Interdisciplinary learning is a type of educational process in which teachers and students explore clear and meaningful connections across curriculum to build connections across learning.
It provides opportunities for greater learning by reinforcing and applying what has been taught and learnt in new and diverse ways.
Interdisciplinary learning can take the form of one-off projects or longer courses of study that are planned around clear objectives, are based on experiences and outcomes from various curriculum areas or subjects within them, ensures progression in skills, knowledge, and understanding, and can provide opportunities for mixed-stage learning based on interests.
Teachers from various courses can work together on smaller projects to reinforce what they’re teaching and show students how the subjects are related in the real world.
Teachers can support transdisciplinary learning in three ways:
Take Advantage of Overlaps
Teachers can start with smaller subjects, such as a series of two to four combined learning subjects that can be used as stand-alone units or integrated into a bigger series.
They can then draw similarities between classes or exchange this series of units with one another to see where they overlap in substance or skill.
Teachers are more likely to model interdisciplinary learning to pupils if they are actively looking for links between classes.
Select a Topic and Share A Summative Assessment
Although interdisciplinary learning may result in topic selection being pushed, teachers must keep in mind that students’ challenges and interests can be leveraged to target a shared ability in different classrooms.
Following the selection of a topic, the next stage is to collaborate on a common summative evaluation that will serve as the combined classes’ summative grade. Students will be more likely to participate as a result of this.
Teachers can use an assessment structure to create discussion questions for students to answer in writing, allowing them to assess abilities taught in the combined classes.
Build Knowledge and Inquiry Per Discipline
It is critical to build knowledge and engage in investigation from each field, especially when considering joint summative evaluation.
Teachers can consult one other’s resources and lesson plans to get a clear picture of what knowledge and skills students will bring to the summative discussion.
Each instructor will be in charge of arranging their own sessions, finding resources with specialized content relating to the topic, and administering formative assessments.
These lesson plans will create matching linked learning experiences that will intersect in the summative evaluation, allowing each instructor to contribute their expertise to the larger issue.
