Reflection on Fall 1999 Course Outcomes
Student perceptions of the course's impact on life situations | Perceptions of impact on other activities | Applying new skills to other academic contexts | Student skepticism about ability to use new skills in disciplinary contexts
Student perceptions of the course's impact on their reaction to life situations and problems
The many references students made to diversity of cultural perspectives shows awareness of one level of the cognitive dissonance created in the course. Many students also indicated that they believed the introduction to diverse cultural perspectives was very valuable, and that their newfound awareness of differences of belief would have a definite impact on their way of life and their response to problems encountered in the "real world":
*Interdisciplinary is teaching yourself and making sure that you achieve what you want to. Interdisciplinary classes are classes that teach about "worldly things" rather than facts. Interdisciplinary classes are more useful in life. They teach more about life skills rather than just random facts like Biology. (Student 26, response to questions 1 and 2, sophomore)
*It expands your mind and enables you to jump out of the everyday reading and writing. It takes you to faraway places and gives you a sense that you are learning positive things that will actually help you in life. (Student 20, freshman, Health Education)
*An interdisciplinary class is a class that teaches a student not only facts but also ways to work in the real world. This class should show the student how to work in the real world. Disciplinary class tell the facts, not how to work with different obstacles that you'll really encounter. (Student 30, response to questions 1 and 2, sophomore, Political Science)
These students all scored in the low range on the JPI in breadth of interest and preference for complexity, but in the high to very high range on social ability and willingness to accept risk. Those students who ordinarily have a great interest and aptitude for social interactions and are willing to enter into unknown situations were most likely to define an interdisciplinary class as one that enabled them to apply what they learn in the classroom to real life situations. (no MERs were available for students 26 and 30, but student 20 increased her scores in all but one domain of the MER from her pre- to her post-test).
Potential Impact of the Course on Other Activities
I was also interested in what aspects of this course students thought might help them in other courses or in life (question 13). Many students saw the course as cultivating a greater ability to tolerate diversity of opinion, to see issues as complex and to delve more deeply into their possible solutions, and to approach problems and life more creatively:
*Yes, it will help my to use my mind more and really think and look into questions, not only what the words say, but what they mean...what they are trying to ask, put myself into the questions and into the different situations in each of the different classes. (Student 20, response to question 13, freshman, Health Education)
*Yes because I have learned useful things about different cultures. I have a more rounded view on different types of people and their beliefs. I now have a better apprieciation of art and why it is so important. (student 23, sophomore, undecided)
*Yes, I think it will make me look deeper into everything. (Student 29, freshman, undecided)
*Yes because it opened up my eyes to see much beyond the cover. (Student 26, sophomore, undecided)
*Yes, it helped me to be more creative about views. (Student 19, sophomore, Early Childhood Education)
*Yes, I think it will make me more open-minded to learning about things that I have never heard of or even experienced. (Student 21, sophomore, Nursing)
*Yes. Instead of narrowing my view on one particular idea it has broadened my knowledge because it makes me think in several different ways. (Student 5, sophomore, Nursing)
*Yes, allot of the information exchanged in this class can be very beneficial in other classes, if not only for the fact that it broadens your horizions and provides alternate positions of thought for a particular subject. (Student 14, sophomore, Marketing).
*...I have come to a greater understanding of the broadness of the art world around me. (Student 31,freshman, Accounting)
*I don't necessarily think it will change specifically my performance in other classes but maybe the way I will handle myself in daily life because it has forced me to evaluate myself and those around me. (Student 12, response to question 13 , sophomore, Psychology)
The MER scores of these students were all in the first and second positions, showing dualistic thinking on all domains. According to their MER pre-test scores, these students were at a stage of learning and thinking that would not indicate willingness to look for applications outside of rote contexts. However, these students all scored in the high range on the JPI on willingness to accept risk. While the course introduces all students alike to important skills, the risk-takers appear to be the ones most likely to look for opportunities to apply their new knowledge elsewhere. Further, their responses at the end of the semester to the survey indicates growth beyond their pre-test MERs. In fact, their post-test scores showed significant growth in all areas.
Greater Eagerness to Learn
The active learning units inspired students to be "more eager to learn what [they] once saw as boring." (Student 4, sophomore, Nursing, response to question 13 ) and to "to experience things rather than just read them or listen to a lecture on them" (Student 31, freshman, Accounting, response to question 13 )
Links to other areas of the curriculum: applying the interdisciplinary method outside of the interdisciplinary classroom
Several students said that this course helped them to make links to other areas of the curriculum:
*I think that this class should be required to take at the same time as the Understanding Visual Culture class, because they both discuss the same things and are conducive to each other's curriculum. (Student 34, sophomore, Spanish)
*Yes it lets me see how certain events and ideas tie in with others even if they do not belong in the same discipline. (Student 32, sophomore, undecided)
*I already know it has. I was taking Art 1105 after our class and the two classes almost worked hand in hand. Much of the stuff we discussed in our class we also discussed in my art class so this really helped me out. (Student 13, sophomore, undecided)
*This course will definately change my performance in other classes because it helped to change my perspective on things. I understand better how things work together, like art and history. I do poorly in classes sometimes because I don't see the relevance of the subjects, and this class showed me that these subjects are important in other contexts, like history in art etc. (student 24, sophomore, Mass Communications) See this student's final exam and self-portrait survey for examples of how this student integrated various disciplinary resources from the course, including art, architecture, music, Hindiusm, psychology, and literature.
These students significantly increased their MER scores on the post-tests in domains 1 and 5 (whether alternatives exist and how knowledge is evaluated). Again, these students scored in the high range on the JPI on their willingness to accept risk. Even though for the most part they scored in the low range on preference for analytical contexts, their natural willingness to enter into unknown contexts meant for them a willingness to apply what they learned in the class to other contexts.
Skepticism about the possibilities of using this approach in other classes
While these students saw the relevance of the approach to other areas of the curriculum, many students reported skepticism about the ability to apply the critical and interdisciplinary approaches to other courses (question 13). In responses to other questions, they saw the IDST environment as creating a situation in which there were no right or wrong answers, and believed that other courses, on the other hand, would not allow such freedom of thought. They argued that disciplinary courses demanded mastery of a given body of facts, where there was a definite right or wrong response.
*I don't know. If other courses consisted of the same atmosphere, maybe. If they don't, it probably will not. (Student 6, sophomore, Computer Science)
*I think it's challenged me to see subjects from more than one view, but it can only be taken as far as the teacher allows it. If a teacher encourages interdisciplinary teaching in a traditional classroom, which some of mine do, than learning becomes more intersting and fun. But if a teacher does not, it's easy to get back into the memorization/regurgitation slump. (Student 17, sophomore, Music Education)
*No, I feel that the other classes must be approached with a different outlook than the Fine and Applied Arts class. Again this resorts back to the more structured aspect of the education process. It will however allow me to approach other apsects of my life with more clarity than before. (Student 18, sophomore, nontraditional student, Criminal Justice)
Others were skeptical about encountering another environments where there was a comparable amount of hands-on learning:
*No, because the interesting ascepts, such as hands on experience, of this class are not usually portrayed in the other classes. Therefore the unique ability to learn the material in a nonboring way is not present in other classes. (Student 1, sophomore, Accounting)
Even if some students did not necessarily think this course would have an impact on other courses, they nevertheless saw a more valuable impact on life itself:
*I don't necessarily think it will change specifically my performance in other classes but maybe the way I will handle myself in daily life because it has forced me to evaluate myself and those around me. (Student 12, sophomore, Psychology)
One student stated that the main impact of the IDST course is that "it sparks curiosity ... Basically, it makes me want to connect the dots AND color the picture." (Student 28, freshman, Marketing).
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
IDST 2310 Conclusions | Data at a Glance | Project Overview | About the Author
Explorations in Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Home Page