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1、4. What Is the Role of the Disciplines In Interdisciplinary Studies? 8/23/04CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will be able to define disciplinary perspective. Students will be able to identify the perspectives various disciplines and the phenomena embraced by them. Students will be able to explain

2、 how a disciplines perspective relates to the phenomena it studies and the theories and methods it uses.INTRODUCTIONStudents are drawn to interdisciplinary studies programs because they provide considerable freedom to design individualized programs of study tailored to their personal academic or car

3、eer goals. These programs of study generally include coursework in two or more disciplines, but far less coursework than would be required for a “major.” The point of majoring in a discipline is to learn its key elements-its knowledge, theories, methods, and perspective-all of which are essential fo

4、r researching and writing in the discipline. Though interdisciplinary studies students take less coursework in a particular discipline than those majoring in it, they must know the these key elements for each discipline relevant to the problem, issue or question they plan to investigate. In other wo

5、rds, interdisciplinary students must somehow acquire disciplinary specific knowledge without majoring in the discipline. But how is this possible? How can interdisciplinary studies students achieve both breadth and depth? Admittedly, this is a formidable task and there are no simple solutions. Never

6、theless, this chapter presents strategies designed to help students to acquire this essential information in an efficient manner. More particularly, this chapter offers the following: a definition of disciplinary perspective an explanation of why disciplinary perspective is so important to interdisc

7、iplinary studies the phenomenon, prevailing theories methods and perspectives of various disciplines linking various disciplines to their perspectives, the phenomena they embrace, and to their favored theories and methodsSee Hursh, Haas, 38I. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE?A. DEFINING D

8、ISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE1. The English word “discipline” comes from the Latin word disciplina, meaning both learning and obedience training (E. L. Cerroni-Long and Roger D. Long, 1995, 47). The process of learning involved receiving instruction from ones elders. The object of learning was knowledge t

9、hat was specialized and valuable. Today, the term discipline has two principal usages: it refers to a particular branch of learning or body of knowledge i.e., a discipline; it also refers to maintaining order and control over an individual or a group, and may include the threat of physical or other

10、forms of punishment (Moran, 2002, 2). Our interest is in the former meaning. Specifically we want to know how learning occurs in the disciplines, and how this, in turn, relates to their perspectives. 2. Perspective means “the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.” C

11、erroni-Long (1995, 47) informs us that modern academic disciplines perform two critical functions, both of which contribute to the development of perspective: they train to systematically use a particular and consistent set of questions for analyzing experience within a coherent frame of reference t

12、hey interpret reality by asking a unique set of what and how questionsB. A DISCIPLINES MOST DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTIC IS THE PERSPECTIVE BY WHICH IT VIEWS THE WORLD1. Each discipline has a perspective or way of interpreting and ordering reality. We can compare a discipline to a lens through which t

13、o view the world. Each discipline acts like a lens when it filters out certain phenomena so that it can focus exclusively on phenomena which interests it. The discipline of physics, for example, would not be interested in demographic data that would be of great interest to a sociologist. But the dis

14、cipline of physics would be very interested in data that shows how widely varying temperatures affect the tensile strength of steel cables used to suspend a bridge. Similarly, the discipline of history would likely not be interested in the regulatory hurdles involved in the building an oil refinery,

15、 but the disciplines of political science and law would. 2. Ian Hacking (2004) cautions that merely examining the same object or phenomenon from different disciplinary perspectives does not, by itself, constitute interdisciplinary work, but only multidisciplinary work (emphasis added, 5). The reason

16、 is quite simple: having five different people from five different disciplines look at an object will likely yield five different descriptions of the object. This is the nature of multidisciplinarity. What is lacking, of course, is any attempt to integrate these perspectives into a more comprehensiv

17、e understanding of the object, synthesizing, insofar as this is possible, the various perspectives, into one composite description that all would recognize as valid but that no single discipline could lay exclusive claim to. C. REASONS WHY DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE IS SO IMPORTANT TO INTERDISCIPLINAR

18、Y INQUIRY The ability to identify disciplinary perspective is critical at three points in the interdisciplinary research and integrative process as follows: Conducting the initial literature review. The purpose of conducting an initial literature review is to determine if the proposed topic/issue/pr

19、oblem/question is “researchable.” A topic is “researchable” in an interdisciplinary sense when there is sufficient and quality scholarship from at least three disciplines. In this exploratory phase, which scholars call “literature review,” students are reading a variety of materials to gather backgr

20、ound information on their topic. There is a pitfall to be avoided here: some students begin their interdisciplinary research by gathering materials on their topic without paying close attention to what disciplines produced the materials. The unintended result of such oversight is to end up with a la

21、rge amount of material written primarily or exclusively from the perspective of one or two disciplines. Obviously, one cannot conduct true interdisciplinary research under such conditions. In such an event, either the student will have to abandon the topic for want of sufficient material from more t

22、han two disciplines, or, the student will have to expand the search to include materials from other disciplines on the topic. We will examine the literature review process in greater detail in a subsequent chapter. Ascertaining what theory and method is particularly relevant to the question at hand.

23、 Rick Szostak (2003c) defines interdisciplinarity in terms of being open to any suitable disciplinary theory and method (_). Different theories, he adds, are suited to different phenomena. For example, some theories describe group processes; others focus on individual actions, while still others emp

24、hasize relationships. Interdisciplinary students, including professional researchers, need guidance as to what sorts of theories to draw upon in particular situations (2004, 6). We provide this guidance later in this chapter. insert his info from Current Sociology here Synthesizing the discipline-sp

25、ecific research findings, taking into account disciplinary-based majority and minority views on the issue, problem, or question at hand. Disciplines are not monolithic. Their members rarely agree on the controversies of the day. For example, scholars from the discipline of education (particularly le

26、arning theory) disagree sharply among themselves on the issue of the extent to which teachers should use computers in the elementary classroom. This debate is replicated in the disciplines of psychology, communications, and business. The problem for the interdisciplinary student is formidable and re

27、quires integrating the scholarlship first within each discipline and then among the disciplines. Later in this text we will show examples of how to achieve synthesis under such circumstances. II. WHAT ARE THE PERSPECTIVES OF VARIOUS DISCIPLINES AND THE THINKING PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THEM? We emp

28、hasize that interdisciplinary studies students must have at least a general understanding of the fields of study in which they taking coursework and intend to conduct research. Janet Donald, a leading researcher in the field of learning theory at McGill University, Canada, emphasizes that “to unders

29、tand a field of study i.e., a discipline, students must learn its perspectives and thinking processes. Intellectual development requires linking domain i.e., disciplinary knowledge and processes of inquiry” (2002, xii). Yet, as Szostak (2004) observes, “disciplinary perspectives are hard to pin down

30、,” and “steps involving disciplinary perspective are among the most difficult in the entire integrative process” (10). It is significant that most of the leading practitioners of interdisciplinary studies have been thoroughly trained in a discipline before engaging in interdisciplinary scholarship.

31、This disciplinary training sensitizes interdiscipinariarians to the importance of mastering the key elements of a disciplineits learning and thinking processes, its perspectives, the phenomena it embraces, and its favored theories and methods. A. THE LEARNING AND THE THINKING PROCESSES OF VARIOUS DI

32、SCIPLINES1. According to Donald (2002), the generally accepted definition of learning is “a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of practice” (135). Interdisciplinary studies students should ponder this definition of learning for two reasons: (a) to conduct research in a d

33、iscipline, students should invest sufficient time in a discipline to be conversant with its thinking process, the phenomena it embraces, its perspective, and its favored theories and methods, and (b) the more time a student spends in a discipline, the more difficult it is, generally, to break out of

34、 that disciplines mold of thinking. Interdisciplinary studies students should strive for balance between depth in a discipline(s) and breadth among disciplines. 2. The first step in understanding a discipline is to know, at least in general terms, the thinking process that characterizes it. In the t

35、able below we link disciplinary categoriesthe sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities-with general statements about the thinking process that characterizes that category. THE LEARNING AND THINKING PROCESSES OF DISCIPLINARY CATEGORIES CATEGORYDISCIPLINETHE LEARNING AND THE THINKING PROCESS

36、THE SCIENCESPHYSICS“Learning in the sciences is inductive, knowledge-intensive, and analytic, going from specific phenomena to explanation that requires developing an extensive vocabulary to describe elements and relations between them.”CHEMISTRYBIOLOGYGEOLOGYENGINEERING (NCLUDES IT VARIOUS FIELDS)T

37、HE SOCIAL SCIENCESPSYCHOLOGYLearning in the social sciences involves developing a new abstract vocabulary, theoretical frameworks, analytic reasoning and research methods that emphasize theory construction, measurement, and textual analysis.LAWSOCIOLOGYANTHROPOLOGYPOLITICAL SCIENCEHISTORYEDUCATIONTH

38、E HUMANITIESENGLISH LITERATURE“In the humanities, learning is concerned with understanding human culturewith aesthetics, where meaning is found in the contemplative perception of particular significant things, and synoptics, where meaning is comprehensive and integrative.”ART & ART HISTORYMUSICTHEAT

39、ERBased on Donald, 97, _, 232In the second table, we link specific disciplines with specific thinking processes. Students who have had coursework in these disciplines will, no doubt, recognize these learning and thinking processes.THE LEARNING AND THINKING PROCESSES OF VARIOUS DISCIPLINESCATEGORYDIS

40、CIPLINETHE LEARNING AND THE THINKING PROCESSTHE SCIENCESPHYSICS“Ability to represent physical phenomena in different modes, from graphic representation to equations.”ENGINEERING“Representation is important but must be applied to understanding real-world problems.”CHEMISTRY“Conceptual problem-solving

41、, laboratory work, concept-mapping and algorithmic application of formulas to solve problems.”BIOLOGY“Learning involves progress through alternating patterns of inductive and deductive thinking, with the use of inferential skills, particularly changing perspective. Students need to understand the pr

42、ocess behind the derivation of biological information.SUMMARYSTATEMENT: Physics, engineering, and chemistry place a priority on learning to problem-solve; in biology, more general reasoning and induction are important because of the complexity of the field.THE SOCIAL SCIENCESPSYCHOLOGYEmpirical anal

43、ysis and theory construction, use of metaphors, paradigms LAW“The methods of analysis depend on a history of practice that must be learned.”EDUCATIONStudents need to understand the disciplines they are responsible for teaching, and how to design instructional practices to fit learners needs.”THE HUM

44、ANITIESENGLISH LITERATURE“Analyze texts for their meaning and apply an aesthetic criterion in addition to others.”Based on Donald, 104, 122, 127, 272B. THE PHENOMENA EMBRACED BY VARIOUS DISCIPLINES1. The second step to understanding a discipline is knowing the phenomena it embraces. Armed with this

45、knowledge, interdisciplinary studies students will be able to identity disciplines relevant to the topic they wish to investigate. For example, a student wanting to research the topic, computer-assisted education, would identify disciplines dealing with the following phenomena: classroom teaching, c

46、ommunication technology, and learning theory. The relevant disciplines in this example would include, education (because it deals with classroom teaching), communications (because it deals with computers), psychology (because it deals with learning theory) and business (because of the importance of

47、the education software industry). 2. The following table shows the linkage between various disciplines and disciplinary categories and to the phenomena each embraces.THE DISCIPLINES AND DISCIPLINARY CATEGORIES LINKED TO THE PHENOMENA THEY EMBRACEDISCIPLINESPHENOMENA EMBRACEDPHYSICAL SCIENCES (physic

48、s, chemistry)NON-HUMAN ENVIRONMENT:Soil, Topography, Climate, Flora, Fauna, Resource Availability, Water AvailabilityNATURAL SCIENCES (biology, geology)HUMAN & HEALTH:Genetic Predisposition, Nutrition, Disease/InjuryENGINEERING (includes its various subfields)BUILT ENVIRONMENT:Transport Infrastructu

49、re, technologies (communication, computational, entertainment)LAWLAWS & LEGAL AGENCIES:Government regulations, court rulings, legal relationshipsBUSINESS (includes its various subfields)ECONOMY:Income distribution, economic ideology, economic institutions(ownership, production, exchange, trade, fina

50、nce, labor relations, organizations)PSYCHOLOGYINDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:Abilities (physical, physical appearance, energy level, intelligences), Personality (sociability, Emotionality, Consciousness, Affection, Intellectual orientation, Disorders, Sexual Orientation, Schemas, Interpersonal Relationships

51、EDUCATIONLEARNING:SOCIOLOGYSOCIAL STRUCTURE:Genders, family types, kinship, classes, ethnic/racial divisions, social ideology, occupationsANTHROPOLOGYCULTURE:Languages, religions, stories, expressions of culture, valuesHISTORYPAST:Events, personalities, developmentsCOMMUNICATIONS (includes its subfi

52、elds)ALL FORMS OF COMMUNICATIONS:Technical communications, POLITICAL SCIENCE (includes its various subfields)POLITICS:Political institutions, political ideology, nationalism, public opinion, crime, regulatory issuesLITERATUREPROSE & POETRY:ART, ART, MUSIC, THEATERNON-REPROCIBLE ART:Painting, sculptu

53、re, architectureREPRODUCIBLE ART:Photography, film, music, dance, theater. ART HISTORY:Period artBased, in part, on Szostak 2001, 217-219C. THE PERSPECTIVE OF VARIOUS DISCIPLINES1. The third step to understanding a discipline is knowing its perspective. Earlier in this chapter we stated three reason

54、s for knowing a disciplines perspective. We now introduce a fourth reason: disciplinary perspective reveals the kind of evidence that a scholar uses to support his/her argument for or against the topic/issue/problem/question under investigation. To illustrate the close connection between disciplinar

55、y perspective and the kind of supportive evidence used in scholarship produced by the discipline, we examine three essays by experts from three different disciplines on the question, “Should schools adopt computer-assisted education?” When investigating a complex and controversial issues, the interd

56、isciplinary studies student should expect to encounter conflicting views from a variety of disciplinary perspectives as exemplified here. a. DISCIPLINE #1: COMMUNICATIONS/INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Clifford Stoll argues in The Disciplined Mind: What All Students Should Understand (1999) that schools should not adopt computer-assisted education. His expertise in the field of information technology extends to t