Welcome to my course portfolio for IDST 2205: Global Issues in Society at Georgia College & State University. My research into student learning in this course began in the fall of 1999 and continues today. In the pages that are linked here, I attempt to assess student learning in this interdisciplinary core course over the course of several semesters, and the impact of various pedagogical techniques and integrative course structures on interdisciplinary thinking and learning. During the fall 1999, I surveyed students, examined course work, and administered three standardized instruments, including the Jackson Personality Inventory, the Measure of Epistemological Reflection, and the Reflective Judgment Interview. I also collected and analyzed student work, including exams, simulations, problem-solving exercises, and WEBCT discussion board postings. To access all of my project data, click at any time on the data link at the bottom of each page. To read more about my methods and instruments, consult the project overview.
In the pages that are linked here, I discuss some theoretical issues about interdisciplinarity and the design of the IDST 2205 Global Issues in Society course, and then apply these materials to the enactment of the course. One of the unique features of this portfolio is the extensive documentation of my approach and that of other collaborating faculty to the course, including copies of course handouts, a chronicle of the unfolding of the course, course syllabi, exams, links to the multimedia site I created for the course, and several examples of simulations and other special class projects. I present a chronicle of the evolution of this course from its initial inception to the summer 2001. Viewers can conveniently access all of these materials in the enactment section of this portfolio:
In the Fall 1999 enactment section, viewers will find a brief discussion of a team-taught course I observed, along with data from standardized instruments, examples of student work. This data gave me insights into issues related to student learning and course design, which I discuss in my reflection on the course outcomes as compared to those of the IDST 2310 Fine and Applied Arts in the fall 1999. Still under construction.
This portfolio sheds some light on the complexities and difficulties of developing an interdisciplinary course. My chronicle of the growth of this course over four semesters suggests that for many faculty and faculty teams, designing and implementing an interdisciplinary course may need to occur in stages; this is particularly true for faculty moving from a team-teaching situation to a solo situation. My account also suggests that it is rather natural and perhaps even necessary for faculty and students alike to progress through the various levels of integration chronicled in the literature before a course or one's thinking becomes fully interdisciplinary. Further, the materials in this portfolio illustrate the strong links between various models of enactment and student learning, the benefits of a global perspective in an interdisicplinary environment, and the effacacy of a wide interdisciplinary approach combined with active and collaborative learning.
The research presented here, including my analysis of the data from the Jackson Personality Inventory, the Measure of Epistemological Reflection, and student work and surveys, suggests some effective techniques for fostering integrative thinking in students. Further, this research sheds some light on the mechanism by which interdisciplinary courses tend to produce the cognitive and other benefits charted in the literature. The conclusion section for this course portfolio summarizes the results of my two semesters of research in this course; the grand synthesis section for the Explorations in Interdisciplinary Learning project places these conclusions for the IDST 2205 course in the context of the larger scope of my research in other interdisciplinary core courses at Georgia College & State University.
To navigate the IDST 2205 portfolio, click on the links at the bottom of each page.
IDST 2205 Conclusions | Data at a Glance | Project Overview | Grand Synthesis |
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