Senior Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies:
I think it would be helpful for the facilitation of this class to have our PLN posts (still due weekly) be in reference to our research article. Whether it be a page write up, a resource and annotation, etc. Not only would it ensure that we are making progress on our articles, but it would save a lot of time.
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Never had I felt a sense of "place" at Plymouth until I entered the IDS office for the first time.
faculty sometimes referred to IDS as a “bail-out” degree because of it, but this kind of rigorous synthesizing and reorganizing of interoperable curricular parts is much like the process of research itself, where as we learn, we take a general topic and turn it into a focused study or argument, crafting and naming our conclusions only after lengthy exploration and discovery.
I have never heard of this "bail-out" reference, but I can understand the rationale behind it. I'll admit, at first I was skeptical about the legitimacy of the degree before and right after switching my major to IDS. "What's IDS?" So, what are you going to do with that?": common questions that were bounced around. While at first I took offense, I have come to appreciate how contemporary the degree is and that I can explain I "created my own." Seeing the dramatic rise in IDS students just over the past year is motivating and exciting as well.
Most Physical and Occupational Therapy students currently build programs through #PlymouthIDS, as do Pre-Med students.
This is such an attractive component to IDS. While the price tag for learning shouldn't matter, expense I would say is one of the top concerns for students, especially when they are planning to or considering graduate studies. For students on a pre-med, pre-pt, pre-ot, etc. track, IDS allows for a quick, not too expensive, and SMART route for obtaining a well-rounded degree while simultaneously completing all requisite courses prior to applying for grad school. My sister was an Environmental Studies major with a minor in Education who is now pursuing OT school, but has had to complete at least 10 courses before being eligible to apply. IDS would have fit her perfectly.
we’ve grown in enrollments by 1,150%. This is not a story about scale. This is a story about what happens when a program refocuses pedagogy around learners, and retools program design in order to create more flexible structures to support degree completion and student agency.
I think there is something more powerful about an IDS student than any other at Plymouth State because of the level of creativity it exudes from them. Never before had I felt like the master of my learning until I realized I had the power to fashion my own education.
Where there is freedom to share and collaborate, there is often also freedom to abuse and exploit, so we should be careful not to indulge in idealized notions of participation, sharing, and openness that may be misguided.
Good to note for the future of education
Subscribing, following, and commenting on other scholars’ blogs, for example, will at some point become too much of a time commitment.
Interesting. If our common form of communication is through social media and internet today, but they say that corresponding through blogs and such is going to become too much a "time commitment," what does that mean for communication for the future of scholars and students?
the type of education offered by these initiatives appears to be reserved for students who are intrinsically motivated, self-directed, and have the necessary prior knowledge to succeed;
What about the extrinsically motivated learners and learners without the prior knowledge? we still want then to succeed and be given the same opportunities. How has this split happened?
“Education is a matter of sharing, and … [open practices] enable extremely efficient and affordable sharing”
This is such a cool tactic to implement!
free and open access to educational opportunity is a basic human right
There is so much limit placed on students in regards to their social class and financial status so this quote provides some hope for the future of education.
research and education in every part of the world are … more free to flourish
I think this reflects our hopes for students as well.
If scientists and researchers have open access to the world’s academic journal articles and data, will diseases be cured more quickly?
Has this only been thought about now? Definitely a win win to me!
students are empowered to learn what they need/want to learn, and the journey of learning is often more important than any predefined learning outcomes.
yep!
open teaching involves devising ways to expose the in-class experiences to those who are not in the class so that they can participate as fully as possible.
This would be a super beneficial tactic for commuters or students that can't make it into school for class that day for whatever reason. It allows them to remain as engaged as they can.
when you buy something, you should actually get the thing you paid for.
hmm, that's a thought!...
Open educational resources provide an immediate, proven way to make education significantly more affordable and accessible for students.
I am all on board so long as the resources are used. I am sick of purchasing/renting texts to have them just sit on my desk or in my bag unopened.
Consequently, the Internet was born at a severe disadvantage, as preexisting laws discouraged people from realizing the full potential of the network.
While the Internet has provided us with easy access to information, it fails to sort out the legitimate date and info from the garbage. This gives people a false sense of knowledge and can lead to trouble if not careful.
Education is a matter of sharing, and the open educational resources approach is designed specifically to enable extremely efficient and affordable sharing.
LOVE this approach.
Those educators who share the most thoroughly of themselves with the greatest proportion of their students are the ones we deem most successful.
This is so apparent in my classes. When a professor is passionate about sharing their knowledge with us, I retain the information WAY more than if they were lecturing just to lecture.
Education is, first and foremost, an enterprise of sharing.
I love that as IDS majors we are doing just that.
the need for learning contexts that bring together in-school and out-of-school learning and activity.
volunteering, community service?
the meaningful nature of learning that is embedded in valued relationships, practice, and culture
I hope we can emerge into an educational society that looks at these rather than cut and dry curriculum.
link a broader and more diverse range of culture, knowledge, and expertise to educational opportunity.
This is so important for our education. Being able to compare cross-culturally and use that comparison in learning is very beneficial.
It means treating college like total immersion in a foreign country, exploring courses and extracurricular opportunities beyond one’s normal range of interests and experiences.
Disc. Could we make an immersion part of the curriculum???
Students learn what Sha calls “synthesis,” the ability to combine knowledge and insights from everyone and everything, including from constraints.
Discussion - IDSSem----Thoughts on this? should we put something like this in place?
Make the major minor.
Quote - concentrate on other skills to ensure success
Electives can feel like afterthoughts rather than survival skills.
Quote for IDSSem
A well-rounded education became increasingly important for advancement throughout the private sector, which relied on literate, skilled employees.
Makes sense!
the development of even more disciplines that add to the variety of knowledge within the world.
introducing IDS :)
law or medicine
Always been prestigious
Mathematics and music were some of the first disciplines that were taught in the Greek era.
interesting how now these disciplines are rare and not exactly "money-makers."
The sub-disciplines are considered branches off of the disciplines which encompass fields like Psychology, Visual Arts, or Physics.
So if there are disciplines and sub-disciplines, what does that make IDS? Just a melting pot of both with a little bit of awesomeness?
There were no degrees awarded after completion, but it was a way for students to gain extra knowledge and skills.
hmmm.. this is super hard for me to wrap my head around because today the idea of buying books to MAYBE open it once for a class has made my generation see college as a scam. If only we had this mindset..
In ancient times, it was common for a youth to have a platonic relationship with an elder. The elder would mentor and guide the adolescent, but it was a one-on-one basis.
I hope education utilizes this practice more in the future. Every time I have shadowed a professional or spent one on one time with a teacher/professor, the knowledge not only learned but retained was MUCH greater than in a classroom setting.
The disciplines that we have been taught since the beginning of elementary school have been such a crucial part in who we are as students, and who we become in our careers after graduation.
So true. I remember in middle school thinking, "so I have to choose out of all these subjects which one I like best and then make a career out of it?"....
Unity of Knowledge: Being able to learn more so that you have the ability to connect with more knowledge. Most majors and fields look at parts of the world, but there is something beautiful and exciting about trying to step back and see how things connect.
Awesome paragraph. Parts of a whole in unity rather than separation.
Interdisciplinarians, by contrast, are forever treating themselves to the intellectual equivalent of exploring exotic lands.
LOVE!!!!
Many complex or practical problems can only be understood by pulling together insights and methodologies from a variety of disciplines.
Exactly! Not sure why the rest of the world hasn't jumped on the IDS bandwagon yet..
But content, methods, and epistemologies are the central building blocks of disciplines, and it is helpful to understand these as you get started in Interdisciplinary Studies.
Central building blocks for sure
The various fruits can be served side by side, they can be chopped up and served as a fruit salad, or they can be finely blended so that the distinctive flavor of each is no longer recognizable, yielding instead the delectable experience of the smoothie.
Very comparable to IDS as we can choose to work with our majors in a variety of ways.
We must rid it of unnecessary and wasteful duplication, and create coherence and integrity in our curricula.
Love this. I've felt for so long that my education has been either repetitive or invaluable.
college has become a chaotic maze where students try to pick up something useful as they search for the exit
Sadly I can relate to this. While IDS has been a great sense of clarity, I find that myself along with others are still just trying to piece together our interests.
Learning should be exploratory and fun, exactly what interdisciplinary studies is trying to do.
PERFECT!
Instead of graduating with a comprehensive understanding of a single discipline like anthropology or economics, they graduate with a smattering of knowledge, spread across many fields.
I think your undergrad years are the years for exploration. You have your whole life to devote your time in mastering a field, why not spend your first 4, branching out and seeing what your REAL passions are.
but sometimes the structures across departments do not align with one another, making interdisciplinarity collaboration a challenge.
I'm hoping that schools are working towards finding this alignment because it will benefit the student body as a whole, not just the IDS department.
In the case of interdisciplinary studies, an attitudinal barrier would be a scholar or researcher who has no interest in collaborating with other disciplines or people.
I feel like this is definitely expected from an IDS student. I would hope that people who show no interest in collaborating with others would not pursue a degree like this one, considering it is SO focused on collaboration and growth among people and ideas.
As important as it is for there to be highly specialized scholars in every discipline, it’s just as important to have interdisciplinary students building bridges between ideas, creating cohesive, universal collaboration.
we are the bridge discussed in this paragraph. without it, those areas of specialty would have no sustenance because they wouldn't serve anything or anyone else.
If she goes to college and studies a single discipline—like biology—and doesn’t take any classes except ones that pertain to her major, she will graduate as a near-master in her field.
While mastering something as an undergrad can be beneficial to some, others need the experience and exposure of multiple fields before they can make an educated choice as to what field that want to master.
Now the question becomes: how do we combine interdisciplinarity and education to make learning more relevant?
It's already started; with us :)
employers like employees who know what they want, are confident in their decisions, think independently, know their strengths and weaknesses, and are curious about life.
I hope this serves me when I graduate. I see the truth, but will employers?
Students who follow this format learn more about themselves and what they want from their educational experience than students who passively accept a predetermined curriculum based on a single field of study.
I think before IDS, I WAS passively accepted my previous major. It wasn't until I realized my sincere unhappiness that I could move onto finding something greater and more fitting to my learning styles.
The goal of interdisciplinarity is to be relevant now.
Which I've found in my new major. Every class is relevant and meaningful.
Education is about more than passing a test or being accepted to the “right” school, it’s about self-discovery and personal growth as an individual.
Then why hasn't this changed???
If students are living their lives in preparation for life, when will they start living?
I love this. I think people get caught up in the future instead of the present. I continue to remind myself to not worry so much about what lies again, but focus on what's in front of me, and when I do so I lessen my stress levels and anxiety that comes with the pressures of success down the road.
“Why do I need to learn this? I’ll never use it in real life.”
Honestly, the biggest struggle in my education.
To overcome the negative sides of specialization, to retain its vitality, the academy must cultivate interdisciplinary knowledge and research.
Unfortunately, Interdisciplinary Studies cannot grow with time, dedication, and patience. Hopefully through the success of IDS students like myself and researchers, IDS can flourish within the next few years.
The Fulbright Scholar Program has no interdisciplinary category--no interdisciplinarians need apply
What's the justification in this?!
The interdisciplinary community can become "cut off from fresh infusions of disciplinary knowledge." It can slide into naive generalism with little disciplinary training
Generalization is a term that must be used lightly because although students learn in multiple disciplines, that doesn't mean they aren't gaining in depth knowledge from each.
Compartmentalization, besides lack of education, is the enemy; an enemy that can only be conquered through holistic scholarship and education:
then why are schools still mostly programmed in teaching through set "majors?"
narrow disciplinarity is frequently accompanied by a social cost.
..which can pose so many problems in politics and government activity.
Creative Breakthroughs: The very act of creation often involves the bringing together of previously unrelated ideas
It's amazing that even when ideas seem unrelated, you can find links by being creative and thinking outside the box.
We need to reconceptualize our model of disciplinary growth and specialization, adopting a more organic model that accounts for the intricate links among the many specializations. Our current mechanistic model divides disciplines into numerous blocks of specializations; it is inaccurate . . . and misleading.
"Your planet is very beautiful," [said the little prince]. "Has it any oceans?" "I couldn't tell you," said the geographer. . . . "But you are a geographer!" "Exactly," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. I haven't a single explorer on my planet. It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk."
This is brilliant.
Thanks to an interdisciplinary research approach scientists are not able to find ones vein without any pain!
We can only hope that this success is noticed and the interdisciplinary research continues to have many more breakthroughs, and not just in science and technology!
I couldn’t even imagine my excitement if I attended a school with zero majors. If every single person build his or her degree from the bottom up, how creative and amazing would that be?
Now that's a thought! People would thrive.
Many say that colleges around the world are simply watering holes filled with creativity, and talent so why not start with higher education to incorporate the interdisciplinary knowledge one will need to be successful within life!
I hope that this thinking continues. I think we're in a great starting place in getting Interdisciplinary Studies known to the world, but there's still work to do.
interdisciplinary studies is proven to broaden our intellectual horizons
This is SO true. I've been able to select courses that blend with one another and cross disciplines so well that I can tie the information I learn from each and strengthen my knowledge as a whole.
higher education is a key component to a successful life in my opinion
This can get tricky. While I agree that higher education is beneficial, not all individuals need to gain it in order to be successful. I know many people with associates degrees who are brilliant and live a wonderful lives.
being able to think abstractly
This is key. I sense that many people have learned through a cut and dry process which negates from their potential.
“I will not settle for less!
Too many people settle, and I feel lucky to have found a major that prevents me from settling!
majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies has given me the confidence to create something of my own that may not be out there yet.
My thoughts exactly. I love that people in IDS are brave enough to take risks in pursuing what they love.
One of the benefits of a common core trajectory is the sense of community it brings to education, a sense of community that some interdisciplinary students may not experience in the same way that traditional students experience it.
I think I had been searching for this my whole college career.
Students are able to combine multiple disciplines and pursue different ways of thinking about the same problem or subject.
I have been able to do this through my blend of Ex. Phys. and Health Promotion courses, a worry of mine prior to combing the two.
Interdisciplinary studies allows students to enter college and assume the role of captain in their personalized exploration of knowledge.
So true. I experienced this first hand over the past few weeks. Prior to IDS, I felt like a puppet, unable to think and learn in the areas or capacity I wanted to.
If an applicant can’t work in a team, write a grant, or engage meaningfully with other people, he may be turned away from a job or his career may not flourish.
Preach! Exactly why IDS is so well-rounded. I feel that I am getting the MOST out of my curriculum now to ensure my success as a future employee.
If students wander around at their own will, these educators argued, they may leave school with an incomplete or inconclusive education.
I can see the worry educators have, but that is why IDS sets guidelines to follow - it is not a class free for all. General Education requirements are in place to help ensure that students gain a plethora of knowledge in addition to what they choose to focus their studies in.
I believe interdisciplinary will grow out of its vast supply of disciplines and learn from history how to create a new methodology of evaluating and solving problems.
YES! One step at a time. It has blossomed so much already that I think we're on the right track.
but how much of it is multidisciplinary, rather than interdisciplinary as it should be?
I think these get confused and you're right, it needs to be interdisciplinary. Once people can realize that a blend is stronger than a collection, we will be golden.
come together as an entire social community
I think this is where progress is made and ideas can flow!
they are able to still make a social connection when in competition
Competition makes you more passionate and motivated so I think it can be a positive thing!
they were able to make lesson plans based off each other’s knowledge and experience.
I hope to one day work closely with professionals in my field who I can collaborate with and share knowledge with. I think that is such an important piece to the success you have in the world. Connections are key.
we need it to grow and show its potential.
Working on it!
students are now able to create their own fields of study by combining many disciplines and making it into their major that reflects their own values, passions, and interests.
I wish more people knew about IDS! This experience has made me want to share it with others.
Students get to choose what they want to study based on their own personal passions, unlike in the eighteenth and nineteenth century when there were limited fields of study.
Pretty awesome!
Today, technology permeates our daily lives, drives our economy, and delivers our higher education
Again, I struggle with this and the weighing the costs and benefits...
College began to evolve from an elite privilege for only certain kinds of wealthy or powerful people to an essential career resource that could benefit any student.
SO important. We are so lucky that education is available to us regardless of our economical status or background.
The development of the disciplines we know today has been an ongoing process since the beginning of human communication.
...and will hopefully continue to be.
Advancements in technology have allowed people from all over the world to attend universities, opposed to the first academy that was only able to educate people who were in walking distance.
I often struggle with the pros and cons of technology, but I stand by the good in this statement. I believe technology has opened the doors to opportunities for many people and the country is intellectually stronger because of it.
Disciplines have other aspects as well, such as theories and assumptions.
I'd be curious to read about these. I think there's so much to learn about disciplines and all the ways they can intermingle with each other. I wonder if because there are so many theories revolving around Interdisciplinary Studies that only now is it arising in education...
Methods are the way that we study the content of a discipline. It is the how of a discipline.
This reflects my major so well. With my focus being in Applied Exercise and Health Studies, the qualitative component to my major is seen in the science of exercise while the qualitative component is tied in through the study of health determinants in people. It's so cool to see this connection!
Sometimes we break problems down into smaller parts so that we can solve it piece by piece.
I've found this to be both a blessing and a curse in my life. It can be helpful in analyzing problems but it can also send me in an endless circle of critique and confusion.
there is something beautiful and exciting about trying to step back and see how things connect.
IDS has allowed me to uncover the connections in my studies and because of that I've become more passionate about what I learn.
Having a broad understanding of many disciplines to gain a better comprehend and come up with a conclusion on why something is the way it is.
This serves as GREAT justification to my new major. Knowing the science involved with Exercise is great, but knowing both the science and acquiring the promotion skills to guide others with their exercise is even better.
you can mix them together to get totally new colors (interdisciplinarity).
I love this. I think it reveals just how creative one can get with their education and passions in general! It allows for risk taking with the comfort that no matter what color you make, or path you take, you can't fail.
“Interdisciplinarity” is more like a fruit smoothie
While writing my IDS essay I used the word "blend" when describing the two disciplines I combined into my new major. The comparison to a smoothie is perfect because it exemplifies the various shapes and sizes of fruit getting mixed and forming one even color at the end. This can be compared to my major as I took two disciplines with their varying attributes, and blended them together to create a comprehensive and profound approach to learning in one major.
Universities across the country are giving personal web domains to their students.
Am I behind the times?!?!
The question bigger than data ownership is how to make ownership over ideas happen.
I think this is going to be an ever-changing predicament.
The web is a network for conversations, and if students still see their audience as a teacher with a red pen, then nothing changes.
This statement holds deep inquisition for me, because for as long as I've been in school, classes have been designed in a work/grade manner. What that being said, the idea that your success or "grade" is not being analyzed and picked apart by someone else can be hard to digest. I'm intrigued by alternative approaches and I think IDS is a good stepping stone for that.
To own one’s domain gives students an understanding of how Web technologies work. It puts them in a much better position to control their work, their data, their identity online.
I think by creating an online "domain" if you will, is beneficial in that it allows you to not only store your thoughts, accomplishments, and life events, but also provides you with a visual representation of yourself which can be hard to reflect upon when you have no way to store and track the happenings in your world.
While some schools are turning to social media monitoring firms to keep an eye on students online, rarely do schools give students the opportunity to demonstrate the good work that they do publicly.
I think that it's hard to draw the line between when social media and technology have gone too far and when they serve individuals well.