Heritage education is an approach to teaching, rather than an academic discipline or subject area. It draws on history, geography, literature, the arts, architecture, and the social and natural sciences to study the evidence of the past remaining in the natural and built environment, the material culture, written documents, and in community…

This review examines both the popular and research literature on interdisciplinary teaching and learning at the middle grades level. The review discusses terminology; the rationale for integrating learning; and such features of the interdisciplinary approach as a curriculum plan demonstrating "connectedness," a holistic approach, preparation for…

The New Center for Learning is an experimental program at East Texas State University which offers students an alternative, interdisciplinary general education curriculum which can improve student writing more than traditional programs do. Students in the program take 36 hours of courses throughout their college careers which are offered by a…

The study of how subjects are or are not accepted for inclusion into the curriculum is an area which has largely been ignored but which offers opportunities for a new integration of historical, sociological, and educational approaches. Some of the areas open for such study include the structural and political factors influencing the making of…

The goal of this booklet is to identify and present essential concepts and generalizations within the structure of knowledge of the social studies. The basic rationale rests upon the following assumptions: 1) the development of concepts and generalizations should be given primary emphasis over retention of facts in teaching the social sciences; 2)…

The new K-12 economics education program being implemented by the San Diego City (California) schools is described. A brief historical background, a rationale, what constitutes the program for grades 9-12, and how the program is being implemented are discussed. (RM)

This curriculum was developed by the Ohio Higher Education Partnership Project (OHEPP) as a training tool to promote greater levels of participation in personnel preparation by parents of children with disabilities. OHEPP has the following three objectives: (1) develop and support parent-faculty "teams" throughout the state; (2) provide…

Analyzes and criticizes the most prominent characteristics of current college language programs. On this basis, sketches a language program model featuring emphasis on linguistic rather than literary scholarship and on non-European rather than European languages, integration with international studies disciplines, and close cooperation between…

Presented are a list of topics and references for a course in which scientific theories and concepts are developed to explain the energy crisis. Using the suggested approach, students gain an understanding of scientific theories and concepts as they relate to current human problems. (DS)

A series of planning-like studios are described that are both interdisciplinary and strongly structured to introduce architects to the nonarchitectural subject matter of urban design and planning. The Las Vegas and Levittown studios produced descriptions of the places studied and analyses of the physical and symbolic requirements they fulfilled.…

Presents a case study examining the development and implementation of two recent curricular innovations at Michigan State University: the Integrative Studies Program and the Ethnic Studies Specialization. The programs consist of interdisciplinary courses incorporating instruction from geography, anthropology, sociology, and other areas. Discusses…

A longitudinal study of 99 students attending 1 rural and 1 urban elementary school in Yugoslavia evaluated the effects of an interdisciplinary play-oriented program based on drama, story making, art-constructive activities, group research, and various games. Results showed an improvement in creativity, motivation to learn, and expressive…

The University of California, Los Angeles, medical school has developed and implemented, "Doctoring," a four-year interdisciplinary course sequence to prepare students to care for patients, families, and communities in a caring, humanistic, and competent manner. Each year has a special area of emphasis but with a cumulative approach to…

A new program at Madonna University (Michigan) builds on the institution's existing emphasis on the humanities in teacher education by creating faculty development activities that promote an interdisciplinary learning community and developing courses to forge formal curricular links between key humanities general education courses and required…

Describes the day-to-day implementation of a project involving the creation and operation of a city made with wooden blocks in a kindergarten classroom. By acting out the "Roxaboxen" story, children improved their reading, writing, and calculation skills. They learned from personal experience that living in a society involves…