travel promotion and advertising are relevant to media literacy education, Thousands of travel accounts have been published over the centuries that could be read and discussed in English classes. The impact of tourism on the environment relevant to science curriculum. In business education, students might examine the impact of tourism on the local, regional, or world economy.
- An interdisciplinary unit on rivers is appropriate for elementary or middle school Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, The local river system would be the unifying idea, but the English teacher would link it to Language Arts by studying river vocabulary and teaching students how to do a research report. The science teacher might teach children about the life systems that exist in the river, while the Social Studies teacher might help students research the local history and peoples who used the river for food and transport.
- Food is studied in every discipline and can serve as a theme for interdisciplinary instruction. Psychologists and sociologists explore how individuals and cultures decide what to eat, how to prepare it, and how to consume it. Anthropologists explore the meaning and symbolism of food in a culture or how food relates to social class, sex, gender, or ethnicity. Economists study the production, distribution, marketing, sales, trade, and prices of food. Political scientists examine the government food policies such as taxation, regulation and debate the government’s role in feeding its citizens. Scientists from the fields of nutrition, medicine, chemistry, biology, and agriculture study every aspect of food, from diet, health, and nutrition to chemical composition, production, and preservation. Food historians use interdisciplinary approaches to study food and its place in social class, religious practice, immigration, urbanization, technological change, the growth of the food industry, counterculture movements, and government policy.
What is science as an interdisciplinary area of learning?
The Faculty’s Definition – As the above definitions are derived from interdisciplinary understanding in the social sciences and interdisciplinary research in the natural and physical sciences, respectively, we sought for a definition targeted toward what interdisciplinary science might look like in the context of undergraduate science students. Current higher education faculty are on the frontline of planting the seeds for science students to start thinking interdisciplinarily. Yet there is little understanding of how faculty conceptualize interdisciplinary science from either the research perspective or the pedagogical perspective. To establish a universal definition addressing both of these aspects, we collected multiple definitions of “interdisciplinary science” by surveying faculty across scientific disciplines and departments, asking, “How do you define interdisciplinary science?” (see the Supplemental Material for sample demographics). Three researchers (including B.T.) conducted content analysis of 184 open-ended survey responses resulting in six salient themes ( Table 1 ). Interrater reliability of >80% was obtained through multiple iterations of prevalent themes on 80 responses, resulting in a final codebook. All three researchers then equally divided the remaining 104 responses and coded them based on thematic identification. As a final check for coding consistency, an additional researcher unrelated to the initial coding process, but trained on the project details and application of the codebook, examined all survey responses for accuracy of themes. We used the emergent themes and our analysis of the literature to develop a working definition of interdisciplinary science, with the intention of it being relevant to undergraduate science students and experts alike.
| Top themes among interdisciplinary science definitions | n | % b |
|---|---|---|
| Involves two or more disciplines | 173 | 94.0 |
| Use of multiple/differing research methods/methodology | 79 | 43.0 |
| Collaboration among individuals | 52 | 28.3 |
| Need for other/additional disciplinary knowledge/expertise | 52 | 28.3 |
| Having various perspectives, theories, approaches | 48 | 26.1 |
| Addresses problems that cannot be solved by one discipline | 37 | 20.1 |
Five of the six salient themes from faculty responses offered definitions of interdisciplinary science that contain constituent parts from both of the previously presented definitions from the social sciences literature and scientific research funding agencies.
A theme that was regularly included in our participants’ and NSF’s definition, but was excluded from the social science literature, was the idea that interdisciplinarity involves “collaboration” ( Table 1 ). The relevance of this theme is supported by a study that explored learning outcomes for graduate students involved in the NSF’s (former) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program ( Borrego and Newswander, 2010 ).
Using elements from the humanities ( Repko, 2008 ) and an interdisciplinary social science rubric ( Boix Mansilla et al., 2009 ), researchers compared IGERT grant proposals with the rubric to look for interdisciplinary elements in the pursuit of developing interdisciplinary graduate student learning outcomes.
Their findings provided a compelling argument that collaboration is an essential factor for interdisciplinary work in the natural and physical sciences. This should come as no surprise, as science is simply too vast for any one individual to be an expert in the multiple fields necessary to solve complex issues ( NRC, 2003, 2009 ).
Thus, we propose a working definition of interdisciplinary science derived from a survey of science faculty and various published work: Interdisciplinary science is the collaborative process of integrating knowledge/expertise from trained individuals of two or more disciplines—leveraging various perspectives, approaches, and research methods/methodologies—to provide advancement beyond the scope of one discipline’s ability.
Aside from collaboration being identified as essential to interdisciplinary science, all three definitions are not markedly different from one another. This suggests that science faculty are indeed aware of the key elements involved in interdisciplinary science as defined by STEM and non-STEM disciplines; however, whether they are also developing learning goals related to this competency remains unknown.
Of 184 faculty participants in our survey study, 45% ( n = 84) did state having interdisciplinary learning outcomes in response to the question “Does your course have learning outcomes related to students’ understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of science?” With ongoing calls for interdisciplinary science efforts, it is important to determine how we can better support faculty to create and embed learning outcomes related to interdisciplinary science for undergraduates.
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What are the 3 strategies in interdisciplinary teaching?
Three strategies for interdisciplinary teaching: contextualizing, conceptualizing, and problem‐centring. This paper distinguishes among contextualizing, conceptualizing, and problem‐centring as three basic approaches to interdisciplinary curriculum.
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What are the list of interdisciplinary approaches?
Thus we have three major approaches to interdisciplinary social science – multi, cross and trans-disciplinary.
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What are the 4 principles of STEM?
The Four Cs – 
In 2002, the National Education Association (NEA) began a two-year journey to develop what became known as a “Framework for 21st Century Learning.” This project focused on 18 different skills that would equip students for success in a global economy.
Over time, it was determined that the framework was too long and complicated. To resolve this issue, four specific skills were deemed to be the most important. They became known as the “Four Cs” — critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. STEM is a natural extension of these skills, as it embraces each as an essential part of the learning process.
In a study reported by The Washington Post, Bloomberg/Businessweek and others, employers said students are unprepared for the workforce. Many claim candidates are applying for jobs without the skills that will make them successful employees. So, what do employers want? In short, they want excellent soft-skills (4Cs) and STEM aptitude. 
Critical thinking is the analysis of an issue or situation and the facts, data or evidence related to it. It is to be done objectively (without influence from personal feelings, opinions, or biases) based solely on factual information. Under the heading of Critical Thinking are several skill subsets that are an integral part of STEM, including observation, analysis, inference, and problem-solving.
One great example of critical thinking usage would be during our Extreme Earth unit that focuses on such lessons as layers of the earth, earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. During the visit on landslides, groups are given a sloping landscape tray on which they must create retaining walls from clay (problem solving).
The goal is to prevent as much erosion as possible to the hillside. Once finished, the tray is backfilled with sand and a saturating “rain” is simulated. Students must observe the results, analyze any weaknesses in their engineering, and make inferences on ways to improve their design. 
Communication is a necessity in any work industry. Candidates must be able to communicate in many different mediums such as presentations, email, and formal written documents. During STEM projects, not only do the students have to communicate well with one another, they must be able to describe or explain their thought process.
The ability to do so in a clear, articulate manner is of paramount importance. During our unit on Air and Water, for example, groups are challenged to create a filtration device from plastic bottles and a variety of materials such as cotton balls, coffee filters, sand, charcoal, etc. Once completed, they test their device by passing dirty water through it.
However, the challenge doesn’t end there! We stage this project as an episode of Shark Tank and discuss profit margins and investments. Teams are given a budget and each of the possible filtration materials has a cost assigned to it. This way, the students not only have to think in terms of what will produce the clearest water, but also yield the highest profit margin.
Once the testing is complete, each team must use excellent communication skills as they “pitch” their device to Mr. Wonderful (me). Collaboration This piece is probably the one that I find most thrilling and mesmerizing to watch. My class is divided into five tables, each of which ideally accommodates four students; although, due to varying class sizes, some tables have only three students.
These are mixed by gender so that most tables group together two boys and two girls. While there are times that each child is working on his/her own individual project, groups are usually working together collaboratively to complete the project at hand.
- As they strive to find a harmonious balance between the more assertive personalities and more timid ones, they learn to appreciate and value differing approaches and solutions.
- I have had many Lower School teachers tell me that they have seen an improvement in how well their students work together in the classroom as a result of Stem Lab.
Learning to work well with others is a life skill that will pay dividends long after graduation. Creativity In STEM, creativity is probably best defined as “thinking outside of the box.” While there are times that it manifests itself in more artistic or aesthetic ways, designing a unique structure, vehicle, or gadget certainly involves a great deal of creativity.
- There are times when the students are constructing from instructions, because I believe the ability to interpret a set of plans or sequenced steps is also a valuable skill.
- But my favorite “builds” are the ones where the children must rely on their own imaginations to complete a project from inception to execution.
One of the favorite regular visits by my third and fourth graders is called “Girls vs. Boys Day.” These are held at the end of most six-visit units and based on the subject matter we just completed. Each of the two groups is given an oversized building set of various sticks and connectors (think giant Tinker Toys) and given a project to build.
For example, at the end of their Marine Biology unit, fourth grade teams were charged with building a submarine that could contain their entire team. Points are given based on teamwork, detail, realism, etc. I absolutely love seeing them work together to create something strictly from their collective imaginations.
These lessons are a perfect example of integrating all four of the Cs into a single project. Adding the Secret Sauce In addition to integrating the Four Cs, I also incorporate two philosophies that have guided me through my entire 29-year teaching career.
- The first is that, regardless of subject matter or age, learning should be FUN,
- Every single STEM visit during the four-year journey began with a desire that it be fun and engaging.
- In fact, most activities that get replaced are because I found something that I thought would be more fun for my students! A perfect example of this just materialized over the past few weeks.
I got the idea to stage three different elaborate Escape Rooms for my fourth-grade students. These are themed to an Egyptian Tomb, Blackbeard’s Treasure, and Harry Potter. Designed to take two visits each to complete, each of the fourth-grade classes is rotating through the different rooms over a three-week period.
While my educational objectives include critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, code decryption, and data collection, the kids simply find themselves immersed in a dimly lit place of fog, flickering lanterns, thematic music, strange props, hidden clues, and the freedom to explore with flashlights to locate and solve the eight challenges.
The level of excitement shown is just unbelievable and so gratifying to see firsthand. My hope is that they never lose this love for learning as they grow older. The second philosophy that guides everything we do in STEM is approaching science from a biblical worldview.
- I consider teaching to be a spiritual gift, and, as such, I want our Father’s name glorified in everything we study.
- I can think of no other subject that speaks to the awesome handiwork of God like science.
- Whether that be the intricacies of the human body, the endless boundaries of space, the physical laws of the universe or the miracle of life itself, we acknowledge God to be the creator, author, and sustainer of it all.
In Conclusion I hope you have enjoyed this insight into STEM Education and, specifically, our Lower School STEM program. Being a STEM instructor and working for Jackson Academy has been the highlight of my teaching career. I have been so blessed to work with such amazing professionals and leaders in the Lower School department.
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What is the main purpose of the STEM?
Stems – Stems are a part of the shoot system of a plant. They may range in length from a few millimeters to hundreds of meters. They also vary in diameter, depending on the plant type. Stems are usually above ground, although the stems of some plants, such as the potato, also grow underground.
Stems may be herbaceous (soft) or woody in nature. Their main function is to provide support to the plant, holding leaves, flowers, and buds; in some cases, stems also store food for the plant. A stem may be unbranched, like that of a palm tree, or it may be highly branched, like that of a magnolia tree.
The stem of the plant connects the roots to the leaves, helping to transport absorbed water and minerals to different parts of the plant. The stem also helps to transport the products of photosynthesis (i.e., sugars) from the leaves to the rest of the plant.
Plant stems, whether above or below ground, are characterized by the presence of nodes and internodes. Nodes are points of attachment for leaves, aerial roots, and flowers. The stem region between two nodes is called an internode. The stalk that extends from the stem to the base of the leaf is the petiole.
An axillary bud is usually found in the axil (the area between the base of a leaf and the stem) where it can give rise to a branch or a flower. The apex (tip) of the shoot contains the apical meristem within the apical bud. Figure \(\PageIndex \): Parts of a stem: Leaves are attached to the plant stem at areas called nodes. An internode is the stem region between two nodes. The petiole is the stalk connecting the leaf to the stem. The leaves just above the nodes arise from axillary buds.
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Why is interdisciplinary approach important in education?
What Is Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning? – Interdisciplinary teaching and learning is exactly what it sounds like: students combine learning from multiple disciplines to come up with new ways to think about issues and solve problems. Teachers looking to create these opportunities for students might ask, what is an interdisciplinary approach? Compared to traditional approaches, an interdisciplinary approach expands what students learn by allowing them to tackle problems that don’t fit neatly into one subject.
- It also changes how students learn by asking them to synthesize multiple perspectives, instead of taking what they’re told by a teacher at face value.
- For an example of interdisciplinary learning, take this project from the theater program at Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (TAPA ) in Providence, RI.
ShaLayla Simmons, theater teacher and artist-in-residence, led students in writing, staging, and directing plays based on their own life experiences, interests, and natural curiosities. The students also studied well known plays from across history—a Greek drama, a play by Tennesse Williams, and a play by Lorraine Hansberry.
- This project was interdisciplinary in that it connected literature with historical perspectives, creative work, and material from students’ own lives.
- In doing this project, students made deep connections between their own identities and the plays they read, gaining new insights into both.
- As this example from TAPA shows, much of the power of interdisciplinary learning lies in how it teaches students to think and make connections.
In partnership with the National Science Foundation, The Science and Research Institute at Carleton College (SERC) identified four major cognitive skills that interdisciplinary learning teaches students, including the ability to:
- Recognize biases
- Thinking critically
- Embracing ambiguity
- Analyzing ethical concerns
These cognitive skills are crucial for high schools looking to transform learning and prepare students for success after graduation. Daniel Allen, former executive director of school renewal with the Santa Ana Unified School District, explained, “The economy right now favors the weird; favors the new; favors the out-of-the-box thinkers.” Interdisciplinary learning helps students learn creatively and apply knowledge across disciplines. 
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What are interdisciplinary skills?
5 interdisciplinary skills gaining momentum in 2022 and beyond 
Employers are looking for people who can work effectively across disciplines and on teams. Jobs of the future will demand a set of skills that haven’t been required in generations. In this post, we discuss what those skills are and why they’re so important.
Interdisciplinary skills are the key to being a successful worker in many industries, as they allow you to gain an understanding of how people, technologies, and businesses interact. They also make it possible to solve complex problems that arise from these interactions. When looking at well-payed jobs, it’s easy to see why interdisciplinary skills are so important.
They’re not just valuable in fields like medicine or engineering – they can also be applied across industries such as finance, law, and education. Market research is a key part of any business, and it’s something every professional should know how to do.
Understand the importance of collecting data from multiple sources (surveys, interviews, focus groups) and analyze that data using statistical tools like regression analysis or hierarchical clusteringIdentify trends within their chosen fieldRecommend changes based on research results.
This is the ability to change and adapt to new situations, often requiring people to learn new skills. Adaptability can help employees work well in a team as well as with people who have different personalities and goals. It’s also important when working under pressure: in order to get things done on time, everyone needs to be able to adjust their workflow when things come up unexpectedly.
- Management skills are useful in any role that requires managing people, including in technical roles such as software engineering when managing teams of people with different opinions and ideas.
- Good managers spend time understanding their staff members’ strengths and weaknesses as well as their own strengths and weaknesses so they can tailor their approach accordingly when communicating expectations or feedback.
A good manager also learns how best to motivate everyone under their control so they consistently deliver their best work. Critical thinking and analytical thinking are two sides of the same coin, but they differ in their approach. Critical thinking is about evaluating how you think: for example, looking back at a situation and identifying your assumptions or biases.
Analytical thinking refers to the ability to look at information, whether qualitative or quantitative in nature, and recognize patterns in the information. These two skills aren’t unique to business or technology careers; they’re important in any line of work. But because most businesses today rely heavily on technology, critical thinking and analytical thinking are especially valuable in the fields of business and technology.
The skills you learn in school are only valuable if you can use them in the real world. Active learning involves students in the learning process rather than just having them read or listen to information passively. This type of active engagement can help students retain and apply knowledge more efficiently, which is why it’s an important part of any curriculum.
- According to results from a study by the National Academy of Sciences, active learning techniques improve learning success rates compared with passive methods such as lectures or traditional group exercises alone.
- Active learning also helps students better comprehend their subjects and solve problems on their own – two things they’re likely to need as they continue their education after college graduation.
What are the skills employers are looking for in 2023 and beyond? It’s a big question, but we’ve got some answers. Interdisciplinary skills will be a requirement for jobs of the future. They’re going to be more important than ever because they allow people to solve problems and make decisions in an increasingly complex world.
Learn another language, Knowing more than one language can help you communicate with people from different cultures and backgrounds. Learning a second language also gives you insights into how languages work, which can be useful if you want to become a translator or codebreaker. Study the humanities, Studying history, literature, philosophy, and other subjects in the humanities can help you think critically about the world around you. This is particularly useful if you want to develop an understanding of social issues and how people interact with each other. Get involved in your community, Volunteering and getting involved in local activities is a great ways to develop new skills and meet new people who can help you with your career. It also helps you gain valuable experience you can share on your CV when applying for jobs. Listen to podcasts and audiobooks, Listening to podcasts and audiobooks is a great way to learn new things while doing something else, such as commuting or exercising. If you’re short on time, try listening while doing something else instead of reading a book. Keep up with current affairs, Keeping up with the latest news and events in your area of interest will help you keep up with developments in your industry and enable you to apply this knowledge at work.
While we can’t guarantee that jobs of the future will require interdisciplinary skills, recent trends suggest it’s likely. The better you develop these skills now, the better you’ll be suited for a variety of future careers. Moreover, many people report feeling fulfilled by work that requires them to draw from knowledge and skills across several fields.
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What is the interdisciplinary approach to STS?
STS is an interdisciplinary approach that seeks to explore and understand the many ways that modern science and technology shapes modern culture, values, and institutions on the one hand, and on the other how modern values shape science and technology (Mansour, 2009).
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Why is science considered to be an interdisciplinary field?
Environmental science is also referred to as an interdisciplinary field because it incorporates information and ideas from multiple disciplines. Within the natural sciences, such fields as biology, chemistry, and geology are included in environmental science.
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What is a example of interdisciplinary?
Examples of interdisciplinary fields include: Cognitive Science, which might combine neurology, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, and statistics. Women’s Studies, which might combine gender studies, history, literature, and biology. Public Health, which might combine medicine, sociology, and psychology.
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What are interdisciplinary learning activities?
Interdisciplinary learning enables teachers and learners to make connections across learning through exploring clear and relevant links across the curriculum. It supports the use and application of what has been taught and learned in new and different ways. It provides opportunities for deepening learning, for example through answering big questions, exploring an issue, solving problems or completing a final project. ‘Building the Curriculum 3′ states: “Effective interdisciplinary learning: can take the form of individual one-off projects or longer courses of study > is planned around clear purposes > is based upon experiences and outcomes drawn from different curriculum areas or subjects within them > ensures progression in skills and in knowledge and understanding > can provide opportunities for mixed stage learning which is interest based.” Building the Curriculum 2 (p.11) There are two broad types of interdisciplinary learning which, in practice, often overlap.
Learning planned to develop awareness and understanding of the connections and differences across subject areas and disciplines. This can be through the knowledge and skill content, the ways of working, thinking and arguing or the particular perspective of a subject or discipline. Using learning from different subjects and disciplines to explore a theme or an issue, meet a challenge, solve a problem or complete a final project. This can be achieved by providing a context that is real and relevant, to the learners, the school and its community.
For example, this may mean:
Teaching probability in mathematics co-ordinated with science work on DNA and genetics – so that pupils better understand both probability as a mathematical concept and its application to genetics. A project for P6/P7 to create informative and attractive information brochures (or a website) for pupils in schools in a twin town in France, by using knowledge and skills developed in the study of local history, geography, art and design and French language.
Education Scotland is working with a range of schools to provide further examples of interdisciplinary learning to support professional development. These will be added to our online support on a regular basis. To be genuinely interdisciplinary, learning must support learners in using knowledge and skills from different disciplines and in applying and deepening their learning in relevant contexts, and help them to make real connections across subjects and disciplines, where appropriate.
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What is the role of teacher in interdisciplinary approach?
Interdisciplinary Teaching Promotes Significant Learning – Significant Learning ( Fink, 2003) takes place when meaningful and lasting classroom experiences occur. According to Fink when teachers impart students with a range of skills, and insights about the educational process that students will see as meaningful and salient to them they promote student engagement in the learning process and greater learning occurs.
Foundational Knowledge – acquiring information and understanding ideas
Application – acquiring an understanding of how and when to use skills
Integration – the capacity to connect ideas
Human Dimension – recognition of the social and personal implications of issues
Caring – acknowledgment of the role of feelings, interests, and values
Learning How-to-Learn – obtaining insights into the process of learning
The Gain – Interdisciplinary instruction fosters the acquisition of foundational knowledge, promotes integration of ideas from multiple disciplines and provides insight on how to apply knowledge all of which advance a students understanding of how to learn.
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What is Intradisciplinary approach?
Within Subject Areas – An intradisciplinary approach involves an arrangement of the knowledge and skills within one subject area. This approach respects the subject’s way of knowing distinct conceptual structures and methods of inquiry. It aims at integrating the subject’s knowledge and skills into a coherent whole.
Integrating listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing in the study of language Integrating ecology, physics, and chemistry in the study of sciences at Early Years
What is an example of interdisciplinary?
Development – Although “interdisciplinary” and “interdisciplinarity” are frequently viewed as twentieth century terms, the concept has historical antecedents, most notably Greek philosophy, Julie Thompson Klein attests that “the roots of the concepts lie in a number of ideas that resonate through modern discourse—the ideas of a unified science, general knowledge, synthesis and the integration of knowledge”, while Giles Gunn says that Greek historians and dramatists took elements from other realms of knowledge (such as medicine or philosophy ) to further understand their own material.
The building of Roman roads required men who understood surveying, material science, logistics and several other disciplines. Any broadminded humanist project involves interdisciplinarity, and history shows a crowd of cases, as seventeenth-century Leibniz’s task to create a system of universal justice, which required linguistics, economics, management, ethics, law philosophy, politics, and even sinology.
Interdisciplinary programs sometimes arise from a shared conviction that the traditional disciplines are unable or unwilling to address an important problem. For example, social science disciplines such as anthropology and sociology paid little attention to the social analysis of technology throughout most of the twentieth century.
As a result, many social scientists with interests in technology have joined science, technology and society programs, which are typically staffed by scholars drawn from numerous disciplines. They may also arise from new research developments, such as nanotechnology, which cannot be addressed without combining the approaches of two or more disciplines.
Examples include quantum information processing, an amalgamation of quantum physics and computer science, and bioinformatics, combining molecular biology with computer science. Sustainable development as a research area deals with problems requiring analysis and synthesis across economic, social and environmental spheres; often an integration of multiple social and natural science disciplines.
Interdisciplinary research is also key to the study of health sciences, for example in studying optimal solutions to diseases. Some institutions of higher education offer accredited degree programs in Interdisciplinary Studies. At another level, interdisciplinarity is seen as a remedy to the harmful effects of excessive specialization and isolation in information silos,
On some views, however, interdisciplinarity is entirely indebted to those who specialize in one field of study—that is, without specialists, interdisciplinarians would have no information and no leading experts to consult. Others place the focus of interdisciplinarity on the need to transcend disciplines, viewing excessive specialization as problematic both epistemologically and politically.
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Why is interdisciplinary approach important in education?
Critical Thinking Skills –
Developing students’ critical thinking skills empowers them to make sense of the world around them throu gh a rational, curious lens. Interdisciplinary learning encourages students to reflect critically on every new idea or issue they encounter, considering it from multiple perspectives. At the same time, they become more deeply aware of their own perspectives, including their values, beliefs, and attitudes, enabling them to recognize and deconstruct bias in themselves and others. Further, thinking critically through an interdisciplinary approach allows students to identify global concepts that cut across disciplines and apply those concepts in inventive ways.
What is the difference between integrated and interdisciplinary approach of learning?
Explanation: Interdisciplinary approach involves studying of different subjects while integrated approach involves the study based on competence whereby one learns based on what his interests are. On this form of education the subjects are usually integrated and mixed to meet a combination of interest.
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