Higher education institutions (HEIs) are drivers of social change embedded in a society which is experiencing increasingly complex and multifaceted crises. This is partly attributable to the use of conventional and deterministic problem-solving curricula. A combination of a transdisciplinary approach and indigenous knowledge (IK) as transformative…

Inherent in most school curricula is some sort of curriculum hierarchy--that is, an assumption that some school subjects are more valuable than others. This paper examines the epistemological assumptions that underpin one such curriculum hierarchy, which I refer to as "the traditional curriculum hierarchy". It is a pervasive and…

Presents the methodology and evaluation of a course prepared by an interdisciplinary team of faculty members and aimed at developing an awareness, in engineering students, of the need for an interdisciplinary approach to societal problems. (MLH)

Suggests that students be taught processes and practical applications of biology in an interdisciplinary approach. (LS)

Describes eight experimental courses in a series called the Man Series, instituted at Purdue University to improve the social dimensions of engineering education. Each course is team taught by engineering, humanities, and social science faculty members and is interdisciplinary in nature. (MLH)

A case is developed for including social issues in science teaching, based on a belief that such inclusion can make science more meaningful and can contribute to the development of intelligence. The Human Sciences Project, in which science and related social issues are combined in curriculum modules for students ages 11-14, is described. The…

This paper summarizes the model used for science/society programs at the University of Houston. The model is examined with respect to the following perspectives: the best disciplinary locus for science-related social issues; optimum teaching style, instructional background, and grade level; appropriate instructional objectives; ethical problems;…

This article describes an innovative curriculum module the first author created on the two-way exchange between statistics and applied ethics. The module, having no particular mathematical prerequisites beyond high school algebra, is part of an undergraduate interdisciplinary ethics course which begins with a 3-week introduction to basic applied…

The role of history in a modern social studies program is unclear. The reason for the weakening of history's place in the curriculum is also unclear since educators generally agree that history and literature should be the core subjects in any humanities or cultural studies program. The problems posed by history instruction in a modern educational…