In the learning process, if subjects are too fragmented, students often find it difficult to understand how different subjects are related. For example, a middle school student may only discover the practical applications of quadratic functions in physics after entering high school; similarly, a high school student may only realize the practical utility of imaginary numbers when studying electronics in college. The lack of immediate relevance in learning can significantly diminish students’ interest and make knowledge more abstract and difficult to grasp. This is where the advantages of interdisciplinary learning become apparent.
Is Multidisciplinary the Same as Interdisciplinary?Before we delve into the curriculum and teaching of interdisciplinary integration, we need to clarify some concepts and understandings about interdisciplinarity to avoid detours.What is interdisciplinarity?The first definition is proposed by Diana L. Rhoton, Mark Qin, and others, who define interdisciplinary education as: a curriculum design and teaching model in which a single teacher or a team of teachers identifies, evaluates, and integrates knowledge, materials, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, or theories from two or more disciplines to enhance students’ ability to understand problems, address issues, and creatively apply new methods from multiple disciplines to solve problems.The second definition is proposed by Veronica Mansilla: the ability to integrate knowledge and thinking patterns from two or more disciplines to promote cognitive advancement in students, such as explaining phenomena, solving problems, creating products, or posing new questions.The third definition is presented by the National Academy of Sciences in the report “Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research”: a research model in which individuals or groups integrate information, materials, techniques, tools, perspectives, and theories from two or more disciplines to enhance fundamental understanding or solve problems, where the solutions typically exceed the scope of a single discipline or research practice area.The fourth definition, the most authoritative, is proposed by Allen Repko in “How to Conduct Interdisciplinary Research”: Interdisciplinary research is the process of answering questions, solving problems, and addressing issues that are too broad or complex to be solved by a single discipline; it relies on disciplines to integrate insights and construct a more comprehensive understanding.The author has selected four widely recognized definitions of interdisciplinarity and extracted four key elements of the interdisciplinary concept:1. Interdisciplinarity must be based on the research and resolution of real-world problems;2. Interdisciplinarity must rely on disciplines but go beyond the perspective of single-discipline research, focusing on a comprehensive understanding and resolution of complex issues or topics;3. Interdisciplinarity must have clear, integrated research methods and thinking patterns;4. Interdisciplinarity also aims to promote new understandings and products, encouraging innovation and creation based on interdisciplinary foundations.In practice, many people confuse multidisciplinary with interdisciplinary. Multidisciplinary typically refers to the juxtaposition of insights from two or more disciplines. For example, in a thematic course on “water,” a language teacher might introduce poetry and culture related to water, a physics teacher might discuss the three states of water, a biology teacher might explain the significant role of water in living organisms, and a geography teacher might discuss the importance of water in the Earth’s systems… However, if the course stops there without integration, the relationship between subjects remains adjacent.Multidisciplinary courses are like a fruit salad, where different types of fruit are merely mixed together with dressing. In contrast, interdisciplinary learning requires genuine integration and more specific topics. The National Academy of Sciences specifically points out that as long as it is not merely sticking two disciplines together to create a new product, but rather integrating thoughts and methods, it is true interdisciplinarity.True interdisciplinary thematic learning requires extracting more perspectives for interdisciplinary course research from real-world contexts, leading to the integration of entirely new courses.For instance, around the theme of water, one could study the physical and chemical properties of water and its role in production and life; the relationship between water and life (animals, plants, microorganisms); the relationship between water and various Earth systems (atmosphere, ecology, geology, climate, soil, thermodynamics); water resource studies (freshwater, wastewater treatment, irrigation, purification, pollution, reuse); water resource management (dams, water conservation, power generation, water diversion, modern agriculture, rainwater collection); and the interaction between water and society and economy (values, cities, sports, beliefs, water management, navigation, transportation, canals, origins, the Belt and Road Initiative, national borders, migration, war), etc.
Designing Interdisciplinary Courses Requires Attention to Three AspectsAfter clarifying “what is interdisciplinarity,” the question of “how to design a good interdisciplinary course” comes to the forefront. Based on the key elements of the interdisciplinary concept, the author believes that the following three aspects should be emphasized:1. The topic should focus on the research and resolution of real problems in real contexts.Realistic and reasonable contexts are crucial for learning; solving real problems within these contexts can help students clarify their learning objectives and thus enhance their interest in learning. In the practice of designing interdisciplinary courses, many teachers find it challenging to identify real problems in realistic contexts. Based on the author’s experience in helping domestic schools build interdisciplinary courses, several common angles are provided for selection:First, effectively utilize national curriculum standards or key knowledge points.The curriculum standards present important competency categories under each subject, which will involve the knowledge, skills, methods, and strategies required in project implementation.For example, conducting interdisciplinary writing courses that combine language with other subjects, where students write research reports or short papers on various themes and topics.Second, utilize online searches.Currently, many websites have well-developed project introductions for various grades and subjects, which can inspire ideas and help form one’s interdisciplinary research topics.For instance, researching fruit batteries, solar energy applications, 3D printing, Arduino, sensors, and the Internet of Things.Third, connect with people’s daily work.The core goal of interdisciplinary learning is to start from solving the most practical problems in daily life, so the focus should be on the social environment outside the campus, seeking real problems encountered by people in various professions and providing solutions.For example, issues related to the design and construction of bridges, energy production and usage, etc.Fourth, combine with local or national significant events.Interdisciplinary project learning should cultivate students’ awareness of national, city, and local significant events.For example, how to better promote the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to Beijing citizens to influence their water conservation behaviors? How to achieve waste classification and recycling on campus?Fifth, integrate the concept of serving the community, researching some non-profit organizations, companies, governments, and universities to find interdisciplinary project inspiration from their current needs.For example, thinking about how to find and guide people towards a healthy lifestyle based on health issues in the community.Sixth, fully mobilize other available resources.For example, with the smog returning, my dad got lost driving over Xizhimen Bridge again, half of our school’s students wear glasses, scientists have discovered gravitational waves, etc.These real events can yield excellent research themes for course topics.
2. The content should emphasize core concepts of disciplines and overarching concepts between disciplines.If the disciplines are not solid, interdisciplinarity cannot be discussed. A discipline is self-contained because it has a complete knowledge structure and research methods, which is the foundation for completing interdisciplinary work.Therefore, even in interdisciplinary courses, the core concepts and research methods involved must be rigorous and withstand scrutiny.For interdisciplinary courses, in addition to precise subject content and realistic topics, overarching concepts between disciplines should also be utilized for support. The term overarching concept has entered public view with the rise of STEM education, referring to concepts that can be used to explain and predict a broader range of natural phenomena.Wen Halen in “Principles and Big Ideas in Science Education” clearly proposes 14 big ideas in science education, such as “The application of science often has implications for ethics, society, economy, and politics,” which is a big idea. Correspondingly, we can easily find students in American middle and high schools researching topics like “Finding Alternative Energy” and “The Relationship Between Medical Development, Legislation, and Social Ethics.” 3. The design should focus on cultivating students’ higher-order thinking skills.Higher-order thinking refers to mental activities or cognitive abilities that occur at higher levels of cognitive processes, manifested in teaching goal classifications as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation.Bloom‘s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956) and its revised version (2001) provide detailed explanations of higher-order thinking, which many teachers are familiar with, but the challenge lies in how to apply the theory in practice. Due to space limitations, the author will provide a commonly used method by American teachers in the following typical cases to help teachers explore the cultivation of students’ higher-order thinking skills, namely the setting of problems in interdisciplinary courses.Examining Three Typical Cases of Interdisciplinary Course Design and TeachingCase Observation 1: “I Am a Hardworking Laborer”
(This lesson is based on the Los Angeles Unified School District, designed collaboratively by four teachers: Marisela Padilla, Ellen Ochoa, Claudia Morales, and Jaime Escalante.)
This is a visual arts and language course for upper elementary grades, integrating language and art, requiring 3 class periods (180 minutes) to complete. We will only look at its teaching objectives:Students will learn to analyze Jean-François Millet‘s famous painting “The Sower”;Students will learn how the artist uses lines and space to emphasize the theme;Students will discuss how to understand oil painting and how to use visual evidence to support their viewpoints;Students will make emotional inferences about the characters in the painting and write a short poem expressing their views;Students will create a painting for a hardworking family member to demonstrate their understanding of how to use lines and space to emphasize the theme.In these teaching objectives, we can see elements of history, art knowledge, creation, discussion, poetry writing, and moral education. Many teachers are curious about how these contents are organically integrated.In this lesson, students need to understand the historical context of art, learning to analyze the famous work “The Sower” from multiple angles, including the social, religious, material, and event contexts of the time; students learn aesthetics and practice basic skills in art by observing how the artist handles space and lines to emphasize the theme.Students also need to infer the inner thoughts and emotions of the characters in the painting, but this inference must be based on rich details, including the era of the painting, the theme of the work, the contradictions and conflicts within the painting, and the contrasts of distance and reality in the painting. Students must use details as evidence to support their emotional inferences about the characters in the painting and share, discuss, and even debate with others, which demonstrates analysis, evaluation, and synthesis, showcasing the cultivation of students’ higher-order thinking skills; based on a thorough understanding, students will write a short poem describing the character in the painting; finally, by requiring students to paint a hardworking family member, the lesson cleverly integrates creation with moral education.This course is very classic; it tells us that through effective collaboration among teachers, traditional courses can be transformed into interdisciplinary courses.
Case Observation 2: “Cantilever in Bridges”
(This course is based on the San Carlos Charter School in Silicon Valley, which is a high-performing K-8 school and the first charter school in California, with students from middle-class families and above in the Silicon Valley area. The school has three important features: first, all courses are integrated into project-based learning (PBL); second, except for second grade, all other grades (K-1, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8) are taught in mixed-age classes to enhance leadership among older students; third, highly qualified parents are significantly involved in the school’s curriculum development.)
This is a STEM course for mixed-age students in grades 5-6, derived from the school’s bridge project curriculum. This lesson requires 3 class periods to complete. We will analyze the questions preset by the teacher in this course using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.Why can the structure of a tower crane lift heavy objects? (Understanding)Is there a maximum weight limit when lifting heavy objects? (Application)Which is better for lifting heavy objects, the far or near end of the boom? Why? (Application)In your own words, what is a cantilever? Identify the beam and the fixed point in relation to the tower crane. (Understanding)What is the structural principle of the tower crane? (Application)[Advanced question for older students] What are the similarities and differences between the principles of tower cranes and levers? (Analysis)Provide images of some cantilever structures for students to identify. (Application)Further think about where cantilever structures are applied in real life and explain. (Application)Why are there so many triangles in the tower crane’s boom? What role do they play? (Analysis)What are the connection methods between straws? (Analysis and Creation)Which part of the straw bears the most force? How can the force be distributed? (Analysis)What forces act on the cantilever structure built with straws? (Application)Referencing real-life examples, besides force, what other disturbances might affect the cantilever? (Application and Analysis)How can these various disturbances be overcome? (Evaluation and Creation)Can a cantilever structure sag? (Analysis)Is it better for the sag to be large or small? (Analysis)Does sagging contribute to the overall stability of the structure? (Evaluation)How did your group divide the work, and what were each person’s responsibilities? (Application)What structural elements are included in your group’s cantilever? (Application)What problems arose during the experiment? How were they resolved? (Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation)How can you minimize the use of straws to save materials? (Evaluation and Creation)Is the plan on your drawing feasible? (Analysis and Synthesis)Should you continuously test the load-bearing situation during construction? (Application)What changes and adjustments were made during construction? (Analysis and Synthesis)Be sure to record the problems your group encountered during the process. (Memory and Understanding)After encountering problems, how did you resolve them? Describe the process. (Application)What did you learn from the structures of other groups? (Evaluation)Which groups’ structures were more effective? What makes a cantilever bear more or less weight? (Evaluation)Which group’s design do you think is the best? Why? (Synthesis and Evaluation)Do you think your structure will remain intact after some time? (Evaluation)What changes would you make if you were to build a cantilever structure again? Try to explain through writing. (Synthesis and Evaluation)From the preset questions, we can see a large number of questions that exercise higher-order thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation), which are difficult to acquire through traditional problem-solving methods.The key is that teachers must think about how to set questions when designing the course, rather than reflecting on them afterward. This case is also classic; it tells us how to ask high-quality questions and emphasizes that good courses need to become part of the school’s curriculum to have lasting vitality.Case Observation 3Project-Based Learning CourseTaking the project-based learning course from Beijing Guangqumen Middle School as an example—“How to Better Promote the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to Influence Citizens’ Water Conservation Behaviors”.Through the study and advancement of this project, students gained an in-depth understanding of the scientific knowledge of the South-to-North Water Diversion (dynamic statistics of Beijing’s water resources, the impact of Beijing’s geography and population on water resources, phase changes during water transport, water quality indicators and purification issues, communicating vessels, energy conversion between kinetic and potential energy, experimental design, etc.), engineering knowledge (construction difficulties of the three-line project, pump station water lifting, underground water delivery, siphon structures, etc.), and social research (migration, public understanding of the project, questionnaire design and surveys, mathematical analysis, data cross-analysis, etc.).Students discovered that such a beneficial project for the country and the people is little known among many Beijing citizens, so they focused their final efforts on effectively promoting water conservation methods to different target groups and created a WeChat public account “South-to-North Water Diversion and Beijing” (WeChat ID: nsbdybj), achieving excellent results.In the next phase of course design, teachers will gradually guide students to attempt to design renovation plans and budgets, persuade school leaders, and seek funding to realistically and experimentally renovate part of the school’s facilities to conserve water, promoting water conservation methods across all grades in the school to achieve the goal of water conservation.This course allows students to participate in the research process, maximizing student involvement, enabling students to use controlled experiments and evidence to enhance their thinking abilities, creating opportunities for students to share ideas, present data in various ways and tools, and conduct oral presentations, while utilizing the internet for dissemination.The course breaks down disciplinary boundaries, applying analytical thinking to project research, allowing students to synthesize information from a higher perspective, establish connections, draw conclusions, and encouraging students to analyze history and current events, cultivating their willingness to research, write, and present.This project-based learning course not only well interprets the big idea that “the application of science often has implications for ethics, society, economy, and politics,” but also enhances students’ core competencies, allowing them to develop in both the arts and sciences.
How Do Schools Implement Interdisciplinary Courses?Implementing interdisciplinary courses in schools faces several challenges in teacher development, curriculum system construction, and student time allocation. Based on experiences from numerous schools in China in recent years, the author offers some implementation suggestions:1. Updating teacher concepts, deepening interdisciplinary collaboration, and enhancing interdisciplinary capabilities are of utmost importance.The implementation of interdisciplinary courses requires deepening collaboration among teachers from different disciplines.Currently, many schools have teachers working according to grade groups, but this does not represent interdisciplinary integration; it is still the “fruit salad” mentioned earlier. We need to promote collaboration among teachers from different disciplines in various forms to design courses, allowing teachers to develop and enhance their skills in course design, creating a professional development community for teachers.In the face of new concepts, it is crucial for teachers to maintain an open mindset and invest energy in collaborative research.Interdisciplinary courses need to be implemented creatively. On one hand, existing subject courses can be upgraded and transformed. The insight from Case Observation 1 is that teachers can start by trying out the content of national curricula and gradually evolve to self-selected course themes. On the other hand, mature foreign courses can be digested and absorbed, leading to new creations.2. Incorporating interdisciplinary courses into the school curriculum system is a fundamental guarantee for their successful implementation.It is crucial for the school’s curriculum system to leave room for interdisciplinary integrated courses.In summary, the following methods can be considered: schools can incorporate interdisciplinary courses into their school-based curriculum; for example, in Beijing, they can implement the requirements of the “Beijing Implementation of the Ministry of Education’s Experimental Program for Compulsory Education Curriculum Setting” by utilizing the stipulated 10% class hours; schools can also use the “3:30 PM” time slot each day to implement interdisciplinary courses; schools can collaborate with professional organizations to conduct interdisciplinary research travel courses during winter and summer vacations; schools can develop interdisciplinary courses in student clubs.
Source: Intelligent Observation
Editor: Liu Peng Initial Review: Yu Hua
Re-examination: Fang Xintian Final Review: Lü Jianghong
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