The evolution of the professional and environmental conditions is forcing the university education to a change in the teaching-learning process. This implies a new definition in the roles and functions of university teachers from whom new ways of educational training should arise. These days, university teachers are called upon to encourage and…

In this dissertation, I use qualitative research methods to study relationships between compositionists and faculty in other disciplines in the context of cross-curricular literacy (CCL) work. Drawing on a two-year CCL project in the biology department, for which I was a participant observer, I argue that compositionists need to attend more…

Four identifiable disciplinary goals can be discerned from the development of political science as a discipline. These goals indicate that political science students will (1) attain knowledge about political systems (national and international); (2) gain an understanding of how politics works; (3) develop critical thinking skills; and, (4) learn…

A long term, ever broadening search for ideas from multiple disciplines strengthens creative thinking for many gifted young people, especially if the search is guided by the evolving interests of the individual. Instead of asking students to delve deeply into a particular topic, encourage them to allow one point of study to suggest others, and…

Secularism is controversial in today's political debates, championed by some and vilified by others. So when Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., opened a center for the study of secularism in September 2005, some people worried that it could become a source of friction on campus--yet another battleground in the culture wars that are wreaking havoc…

The quest to create engaged public research universities requires academe to confront a stark reality: inflexible administrative structures, historically embedded practices, status-quo thinking, and inertia. Until these obstacles are overcome, the retreat from public life will not be arrested. In this article, the author provides a sample of the…

This article depicts the state of Humanities in post-apartheid South Africa by examining HEMIS enrolment and graduation data from 1999 to 2007. It demonstrates that although the decline in student enrolment and graduation in Humanities has not been severe; read in the context of substantial growth of all other disciplines, Humanities is in a…

This Instructional Resource is based on the authors' current efforts as part of an interdisciplinary project where artists, community members, engineers, social activists, and educators are working together to make positive change in people's lives. Water, as a subject, symbol, and life-sustaining substance, is the focus of their work and the…

This paper describes a participatory design approach to the development of inquiry-based learning supported through a technology toolkit. The work is part of an interdisciplinary project--Personal Inquiry (PI). The paper focuses on the approach we adopted, concentrating in particular on the two mediating artefacts we used to guide and frame the…

The Scottish Baccalaureate in Science or Languages is a new qualification, introduced in 2009, currently being undertaken by senior pupils in Scottish schools. To achieve a Baccalaureate, each pupil must complete an Interdisciplinary Project, a research project that bridges two subjects being studied at Advanced Higher level, plus two Advanced…

Play has been traditionally recognized as an activity within early childhood education, but in actuality, it has substantial importance to learners at all levels. Since the idea of play is abstract and has no pre-determined outcomes, some teachers feel uneasy about allowing students to play with concepts and materials, especially with the advent…

This research draws on developments in educational research where "learning progressions" are emerging as a strategy for synthesizing research on science learning and applying that research to policy and practice, and advances in the natural sciences, where "interdisciplinary research on coupled human and natural systems" has become increasingly…

Because inequality is one of the central concerns of sociologists, it has been addressed, in various ways, by virtually all of the major traditions of sociological social psychology--social structure and personality, symbolic interactionism, and group processes. For those who work in the social structure and personality tradition, inequality…

This article is intended to identify research opportunities for gender scholars in all disciplines. The authors explain why a truly interdisciplinary approach is necessary to study gender and offer their current thinking about how to pursue this goal. They first provide a description of gender as it plays out at the individual, interpersonal, and…

This activity promotes ways to save electricity in the home. Students identify electronic devices in the home and examine wattage, hours of use per month, estimated wattage per month, kilowatt hours per month, average retail price per kilowatt hour in each state, and the estimated cost per month. Students gain an appreciation for how saving power…