To understand and be understood: facilitating interdisciplinary learning through the promotion of communicative competence

Abstract

Whilst interdisciplinarity has become a central concern of research and learning in geography, few from the discipline have considered the practical facilitation of interdisciplinarity in the classroom. Module convenors, I argue, must pay greater attention to how learners engage and negotiate with peers and perspectives from other disciplines. In this paper, I focus on my own efforts in designing and teaching a second year undergraduate course on health, biomedicine, and society, to illuminate the opportunities and challenges facing teaching staff who seek to provide opportunities for interdisciplinary learning in the classroom. Drawing upon theories of communication, I demonstrate the significance of developing "communicative competence" as a pathway to successful interdisciplinary learning. Unless learners from one discipline can understand, and be understood by, peers from other disciplines, the accomplishment of interdisciplinary learning is undermined. Interdisciplinary modules should include learning outcomes that facilitate student development in this area. Approaching interdisciplinary learning through the lens of communicative competence casts critical attention upon the central abilities and cultural sensitivities that are the hallmarks of interdisciplinary collaborationfrom negotiating meaning to critical disciplinary awareness-and highlights the lessons that interdisciplinarity poses for disciplines, such as geography, tasked with preparing students for interdisciplinary learning.

Interdisciplinary communicative competence: From conceptualising to operationalising

“…The interpretation of language as a social construct and, on the other hand, lack of empirical studies on making language skills a part of interdisciplinary learning practices puts forward a demand to deepen the knowledge of interdisciplinary communicative competence as a core competence in interdisciplinary learning. The research into interdisciplinary communication has raised a renewed interest in communicative competence in the field of foreign language teaching [11,12]. The statement that "all human competences contribute in one way or another to the language user's ability to communicate may be regarded as aspects of communicative competence" (p. 101) 1 harmonises with the argument of making language skills a part of ICC.…”

Aprendizaje sinérgico: una experiencia interdisciplinaria de aprendizaje basada en un reto de colaboración universidad-comunidad

“…Las experiencias de aprendizaje interdisciplinar generan colaboración entre personas con diferentes perspectivas por lo que permiten la generación de innovadoras ideas (Bass et al, 2022). Los alumnos participantes aprenden cómo negociar con sus pares de diferentes disciplinas y cómo integrar sus diferentes perspectivas (Taylor, 2018). Esto lleva al desarrollo de competencias tales como el trabajo en equipos interdisciplinarios, la resolución de problemas complejos, la administración de proyectos, y el diseño de tareas que requieren la colaboración de personas con diferentes perfiles profesionales (Dirsch-Weigand et al, 2018) (Yueh et al, 2015).…”

Türkiye'de Farklı Öğretim Seviyelerinde Uygulanan Dijital Hikâye Anlatım Çalışmalarının Öğrenci Eğitsel Çıktılarına Etkisi: Bir Literatür Çalışması

“…Bu yüzden gerek bireysel çalışma gerekse iş birliğine dayalı çalışma gruplarıyla öğrencilerin farklı ve çeşitli kaynakları kullanarak bilgiyi araştırmaları teşvik edilir (Crocker, 1996;Spelt, vd. 2009;Taylor, 2018).…”