The Impact of Integrated Student Experiences on Learning

Abstract

In a cluster of courses called Food for Thought, seven faculty from different departments (including Biology, Economics, Sociology, Chemistry, Health and Wellness, and Foreign Language) teach students about food information, food consumerism, nutrition and health. The classes all have a shared learning outcome focused on developing the student as an informed consumer of food. Each semester, faculty teach a food-related course from their respective disciplinary perspective while also incorporating cross-course interactions that allow for both integration of disciplinary knowledge and student-to-student learning opportunities. Previous research demonstrated that this approach leads to student perceptions of learning gains (Authors, 2011). Building on that work, this research directly assesses student learning in the Food for Thought cluster. The results demonstrate that exposure to multiple disciplines covering a shared topic enhances learning through greater student ability to integrate diverse forms of knowledge and to see an issue from multiple perspectives. These findings demonstrate the value of multidisciplinary learning opportunities for students.

Empirical evidence of deep learning in learning communities

“…While the University’s primary goal is to help students see that knowledge exists and learning can occur both within and between disciplines, the added layer of complexity presented by cross-disciplinary work may push students to a deeper understanding of each discipline. Student comments on course evaluations reflect a perception of increased learning in each course that is attributable to the format, consistent with Wingert et al . (2014).…”

“…Improved student outcomes have been well-documented for students learning in community (Smith and MacGregor, 2009; Buch and Spaulding, 2008). Positive outcomes include increased student engagement (Buch and Barron, 2011), increased student metacognition and learning through a combination of LCs and self-assessment (Siegesmund, 2016), improved student perceptions of learning gains (Wingert et al , 2014), higher student retention (Love, 2012; Barrie, 2016), and increased retention rates of transfer students (Lord et al , 2012). LCs also mitigate the disintegration of higher education into individual, disconnected courses (Huber et al , 2005; Love, 2012).…”

Use of Peer Mentoring, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and Archival Datasets for Engaging Undergraduates in Publishable Research

“…Models do exist for interdisciplinary integration of undergraduate psychology coursework at both liberal arts and Research I institutions (Golding and Kraemer, 2000; Ebersole and Kelty-Stephen, 2017), which might help students and faculty across departments appreciate and value concepts and scientific methods from other disciplines. Other faculty have also created courses with interdisciplinary assignments and teaching techniques (Ross et al, 2013) or “cluster courses” that revolve around an interdisciplinary topic (Wingert et al, 2014).…”

A Specifications-Graded, Spice-Themed, General Chemistry Laboratory Course Using an Argument-Driven Inquiry Approach

“…Instead of a broad expository coverage of topics, the new GCL-II course still takes advantage of the corequisite organic lecture (OC-I), but is structured around four spice-themed projects following the argument-driven inquiry (ADI) format developed for GCL-I. Theme-based instruction in general chemistry laboratory courses has been used to contextualize course content for students. − Thematic connections between experiments provide students a conceptual framework, make course content more relevant, , and increase student understanding , and engagement. ,,,, Because of this and the positive student response to the Gatorade theme in GCL-I, we also adopted a theme for GCL-II . Spices were chosen because their organic nature resonates with students concurrently enrolled in OC-I while still utilizing concepts from GC-II to remain accessible to off-sequence students.…”

“…In comparison, Argument Driven Inquiry (ADI) experiments now used in GCL-II provide general procedural guidance and use the claim-evidence-justification framework . Students engage both in the above skills and in additional science process skills: hypothesis (claim) formulation, experimentation, and communication (through argumentation). ,− The inquiry approach engages students more authentically in experimentation by requiring them to develop their own procedures. , Furthermore, argumentation requires students to defend their claims and critique those of others.…”