The new Interdisciplinary Unified Curriculum Framework (2001), as declared by its name, is based on the 1997 Unified Curriculum Framework, but a new stress is placed on interdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning. The general aim of education remains unaltered. However, it is heavily emphasized that, in this new curriculum, the growth of…

Eight years ago, a new senior interdisciplinary science course called "Oceans: Past and Present" for the McCallie School in Tennessee was designed. The idea stemmed from the combination of a physics teacher's desire for a course based on a summer program at sea and a writing center director/teacher's longing for the ocean from the…

At Tecumseh Middle School in Indiana the technology education teachers are part of a team consisting of language arts, math, social studies, and science teachers who work together on items of common interest and student needs. There is a scheduled period each day for instructors to meet to develop plans and activities to help students become more…

The trend towards multidisciplinary research funding and partnerships brings together researchers with diverse perspectives. However, guidelines for effective supervision in multidisciplinary research are lacking. The New Canadian Children and Youth Study is described as an example of multidisciplinary, multi-site research involving researchers…

This article defines media education and places it in the context of contemporary research on the arts, culture, and economic and social development. The author reviews current instructional settings where media analysis and media production activities are now occurring in K-12 education in Pennsylvania. This article then describes how other…

In this article we review our experience of collaborating in the design and delivery of multidisciplinary training and support programmes for doctoral students and our attempts to locate models and metaphors for research planning and implementation which travel well across disciplines. We extend the metaphor of the journey to conceptualize a…

Faculty/staff workshops provide a way of enhancing teaching and learning strategies and pedagogical techniques. We include faculty/staff development workshops designed to create team that taught interdisciplinary courses which address issues of diversity and democracy for first year students. Strategic planning of the workshop and responsiveness…

Drawing on ancient and contemporary connections between rhetoric--an art of public deliberation and communication--and democracy, this chapter argues for creating "a common space of public scholarship across and beyond disciplines" to help ensure the future of sustainable publics and participatory democracy.

The article presents activities that tap into elementary and middle school children's multiple ways of knowing by having them visually express impressions and thoughts about music, and conversely, express their impressions of visual art by creating music. Because most children learn through both visual and auditory senses, they may foster deeper…

A significant challenge in the field of early childhood special education is providing qualified personnel to serve young children with special needs and their families. Though many personnel development programs acknowledge the need for interdisciplinary preparation of diverse students who are culturally competent, faculty and trainees continue…

The authors present a rationale for incorporating service-learning projects into courses that teach family systems theory. A model program is presented to provide an example of the objectives, practical considerations, and student responses to such a project. Recommendations for counselor educators are made based on experience with the model…

Can art and science find a happy home in the same unit? We think the answer is yes, if the central problem interests the students and allows them to try out multiple abilities. The sixth-grade unit described in this article, which we called "The Dragon Project," grew mainly from two roots, a study of ancient China and a later probe into…

The belief that art should not be a handmaiden to social studies has continued in art education discourse since the 1920s. What role does the handmaiden play in this cultural narrative? Who is the handmaiden? We explore the handmaiden metaphor in art education and in popular texts. She is both needed and despised for her metaphorical acts of…

Standardized assessment in school systems has been the center of debate for decades. Although the voices of opponents of standardized tests have dominated the public forum, only a handful of scholars and practitioners have argued in defense of standardized tests. This article provides a critical synthesis of the controversial issues on…

As a result of advances in GIS, students from a range of disciplines (epidemiology, public health, medical sociology, and anthropology) are seeking to learn how to apply a mapped, spatial perspective to issues of disease and health. This paper describes a pilot program whose intent has been to develop an interdisciplinary, skill-based course in…