INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTEXTUALIZATION: DRAWING AN ARRAY IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

Marry Grace A. Macatula

Helping students to develop problem solving skills, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and a passion for learning are common goals that educators bring to the classroom. Interdisciplinary instruction promotes realization of these objectives.

Howard Gardner (1983) established that students bring multiple forms of intelligence to the learning process. He believes that drawing on a broad array of frameworks and methodologies will enhance student engagement, and thus learning. Interdisciplinary instruction opens academic conversations to ideas from a range of disciplines so all students should be able to relate and contribute to the dialogue. Thus, the likelihood of connecting with the full array of the students in the classroom is enhanced by interdisciplinary learning.

Effective design and implementation of interdisciplinary classroom explorations, regardless of the level or type of class, requires six key steps.

Pre-Instructional Planning - Prior planning establishes the topics to be examined in an interdisciplinary manner and allows the educator to acquire the requisite knowledge.

Methodology Introduction to Students - Explain to students the nature of interdisciplinary learning. Allow them to appreciate the importance of integrating insights and approaches from multiple disciplines.

Model It - Model how to explore questions from an interdisciplinary perspective. Practice Interdisciplinary Thinking – Assign students to rethink an issue discussed in a discipline-based manner in class by bringing another discipline to bear and then attempting to synthesize and integrate their analysis.

Provide Feedback - Extension and interdisciplinary position papers should be evaluated regularly using a rubric.

Assessment - Students should engage in self-evaluation periodically by rating their ability to: set out the structure of multiple disciplines that are well suited to the problem of interests, synthesize insights from multiple disciplines, and integrate ideas across disciplines.

The very structure of interdisciplinary learning is consistent with the core features of significant learning, so students are expected to find interdisciplinary education engaging and find it as an effective way to advance their understanding of topics under investigation.

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The author is Teacher I at Doña Asuncion Lee Integrated School