Abstract
The core curriculum of interdisciplinary studies undergraduate programs represents interdisciplinarity as a consciously applied process, whether individually or collaboratively, of drawing and integrating insights from various disciplinary perspectives toward complex problem-solving and innovation. At the front-end of these programs students are often introduced to interdisciplinarity through terminology, metaphors, concepts, and context that are intended to familiarize them with the process. This initiation usually precedes what will ultimately entail a limited number of upper-division courses within the several disciplines or areas that will encompass a unique plan of study characterized by its breadth. The philosophy underlying current pedagogy in interdisciplinary studies appears in many ways to mirror the cognitive habitudes and socio-cultural zeitgeist that have emerged with our increasing connectedness with and reliance on digital technology. This dissertation proposes that through a revised front-end core curriculum revisiting both classical and Ramist pedagogy, and perhaps reframing how we think about interdisciplinarity itself, we need not sacrifice depth for breadth. Rather, we may be able to encourage a broadly applicable self-directed goal-centered mindset in our students that places equal emphasis on both breadth and depth in terms of deliberate knowledge acquisition. Through adapting the initial phases of a cognitivist instructional design model provisional week-by-week, curricular content is presented to illustrate how this endeavor might be realized within the context of interdisciplinary studies or like programs. This core curricular model is intended as an alternative well-suited to both the fully online and mixed mode format as well as the diversity of students within the typical undergraduate interdisciplinary studies program.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2016
Semester
Spring
Advisor
Janz, Bruce
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Degree Program
Texts and Technology
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0006120
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0006120
Language
English
Release Date
5-15-2016
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Jardaneh, Said, "Building a Foundation for Goal-Attainment and Problem-Solving in Interdisciplinary Studies: Reimagining Web-Based Core Curriculum through a Classical Lens" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4887.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4887