Reflection on Fall 1999 Course Outcomes
The Role of Pedagogical Techniques
Some of the students' remarks on perceived benefits and/or characteristics of an interdisciplinary class may be due to the pedagogical techniques employed. During the course of the semester, students engaged in a wide variety of frequent hands-on activities which required students to apply abstract ideas to the creation of an original work of art or to a particular discussion project. Several students saw interdisciplinary course as demanding the ability to interact with and apply ideas rather than simple regurgitation and mastery of facts. Interestingly, many students defined an interdisciplinary course as by nature involving more hands-on activities than a traditional course. In my mind, this is not a unique feature of an interdisciplinary course, as many instructors in traditional disciplinary courses employ similar methods. Nevertheless, one goal of an interdisciplinary approach is to enhance ability to apply knowledge from diverse contexts to problems. Although some of the active learning activities in this semester's offering were not necessarily of a problem-solving nature, such as creating a Hand of Fatima or Clay Goddess, several were, such as the preferential shape project and the self-portrait. Evidently the chances to apply abstract ideas to the creation of a work of art became a defining feature of the course for many students. Several other remarks also suggested that the applied units were one of the reasons why students argued that they had become more involved in the course and had a more "personal" experience.
Students also remarked that the use of discussion in this course was more pronounced than in traditional courses. Again, these two pedagogical techniques are not unique to an interdisciplinary class; student comments simply support the argument found in a wide array of literature that these techniques are more effective for teaching a course's goals, especially those of an interdisciplinary course, than lecture format alone:
*An interdisciplinary class should be one where multiple teaching tools and styles should be used to give a broader sense of learning. This kind of class isn't supposed to be merely learning facts and spitting them back out for tests, but actually understanding and interacting with different topics. (Student 17, sophomore, Music Education)
*I think that interdisciplinary classes are classes that are hands-on and use a great deal of communication ...They differ in ways that normal classes are in the way that in normal classes students usually just sit and take notes. In interdisciplinary classes, there is a lot of interaction between the students and teachers. (Student 19, response to questions 1 and 2, sophomore, Early Childhood Education)
*I honestly have no idea what it means. It may mean that the students and the professor should interact with one another ...(question 2) There are more inputs from students, including more class discussions. In traditional classes, I take notes and then take the test. In my IDST course, things are more involved. We also participate in hands-on activities. (Student 9, freshman, undecided major)
*I think that interdisciplinary means learning through a new disciplined way. Learning would be done through more of a "hands on" type of learning. I think that an interdisciplinary class should learning through hands on experiences. I know for myself that I comprehend information better when I have a part in teaching it to myself. This type of class allows a little more time, but I think that the extra time spent is worth it. (Student 2, junior, Early Childhood Education)
*An interdisciplinary class should be one that the student has the chance to learn by doing as well as seeing and watching. It is a class that the teacher takes the time to show as well as lecture.(Student 3, freshman, Journalism)
*[An interdisciplinary class] involes hands on as well as lectures and you learn about many different things in one class. (Student 4, sophomore, Nursing)
*There are more inputs from students, including more class discussions. In traditional classes, I take notes and then take the test. In my IDST course, things are more involved. We also participate in hands-on activities. (Student 9, response to question 2, freshman, undecided major)
*IDST classes have a lot more hands on activities. With the exception of perhaps art and music classes, most other classes don't. (Student 25, junior, music ed)
* It is more involved, and it makes you look at different cultures of the world. It also is a more hands-on type class. (Student 10, response to question 2, sophomore, Marketing)
In sum, students saw their IDST class as a chance "for students to break away from the traditional way of learning. Students become more involved in what is being taught." (Student 16, junior, Marketing)
These students all scored in the very low range on the JPI on extroversion, energy, and low on their preference for analytical contexts, while they scored in the high to very high range on emotional, and very high on the empathy scale. For these students, contexts which allowed them to function in ways they were naturally comfortable with were the most effective teaching techniques. As a whole, this group's mean scores on domains 3, 5, and 6 of the MER increased on the pre- and post-tests (what the student does with information, who is competent to evaluate, the nature of knowledge and how one evaluates it). The most consistent increases among this group were in domain 3. Four of the eight students in this group who completed pre- and post-test MERs increased their scores in domain 3, which relates to what the student does with information; these scores reflect progression in the students' willingness and desire to move from an authoritarian method of instruction toward one that teaches the students how to solve problems for themselves.
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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