Interdisciplinary Analyses

Interdisciplinary Units
Advantages
There are several advantages to using Interdisciplinary Unit Design Option. One of the largest advantages is that it provides students with a more coherent and interconnected learning experiences. Students learn how skills and knowledge from one content area can be applied to another. This is invaluable to students as they realize that the things that they are traditionally taught in a compartmentalized fashion don’t actually exist that way. It also forces teachers to think critically about the specific concepts in their content area and understand how those skills and knowledge relate to other areas. This keeps educators aware of the changes taking place in their fields and helping them strengthen (and model) the connections they desire their students to make.

Disadvantages
Even though Interdisciplinary Units have many advantages, there are some disadvantages as well. This Design Option requires a lot of planning time. Teachers must schedule regular meeting times to discuss themes, content, timelines, essential questions, and other logistics. This is not easy since a teacher’s schedule is already booked with enough meetings and other activities. Some team members may not be willing to cooperate or work as hard as others. This puts the group at a disadvantage because not everyone is in agreement about the level of commitment and goals for the unit. However, even if all team members are willing and committed it may be a simple fact that the subject area doesn’t have a strong correlation to a particular theme. It may be difficult for a math teacher to teach a unit that relates to Shakespearian plays.

Obstacles
As I mentioned above, this Design Option requires the full cooperation of all team members. Getting all members motivated and committed can be challenging at times. Perhaps the largest obstacle this Design Option is that of sifting through all of the possible themes and related topics. There are countless themes that could be taught in an Interdisciplinary Unit but choosing one that is relevant and teachable can prove to be a much more difficult task than originally anticipated. Even in content areas where there is a clear connection between the theme and the lesson, it is important that the lesson doesn’t just contain “fluff” for the sake of having something to do or teach. The idea is to teach lessons to students in such a way that they see and use the skills and knowledge from other subject areas.

Parallel Discipline Designs
Parallels with Other Disciplines
My unit plan focuses on Communication Technologies and Processes. In a Parallel Design my unit could easily coincide with the art class where students would be studying the various ways in which to communicate information visually and graphically. Their understanding of graphic communication techniques would help them better understand when graphic communication and electronic communication are appropriate. As part of the Science curriculum, my unit could coincide with a unit where students gather data and create graphs and charts to visually represent that data. For example, students might test the soil or contaminant levels in a local river and then use those numbers to see trends and make it easier to interpret the data. In the History content, students could look at the ways in which people communicated in the past, especially through difficult times such the Great Depression or a war. The English curriculum could participate in this parallel by teaching The Diary of Anne Frank during History’s World War II unit and my communications unit could explore how old communications technologies function best in different environments and circumstances.

Advantages and Disadvantages
Teaching the Communications Unit in parallel with other content areas will show how communications technologies are used in a variety of ways. Students will explore how communication affects their lives in bigger ways than they may realize. As a teacher, it will be important for me to teach these students to see the connections instead of segmenting their learning into specific topics and content areas.

Complementary Units
Possibilities of Using Complementary Design
The complementary design has a strong possibility between Technology Education, US History, and English. As mentioned above, students would read The Diary of Anne Frank in English and discuss the literary implications of the work. At the same time, students would be studying Jewish oppression and the Holocaust during World War II and gain a broader understanding of the social-political events occurring during the time that Anne Frank was writing her story. In Communications, students would explore the various methods of communication, not only between civilians but also between governments and military forces. This study would also examine the best communications technologies to use in various circumstances and environments.

Another possibility of complementary design would involve History, World Languages, and Transportation. The History class would be studying westward expansion, through the idea of Manifest Destiny, and the different people groups that they encountered in their travels. The World Languages would examine the languages of the Native Americans and any other indigenous people in the west. In Transportation, students would explore the various transportation technologies and modes of transportation of the time.

Best Matching Subject Matter
History, Science, and Math seem to best match with Technology Education under the Complementary Design. Technology Education can be described as the integration of Science, Math, and Technology for a hands-on experience in the classroom. A correlation to History can also be drawn as well in exploring how various technologies have influenced History and also how History has influenced the development of technology. Essentially, Technology has strong connections to all of the four core content areas, except for English.

Advantages
The benefit of Complementary Design in Technology is providing students an opportunity to connect content across subject areas and realize that individual subjects don’t exist in a vacuum. The students understand how content from one subject area is related to another and how those relationships influence their lives and the world around them. Complementary Design also allows teachers more control over the content being taught and is easier to plan and pull together.

Disadvantages
One of the largest disadvantages of Complementary Design is the possibility of resistance from students, fellow faculty, administrators, and parents if major changes in the schedules, revision of current content or curriculum, or additional staff training become necessary. Since this design option requires change in order to be effective, it is likely that resistance will be met. However, the key is convincing others that the changes are worth the effort because the students’ education will be improved. Another major drawback of Complementary Design is that it takes quite a bit of time to plan for. If the plans are well developed and time is used efficiently, the time requirement can be minimized. A clear focus and committed team members will help speed up the process.

Obstacles
Perhaps the greatest obstacle in all of the design options is convincing others that the changes are going to benefit them in the end. The greatest challenge in all of this is making sure that everyone is committed to doing whatever it takes to provide students an education that will enable to lead productive and healthy lives. Parents and community members who are not familiar with the changing face of education may see these changes as unnecessary or radical as compared to the educational experiences they had growing up. If they understand how the proposed changes are going to benefit the students, they will be more willing to pledge their support to the cause.

Tags: INTASC 1 INTASC 2 INTASC 3 INTASC 4