Reflection on Fall 1999 Course Outcomes
Student perceptions of the difference between interdisciplinary courses and more traditional courses in the disciplines
Students saw these aspects of this interdisciplinary course as very different from their traditional disciplinary courses:
*In tradditional classes, everyone is given basically the same thing and told to do either a paper on it. In the IDST, we were told to be inquisitive and use our own thoughts. (Student 3, freshman, Journalism)
*IDST classes take information from all aspects of life and combine them with other things, which is different from just a plain discipline because it just uses the same stuff over and over again. (Student 23, sophomore, undecided)
*Interdisciplinary class teach unique material not otherwise offered. Also these classes offer a wide range of variety. While, traditional classes teach standard, repetetive material.(Student 1, sophomore, Accounting)
*"Interdisciplinary" means that the course integrates a number of various disciplines in order to provide the student with a better overall, well-rounded perspective and learning experience than typical, basic courses offer. In traditional classes, you go in, listen to the lecture, read the book, study, and eventually take the test. It is kind of boring. (Student 30, response to questions 1 and 2, sophomore, Political Science)
*An interdisciplinary class concentrates more on the aesthetic attributes and motivations of a subject. The teachings seem to involve personal reactions and the evidence which governs these reactions. They give you a better understanding of how interconnected doctrines really are and how they all slightly depend on each other. Traditional classes go into detail about their subject, but they do not give you the freedom to freely express your feelings or go into discussions based on your perception of the topic. It's more of a "ask a question, get a response" atmosphere. They don't give you a scenario that you can visualize. They give you exacts based on numerous studies which really don't tell you anything. (Student 6, sophomore, Computer Science) This student, as noted earlier, increased her MER scores in domain 1 from a 2.4 to a 3.1 scores and in domain 2 from a 3.1. to a 3.5. Domain 2 measures student attitudes about the role of the learner; in this case, this student progressed from a desire to see "facts linked to ideas" to preferring learning settings where the student "becomes involved through opinions and self-expression." Similarly, this student's domain 4 score, which measures the learner's ideas about participation, also increased from a 3.4 to a 4.1.
*Interdisciplinary classes have differed from traditional classes because they seem to be more laid back, in which you can be creative.(Student 16, junior, Marketing) This student made significant gains in all domains of the MER from the pre- to the post-test. (note: this student did not supply enough information to rate the domain 2 pre-test responses.)
*The Interdisciplinary class allowed for self thought and expression. The traditional class is more of a structured class that has a rigid regement of responses that have a definite right and wrong answer. The Fine and Applied Arts class allowed the student the ability of free thought and expression which in today's world is stiffled many times due to the nature of the world we have created. (Student 18, sophomore, nontraditional student, Criminal Justice)
*Discipline classes all have problems and questions that have only right answers or wrong answers it gives no room for self opinion or self thought. Discipline classes do not give you the chance to explore your inner self. (Student 21, sophomore, Nursing)
*In traditional classes you study the facts and the way all things are supposed to be. In interdisciplinary classes you study and interact to different topics and these could be called opinions. (Student 22, sophomore, Early Childhood Education)
This group as a whole had a lower mean than the class on the JPIs on the complexity and risk-taking scales, and a higher mean than the class in dependability and organization. This group also had much lower means on the MER domains than the class as a whole. Again, these students seem to be reacting to those aspects of the courses which conflicted with their basic learning preferences and personality traits. Some of these remarks, however, raised some concerns for me, as some students, such as student 16 above, interpreted the lack of clear right or wrong answers and the subsequent "freedom" to come to one's own point of view as being a "more laid back approach." This almost suggests a less rigorous environment, which was anything but the case given the content of the syllabus, readings, course outlines, and the level of achievement on exams demanded. Although I think the student who stated the issue this way was basically referring back to the acceptance of diverse viewpoints and the lack of absolutes so characteristic of an interdisciplinary approach, nevertheless, perhaps there needs to be more clarification that the integration of different perspectives and methodologies does not mean the abandonment of any structure at all in one's approach to problems and issues. Rather, it provides more alternatives.
Students receive voluminous handouts in the course to accompany our lectures/discussions/workshops, and finely detailed "review sheets" for exams. They also had a detailed multimedia text to accompany their hard copy texts. There is a clear structure to our sessions, and clearly articulated objectives for each session. Clearly, students were expected to master a body of knowledge. Given that there was tangible and clear organization, the many references to students feeling greater freedom to express opinions and pursue an independent synthesis of issues seem to be a real signal of success at promoting the goals of an interdisciplinary approach.
To further explore my reflection on fall 1999 course outcomes, please continue on to
Student
concepts of interdisciplinarity
Student
perceptions of the role of pedagogical techniques
Student
comments on the impact of this course on other areas of their studies
or lives
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