Interdisciplinary Studies

Course Summary: Students will develop practical skills and knowledge to assess their thinking, solve problems, make decisions, create personal meaning, choose technology, and present findings by incorporating the principles and skills derived from the complementary subject into additional skills learned through interdisciplinary tasks and projects.

Youthrive Coverage: 75%

Explicit Teaching Coverage: 50%
Experiential Learning: 15%
Reflective Journalling: 10%

Theory and Foundation

Ideas and Issues

Critically analyze the major concepts and ideas held by pre-eminent theorists and researchers in each of the subjects or disciplines studied and describe their contemporary application.

Describe and critically analyze the ways in which each of the related subjects or disciplines studied contributes to the finding of practical solutions to key contemporary issues and themes in the interdisciplinary course.

Analyze significant changes from the past in the role of information and communication in contemporary society and describe ways in which practitioners in each of the subjects or disciplines studied meet information challenges.

Identify the principles, practices, and systems regarding the safe, ethical, and legal use of information technologies and describe the consequences of their appropriate and inappropriate use for each of the subjects or disciplines studied.

Structures and Organization

Analyze and describe the strengths and limitations of the ways in which knowledge is classified within each of the subjects or disciplines studied.

Identify and describe key theories – from diverse psychological, religious, and philosophical traditions – about how people structure experience and organize information to learn, think, and remember.

Identify and describe the ways in which information is classified, organized, stored, and retrieved in a wide variety of print and electronic forms used in each of the subjects or disciplines studied and describe possible future developments.

Identify and describe the features of a variety of information systems and analyze their potential for providing practical solutions to problems in each of the subjects or disciplines studied.

Analyze and describe how the nature of evidence is considered in each of the subjects or disciplines studied.

Analyze and describe the different perspectives of various disciplines on the same topic as exemplified in key interdisciplinary texts, and explain how these texts have influenced human endeavour.

Perspectives and Approaches

Compare the approaches used to investigate key issues, problems, and themes in interdisciplinary work and critically analyze examples of effective and ineffective interdisciplinary research.

Identify the features of the systems approach to solving problems and describe examples of how it has been successfully applied to model situations and to solve problems in interdisciplinary endeavours.

Demonstrate an understanding of the collaborative attitudes and skills that contribute to the research and creation of interdisciplinary products and activities.

Explain the role that linguistic devices and mathematical representations or techniques can play in revealing relationships among the subjects or disciplines studied.

Skills and Strategies

Critically analyze and demonstrate the ability to apply a variety of critical- and creative-thinking strategies and models to help develop original interdisciplinary products or activities.

Demonstrate an understanding of how to use a variety of information technologies to support interdisciplinary work.

Identify and describe the strategies that community organizations use to address interdisciplinary issues, problems, and decisions.

Processes and Methods of Research

Preparing for Research

Demonstrate an understanding of the purposes and types of research used in each of the subjects or disciplines studied and describe traditional and new methods of research.

Demonstrate an understanding of the skills and attitudes required for research in each of the subjects or disciplines studied and describe specific research projects that demonstrate these skills and attitudes.

Identify and describe the critical- and creative-thinking strategies that are effective at each stage of research in each of the subjects or disciplines studied and describe specific research projects that demonstrate these strategies.

Formulate questions for a variety of purposes in interdisciplinary research and evaluate the relevance, significance, and effectiveness of the questions posed.

Identify and compare significant differences in purpose, conventions, and organization between the Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress classification systems and apply their findings to locate relevant resources using both systems.

Demonstrate the ability to use a combination of strategies to locate relevant resources for interdisciplinary research.

Accessing Resources

Locate relevant resources for interdisciplinary research, using a variety of print or electronic (online) reference materials, indexes, and databases.

Select relevant resources and information within resources for interdisciplinary research, using a variety of reading and critical-thinking strategies.

Analyze and evaluate information from a variety of print, electronic, and mass media resources according to specific criteria, including the validity of, authority for, and significance of the information.

Identify and critically analyze ideas, arguments, bias, and stereotyping found in resources, using a variety of strategies.

Processing Information

Record, sort, and organize information found in resources related to each of the subjects or disciplines studied, using a variety of forms and technologies and focusing on providing accurate data on the source of all information.

Record, sort, and organize sources of information in relevant footnotes, citations, endnotes, or bibliographies, using an accepted form of documentation.

Synthesize findings from their interdisciplinary research, using a variety of strategies and technologies.

Re-examine the comprehensiveness of their interdisciplinary research to date and modify their interdisciplinary products in light of new findings and feedback.

Assessing and Extending Research

Assess their effectiveness in finding practical approaches or solutions through their research to problems in the subjects or disciplines studied.

Develop and apply effective criteria for assessing the quality of their interdisciplinary research.

Identify possible topics and real-life applications for subsequent personal interdisciplinary research activities and describe methods and approaches required for success.

Implementation, Evaluation, Impacts, and Consequences

Implementation and Communication

Create practical interdisciplinary products based on their own plans or designs, independently or as members of a team.

Demonstrate the ability to communicate and present information effectively, using a variety of methods and forms.

Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which the graphic display of quantitative information can be used to communicate ideas with clarity, precision, and efficiency in interdisciplinary presentations.

Use a variety of technological strategies and applications effectively to create interdisciplinary products or activities.

Analyze case studies in which specific methods and technologies were used in each of the subjects or disciplines studied to communicate and receive information safely, legally, and ethically and assess the effectiveness of the methods and technologies used.

Evaluation

Monitor the effectiveness of the plans for their interdisciplinary research, products, or activities, employing the strategies and technologies used in real-life situations.

Evaluate the effectiveness of their presentations according to specific criteria.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the collaborative strategies they used in planning and implementing interdisciplinary products and activities.

Impacts

Describe and critically analyze contemporary examples of interdisciplinary products and activities that apply innovative approaches and solutions to a variety of real-life situations around the world.

Describe and critically analyze the potential cultural, economic, political, environmental, and technological impacts on present and future societies of interdisciplinary endeavours related to the subjects or disciplines studied.

Research, analyze, and describe, with particular reference to each of the subjects or disciplines studied, the personal and social impacts of significant information-related inventions and developments.

Plan, conduct, and present independent interdisciplinary research, with particular reference to each of the subjects or disciplines studied, on the potential social, political, and economic impacts of emerging information technologies.

Demonstrate an understanding of selected interdisciplinary texts related to each of the subjects or disciplines studied and present an analysis of their reading preferences and needs, using a variety of strategies.

Personal and Career Development

Analyze their personal information skills and identify those skills that require development if they are to achieve success in interdisciplinary studies.

Research the importance of effective collaborative and communication skills in interdisciplinary careers related to the subjects and disciplines under study.

Identify postsecondary training requirements for and potential employment opportunities in interdisciplinary fields related to the subjects or disciplines under study, using various methods and create a personal inventory of required interdisciplinary skills for each.