The EPICS Program was created in 1995 with the dual purposes of improving engineering education and addressing compelling needs within our communities. The model broke with many traditional academic traditions, involving students in multidisciplinary teams of students from first-year to fourth years for multiple semesters or even years on projects…

Due to the complexity of agroecological studies and contexts, some agroecology educators are seeking to innovate in their pedagogical approach and course design. Through action research enquiries, "action education" innovations are being developed which not only shift and explore new approaches to the learning process, but also shift the…

St. Olaf College recently added a Mathematical Biology concentration to its curriculum. The core course, Mathematics of Biology, was redesigned to include a wet laboratory. The lab classes required students to collect data and implement the essential modeling techniques of formulation, implementation, validation, and analysis. The four labs…

Using the structure of the group well-child visit model, the St. Luke's Interdisciplinary Group Well Child (IGWC) model integrates primary care and mental health, recognizing the power and importance of dyadic and family relationships in the first years of life. The pilot of this model attempted to harness the "port of entry" afforded…

Classroom and arts educators frequently collaborate in the pursuit of common educational goals. Examples of sophisticated interdisciplinary teaching can be found in nearly every classroom, as when teachers use music to provide context for social movements, dancers to demonstrate various types of movement, or paintings to illustrate proportion.…

This article explores how the Department of Graduate Nursing and a writing specialist at a small regional college have worked together to address the challenges of providing graduate-level education in a blended, professional program to a diverse adult population. This cross-disciplinary effort adapted the Writing-Enriched Curriculum (WEC) model…

The lingering economic downturn has affected virtually every American institution--perhaps none more significantly than the nation's higher education system. These days, facing significant revenue shortfalls that are widely recognized as the "new normal," state-supported colleges and universities are looking, sometimes desperately, for…

Project PIONEER (Partnerships in Integrating and Operating New Effective Educational Research) was a 2-year funded Title VI Excellence in Education Grant awarded to Independent School District 861, Winona, Minnesota, for the purpose of promoting among secondary students "learning how to learn" skills and an awareness of how knowledge is…

Four student and two faculty focus groups met to discuss interdisciplinary education at the Minnesota Center for Arts Education. The focus groups perceptions about interdisciplinary education resulted in several primary conclusions: (1) interdisciplinary education is not extensive in public education systems; (2) most students feel a primary…

Responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) is the front-running candidate to replace current practice in diagnosing learning disabilities, but researchers have identified several questions about implementation. Specific questions include: Are there validated intervention models? Are there adequately trained personnel? What leadership is needed? When…