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Issues in interdisciplinary teaching and learning

Issues in interdisciplinary teaching and learning. John Canning Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies University of Southampton. Area Studies. “Area Studies is a generic term applied to the study of the society or societies of a given geographical space” QAA

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Issues in interdisciplinary teaching and learning

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  1. Issues in interdisciplinary teaching and learning John Canning Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies University of Southampton

  2. Area Studies • “Area Studies is a generic term applied to the study of the society or societies of a given geographical space” QAA • e.g American Studies, European Studies, African Studies • Multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary

  3. Disciplines of Area Studies • Social Sciences e.g. economics, geography, politics, sociology • Arts and humanities e.g. history, modern languages, Literature • Area Studies Project SCs. LLAS, Economics, English, GEES, HCA, C-SAP

  4. Encouraging interdisciplinary • Subject Centres (many cover 2+ subjects). • Subject Centre collaboration • CETLs • Interdisciplinary/ Joint/ Combined/ Major- Minor degree schemes

  5. Discipline • Tribes with identities and cultural attributes. Becher (1989) • Guild/ religious community, vocation, lifelong commitment (Parker 2002). • Cf: Subject= knowledge acquisition

  6. Rationales for interdisciplinary teaching De Zure (online) • Life is interdisciplinary (social problems AIDS, crime, poverty). • Overcomes artificial fragmentation of knowledge.

  7. Rationales for interdisciplinary teaching (continued) • Interdisciplinary needs of the workplace. • Share knowledge and resources between departments. • Technological change has changed ways knowledge organised.

  8. Barriers to interdisciplinarity • Learning styles (Kolb) • Student socialisation • Institutional structures • Assessment

  9. Learning styles (Kolb)

  10. Student socialisation into disciplines • Academic ‘stars’. • Key research journals • Disciplinary histories and ‘heroic myths’.

  11. Institutional structures • Multiple departments- issues of student (and staff) identities. • Programmes vulnerable to staff changes in contributing departments • Pastoral and academic support must be well worked out.

  12. Curriculum and Assessment • Area Studies Benchmarking statement supposes contributing disciplines decide appropriate assessment. • Teaching staff teach and assess from own discipline.

  13. Curriculum and Assessment (cont) • Lack of differentiation learning outcomes. • Lower attainment of non-specialists (?) • Resistance to teaching non-specialists. Concerns about ‘watering down’/ ‘dumbing down’.

  14. Opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching • New schools/ faculties lead to opportunities for interdisciplinary programmes in one department. • Traditional interdisciplinary courses such as PPE suggest quality not compromised.

  15. Opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching (cont) • Interdisciplinary CETLs. • Possibilities for students without traditional ‘A’ levels. • Employability

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