Cross-Curriculum Initiatives

Definition

Benefits

Challenges & Responses

Recent Example

Works Cited Page

Definition

A mode of curriculum design and instruction in which individual faculty or teams identify, evaluate, and integrate information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of knowledge to advance students’ capacity to understand issues, address problems, and create new approaches and solutions that extend beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of instruction (Rhoten et al. 3).

BenefitsLearning Outcomes

1. Scaffolds Bloom’s taxonomy (Bloom, Krathwohl, & Masia, 1964)

2. Stimulates critical thinking (Elder & Paul, 2007)

3. Complements research based instructional strategies (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001)

4. Appeals to multiple intelligences and learning styles (Smith, 2002).

5. Provides opportunities for individual or cooperative-learning knowledge products that address critical issues of importance that transcend a single disciplinary focus e.g. interdisciplinary writing rubric

Catholic Formation

1. Illuminates unity of knowledge in God’s being

2. Continues the tradition of fides quaerens intellectum, or faith seeking understanding, i.e. learning as a form of prayer

3. Appreciates ecumenical “Egyptian gold,” the principle of recognizing wisdom wherever it is discovered

4. Supports the interdisciplinary nature of the liberal arts and a holistic and integrated account of universe

5. Aids the Magisterial teachings of Holy Mother Church on education, particularly its neo-Thomistic recommendations

Challenges & Responses (1 of 2)

Theoretical

Challenge Response

General confusion as to the purpose,value, and validity of the enterprise

Clarity through presentation, discussion, personal investigation, and application

Unease with yet another round of educational jargon

Avoidance of technical language as much as possible KISS!

Charge of dilettantism, or a superficialdabbling across disciplines with little benefit to students or teachers

Examples of successful cross-curricular initiatives that have empirical or philosophical value social networking, aesthetics of game consoles or gadgets, bioethics, robotics and medicine/war

Skepticism at the perceived anti-disciplinary bent of cross-curricular work, or anxiety concerning possible ideological agendas of its practitioners

Acknowledgement of disciplinaryboundaries and respect for disciplinary expertise of participant teachers

Challenges & Responses (2 of 2)

Practical

Challenge Response

Weak or limited horizontal teams on intra- and/or inter-departmental basis

Regular inter-departmental meetings to determine points of convergence across curricula and learning outcomes

Absence of teacher mentoring and scaffolding of cross-curricular work

Designated cross-curricular leaderin each department

Difficulty in syncing curricula and crafting synthetic assessments

Backward design, cloud computing, and consistent rubrics to maximize benefits

Students’ inexperience and lack of mastery of disciplinary methods and foundational knowledge

Planned vertical cross-curricular initiatives will lead to improved results within and across disciplinary lines

ExampleSTH Freshman Interdisciplinary Project: An English & History Department Initiative

Focus: Evaluations of moral character through the lenses of history, theology, and literature. Core text: Dante Alighieri’s Commedia, specifically the Inferno portion of the epic poem. Convergence: After covering medieval European history and reading from the first section of

Dante’s poem in their English class, students will select a canto from the Inferno that they find particularly compelling. Students must then clearly identify the sin and contrapasso (counter-suffering) in Dante’s imaginative scheme; these contrapassos typically correlate in a poetic or imaginative way with the particular sin in question. Students should also note the historical figures that Dante envisions populating their chosen Circle of the infernal realm and consider Dante’s justification for placement of sinners.

English assessment: Each student will re-envision and craft a contemporary version of his selected canto casting himself in the role of Dante and substituting a literary, historical, personal, or spiritual guide of choice in the place of Virgil. The revamped circle must be populated with three (3) or more historical figures and must include dialogue between the student and his guide to suit a twenty-first century audience. The student journeyman must also speak with one or more of the sinners in his updated canto of at least 120 lines.

History assessment: For their history portion of the interdisciplinary project, students will create a dynamic poster board featuring a picture and biographic details of the historical characters in their contemporary version of the selected canto. Additionally, students will offer a historically-based justification of their decision to condemn any one (1) of the historical figures to this particular circle of Hell.

Works Cited Page

Advanogy.com. (2004). Overview of Learning Styles. Learning-Styles-Online.com. Retrieved from http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/

Bloom, B., Krathwohl, D., & Masia, B. (1964). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. New York: Longman.

Boix Mansilla, V., Dawes Duraisingh, E., Wolfe, C.R., & Haynes, C. (2009). Targeted Assessment Rubric: An Empirically Grounded Rubric for Interdisciplinary Writing. The Journal of Higher Education 80 (3) 334-353. In Association For Integrative Studies. Retrieved from http://www.units.muohio.edu/aisorg/PUBS/AssessingIDS/TargetedAssessmentRubric.pdf

Brown, Jordan, & Liepolt, Werner. (2004). Workshop: Tapping into Multiple Intelligences. Thirteen Ed Online. Retrieved from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/index.html

Churches, Andrew. (2008). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. Educational Origami Wikispaces Blog. Retrieved from http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s+Digital+taxonomy+v3.01.pdf

Elder, Linda, & Paul, Richard. (2007). Elements of Critical Thinking. Foundation for Critical Thinking. Retrieved from http://www.criticalthinking.org/CTmodel/CTModel1.cfm

Works Cited Page

Johnson, David and Roger, & Kagan, Spencer. (2001). Cooperative Learning. Kennesaw State University Educational Technology Center. Retrieved from http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm

Marzano, R., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Marzano, Robert. (2009). Researched Strategies. Marzano Research Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.marzanoresearch.com/research/researched_strategies.aspx

Rhoten, D., Mansilla, V. B., Chun, M. & Klein, J. T. (2006). Interdisciplinary Education at Liberal Arts Institutions. Teagle Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.teaglefoundation.org/learning/pdf/2006_ssrc_whitepaper.pdf

Smith, M. K. (2002). Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm

Willmann, O. (1907). The Seven Liberal Arts. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01760a.htm