Designing interdisciplinary instruction: exploring disciplinary and conceptual differences as a resource

Deeper Learning, Dialogic Learning, and Critical Thinking

“…Following the public reading, I raised a question about the value of literary discussions in classrooms, especially observing the many interpretations offered and the conundrum for teachers about what to do with them. As we describe in more detail in another study (Baker & Däumer, 2015a), Elisabeth argued, the value is not in offering interpretations; rather, students must develop a "stake" in their interpretation. In the next event, one of the students, Annalise, led the class through a "reading event," selecting the poem "Shirts" by Robert Pinsky.…”

“…For Elisabeth, closely reading literary texts, constructing, and representing arguments supported by interpretative principles and cultural perspectives reflected her inquiry approach; for me, adapting an ethnographic perspective and analyzing classroom discourse were features of my research -and integral to my teaching. However, we learned our disciplinary differences could become resources for learning, for us and for our students (Baker & Däumer, 2015a).…”

“…The metadiscourse would serve as a language to help us observe disciplinary perspectives and differences and to infer theoretical assumptions when interpreting literary texts (e.g., raising a series of questions, such as, what counts as an interpretation to a particular group or person?). Central to this perspective is our understanding of disciplines, as well as classrooms, as languacultures (Agar, 1994;Baker & Däumer, 2015a), which refers to how members of a group interweave cultural assumptions or norms and language in particular contexts, or "languagein-use." Languaculture, coined by anthropologist Michael Agar (1994), implies that a language and culture cannot be separated; language is imbued with culture, a conceptual system constantly being constructed.…”

Tracing the Development of Literacy Practices for Integrating Interdisciplinary Curriculum in Higher Education: Interactional Ethnographic Study

“…Findings from this study provided both theoretical and practice-based insights that lay a foundation for understanding the challenges facing faculty in planning for and designing interdisciplinary curriculum in higher education and contribute to the ongoing discussions of literacy practices as social in dynamic and complex academic contexts (BAKER & DAUMER, 2015;BLOOME ET AL, 2019). This study also elucidated how the transformation of the existing curriculum involves ongoing dialogues of the curriculum design team rather than individual faculty members to support the reflexive and recursive process that supports student learning in programs with an interdisciplinary curriculum (BAKER, & BAUMER, 2015;ASHBY & EXTER, 2019;).…”

Elusive expectations for a novel program design: Contrast between program intentions and student recruitment and retention

“…While interdisciplinarity is viewed favorably in higher education (Friedow, Blankenship, Green, & Stroup, ), curricular constraints may prevent the comprehensive incorporation of interdisciplinarity approaches into traditional programs (Jaccheri & Sindre, ). Instructors are often trained in single disciplines, making it difficult to seamlessly embed interdisciplinarity (Baker & Daumer, ; Reynolds, ). Likewise, there is no single pedagogy that best facilitates the introduction of interdisciplinarity into the curriculum (Klein, ).…”