scholarly journals Interdisciplinary Instruction: Between Art and Literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Nitza Davidovitch ◽  
Ruth Dorot

This paper explores the developments and trends in higher education from a pedagogical perspective (specifically, multidisciplinary curricula) and research perspective (the interdisciplinary approach), and traces them from a last resort option to their recognition as a legitimate development with added value. The paper focuses on a case study that integrates two disciplines, art and literature, based on the poem by the Israeli poet Rachel entitled My Book of Poems and the painting The Scream by Norwegian artist Eduard Munch. The interdisciplinary approach opens up possibilities of enriching, expanding horizons, and breaking boundaries, and can grant graduates of the higher education system a cultural perspective suitable for the current generation of students, who typically use multiple interactive media and platforms, often simultaneously. This paper may shed light on teaching and learning of many diverse fields. The case study illustrates the joy of interdisciplinary learning and its academic benefits, despite the fact that for years, higher education institutions have tended to refer to researchers’ specializations in specific academic disciplines. This case study may serve as a model or source of inspiration for multidisciplinary learning involving motifs and topics that traditionally represent specific disciplines.

Author(s):  
Maureen Ellis ◽  
Patricia J. Anderson

Second Life is a three-dimensional multi-user social virtual environment which emphasizes the use of immersive worlds for supporting an array of human activities and interactions within Web 2.0. Second Life presents innovative opportunities and challenges for enriching how users learn, work, and play (Boulos, Hetherington & Wheeler, 2007; Prasolova-Førland, Sourin, & Sourina, 2006). Originally developed as an entertainment-oriented technology, Second Life offers a positive opportunity for interaction between and among learners for teaching and learning in higher education. Supported by the Constructivist theory where students are active creators of knowledge, as faculty members consider adopting the Second Life platform, with pedagogical needs and learning outcomes at the forefront of design decisions. The interdisciplinary approach employs the combining of academic disciplines into one learning experience or course. Advocates of interdisciplinary teaching and learning in higher education stress that interdisciplinary courses offer opportunities for improved student outcomes. Enhanced affective and cognitive abilities, increased understanding of multiple perspectives, greater appreciation for ambiguity, and superior capacities for creating thinking can benefit student learning outcomes (Newell, 1994). This chapter describes how faculty from different disciplines adopted the interdisciplinary approach to design, develop, and deliver a Second Life course. This pedagogical model provides useful, practical advice for faculty considering interdisciplinary teaching projects in the Second Life platform.


Human Arenas ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramiro Tau ◽  
Laure Kloetzer ◽  
Simon Henein

AbstractIn this paper, we attempt to show some consequences of bringing the body back into higher education, through the use of performing arts in the curricular context of scientific programs. We start by arguing that dominant traditions in higher education reproduced the mind-body dualism that shaped the social matrix of meanings on knowledge transmission. We highlight the limits of the modern disembodied and decontextualized reason and suggest that, considering the students’ and teachers’ bodies as non-relevant aspects, or even obstacles, leads to the invisibilization of fundamental aspects involved in teaching and learning processes. We thus conducted a study, from a socio-cultural perspective, in which we analyse the emerging matrix of meanings given to the body and bodily engagement by students, through a systematic qualitative analysis of 47 personal diaries. We structured the results and the discussion around five interpretative axes: (1) the production of diaries enables historicization, while the richness of bodily experience expands the boundaries of diaries into non-textual modalities; (2) curricular context modulates the emergent meanings of the body; (3) physical and symbolic spaces guide the matrix of bodily meanings; (4) the bodily dimension of the courses facilitates the emergence of an emotional dimension to get in touch with others and to register one's own emotional experiences; and (5) the body functions as a condition for biographical continuity. These axes are discussed under the light of the general process of consciousness-raising and resignification of the situated body in the educational practice.


2021 ◽  

Premised on the disruption and lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic, and in meticulous response to the impact of the pandemic on higher education – especially in South Africa – this collection of chapters spotlights the effects, consequences, and ramifications of an unprecedented pandemic in the areas of knowledge production, knowledge transfer and innovation. With the pandemic, the traditional way of teaching and learning was completely upended. It is within this context that this book presents interdisciplinary perspectives that focus on what the impact of Covid-19 implies for higher education institutions. Contributors have critically reflected from within their specific academic disciplines in their attempt to proffer solutions to the disruptions brought to the South African higher education space. Academics and education leaders have particularly responded to the objective of this book by focusing on how the academia could tackle the Covid-19 motivated disruption and resuscitate teaching, research, and innovation activities in South African higher education, and the whole of Africa by extension.


2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Glen Postle ◽  
Andrew Sturman

In this paper the authors trace the development of equity within the Australian higher education context over the latter part of the last century. In particular they focus on the ways different perspectives (liberalist-individualist and social democratic) have shaped what has been a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of students accessing higher education in Australia. The adoption of a specific perspective has influenced the formation of policies concerning equity and consequently the way universities have responded to the pressures to accept more and different students. These responses are captured under two main headings – ‘restructuring the entry into higher education’ and ‘changing the curriculum within higher education’. Several examples of current programs and procedures based upon these are explained. The paper concludes with the identification of three ‘dilemmas' which have emerged as a result of the development and implementation of equity processes and procedures in higher education in Australia. These are: (a) While there has been an increase in the number and range of students accessing higher education, this has been accompanied by a financial cost to the more disadvantaged students, a cost which has the potential to exacerbate equity principles. (b) For one of the first times in the history of higher education, a focus is being placed on its teaching and learning functions, as opposed to its research functions. The problem is that those universities that have been obliged to broaden their base radically have also been obliged to review their teaching and learning practices without any budgetary compensation. (c) A third consequence of these changes relates to the life of a traditional academic. Universities that have been at the forefront of ‘changing their curriculum’ to cope with more diverse student groups (open and distance learning) have seen the loss of ‘lecturer autonomy’ as they work more as members of teams and less as individuals.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Della N Kartika Sari Amirulloh ◽  
Muhammad Amir Zikri

The notion of Education 4.0 has directed to the utilization of various media platforms in teaching, which, in this context, is the adoption of Transmedia storytelling. Transmedia storytelling is the material presented to the students during the teaching and learning session that aims at fostering students transliterate reading. Through transmedia storytelling students are introduced to reading activities that enable them to read through multiple media platforms presented in class. A number of studies have been done in researching transmediality in the area of communication studies, however only little is known in ELT research. Therefore, this paper endeavors to explore the ways in which transmedia storytelling helps foster students’ transliterate reading. Adopting Transmedia Play and Storytelling theories grounded in transmediality, the paper utilizes a case study as the research design. Employing classroom observation and students’ response sheets, the findings reveal that transmedia storytelling promotes students transliterate reading through facilitating them in engaging with multiple types of visual, audio and interactive media activities. It helps them develop awareness in three areas: 1) awareness of the function of pictures for story comprehension and vocabulary acquisition; 2) awareness of the way sound helps for narrative elements interpretation; 3) awareness of the needs of text-reader transaction through new media for comprehension.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Margarita Kefalaki ◽  
◽  
Michael Nevradakis ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
◽  
...  

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a ‘new tomorrow’ with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this ‘global experience’ has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-127
Author(s):  
Julie Prescott ◽  
Duncan Cross ◽  
Pippa Iliff

This case study considers a students-as-partners’ research project that aimed to develop technologically-driven tools to enhance teaching and learning in higher education. It focuses on how the project enabled student participants to gain real world research skills and experience. We present reflections from both a student and a staff perspective and propose START (Support, Time, Adapt, Risks, Trust) as an approach to engage students to gain real-world research skills. Support refers to providing support for skills gaps and learning in an applied setting. Time refers to providing time to settle into the project and develop confidence, including realistic timeframes and deadlines. Adapt refers to giving students the space to develop not only the required skills but also the tools to develop their own abilities and confidence through a supportive, flexible and open environment. Risks refers to taking risks for example in terms of roles, responsibilities and leadership. Trust refers to providing guidance and encouragement that will allow students to achieve on their own and take shared ownership.


Author(s):  
Mary Leigh Morbey ◽  
Farhad Mordechai Sabeti ◽  
Michelle Sengara

Social networking environments have become a ubiquitous part of the university experience. Accordingly, postsecondary institutions have started to consider the role that social networking can play in teaching and learning across academic disciplines. This case study documents findings from a 2012-2013 mixed-methods data collection in six graduate and undergraduate Digital Literacies and New Media Literacies courses at a major Canadian comprehensive university. It examines the pedagogical implications of adapting the Facebook platform for online collaboration and multimedia learning in blended courses, and offers a model of Facebook implementation for engineering and architecture education. Questions guiding the research ask: What is gained pedagogically through the use of Facebook in higher education courses? What are the pedagogical challenges encountered, and how might these be addressed? Suggestions based on observed trends are offered for the effective inclusion of Facebook as a beneficial pedagogical component in the design of e-learning platforms for higher education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 2040023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoun Masoud Abdulqader ◽  
Yousof Zohair Almunsour

This research aims to investigate the effects of social media use on higher education teaching and learning as well as the students’ academic performance. A total of 275 students and faculty members from the College of Computer Science and Information Technology at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University took part in the study. The participants answered survey questions to analyse information on their use of social media in education and how that has affected their teaching, learning and grades. A majority of the participants reported that they used social media in training. However, they also stated that social media platforms were beneficial in academic matters. The number of participants who stated that the use of social media in learning helped improve their grades was 43%. The other 57% thought that social media had no impact on their grades or had an adverse effect or were undecided.


Author(s):  
Jason DeHart

This review of The Phenomenological Heart of Teaching and Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice in Higher Education focuses on the organization, strengths, and weaknesses of a newly-published qualitative research text that also serves as a guide for teachers who wish to improve their practice. The case study nature of the text is explored, as well as the contributions of the text’s authors. The book is most notable as a text that draws on the rich history of Merleau-Ponty and seeks to consider classroom instruction in higher education in light of phenomenological tenets.


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