Instructional
Process:
How does one approach making appropriate content connections
from one discipline to another? Through a synthesis of sources
(International Conference in Arts and Humanities presentations)
as well as Robin Fogarty’s (l991), How to Integrate
the Curriculum, one can deduce that the most effective
and efficient method to connect content across disciplines is
a step- by-step process. The proposed steps are listed below.
Through personal experimentation and study of multiple interdisciplinary
designs it can be theorized that the most critical step in integrating
content from one discipline to another is Step One.
Step One: Review existing course curricula;
prioritize units/topics of study; prepare an outline that identifies
the unit/topic(s), subject matter, and terms/vocabulary that
you traditionally teach.
One may find direction for identifying content strands
(subject matter) and terminology for respective subject areas
in the P-12 Kentucky Core Content for Assessment (KCCT) document
(www.kde.state.ky.us).
Through study of what each high school student is expected to
know and do in the required courses, you can gain a clearer
picture of how to bridge the content gap from secondary to post-secondary
education.
Another source is to contact university colleagues who
may share an interest in interdisciplinary collaborations on
the proposed topics of study.
Step Two: Draft a brief outline (individually
or collaboratively) of unit topics that includes content from
other subject areas.
Using the course outline: Determine what unit/topic(s), subject
matter, and terms/vocabulary you can connect to other subject
areas; identify commonalties and differences among content strands,
terms and vocabulary for the disciplines.
For example, both music and visual art have similar strands
of content, elements and historical/cultural context but the
terminology may have different definitions. Rhythm in visual
art has a different meaning than rhythm in music.
Another source is to contact university colleagues who
may share an interest in interdisciplinary collaborations on
the proposed topics of study.
Step Three:
Sequence a course’s unit/topic(s) with defined subject
matter/vocabulary/terminology that have common connections but
sometimes different meanings to other disciplines; decipher
which strands of content and terms from the selected subject
areas share the same meaning.
For example: Cause and effect are terms used in many disciplines.
Appropriate links to American History Unit Topics would be cause/effect
as it relates to: Revolutionary War, Civil War, Women’s
Suffrage. Identify specific American History terminology/vocabulary
that correlates with cause/effect.
Step Four: Identify a broad theme with sub-topics
(mental constructs) and design a teaching learning web with
specified content and processes from each discipline.
Research supports the instructional practice of theme-based
instruction because that is how the human brain functions best
in perceiving information (holistic versus compartmentalized
approach to learning).
Step Five: Determine the instructional process,
i.e., design lesson plans and select multi-modal teaching/assessment
practices (“best practices”), which will enhance
the understanding of interdisciplinary content.
An excellent tool to help you conceptualize and implement
“new” instructional strategies (“best practices”)
is the Teaching with the Multiple Intelligences Questionnaire.
This questionnaire can be found at Teacher Education and Multiple
Intelligences (TEMI), Questionnaire pp. 50-57 at www.ets.org/research/dload/aera03-shore
(Please note that some of these questions focus on instruction
and some focus on assessment.) This questionnaire is also available
as a Word Document (click
here).
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