Developing a Framework to Assess Interdisciplinary Understanding

• In Event: Exploring the Frontiers and Linking Critical Aspects of Assessments in Science

Abstract

Students need to develop interdisciplinary understanding to solve complex problems in science (Kaufman, Moss, & Osborn, 2009; Lattuca, Voight, & Fath, 2004). However, it is unclear what “interdisciplinary understanding” means and little research has been conducted on assessing students’ interdisciplinary understanding. In this study, we describe an approach to guide the construction of measures for interdisciplinary understanding in science. We elaborate the framework using the topic of osmosis.

Our framework was informed by the theories of Knowledge Integration (Linn, 2006) and Transformative Modeling (Shen & Confrey, 2007). Linn and colleagues developed the framework of knowledge integration (KI) that emphasizes students’ abilities in establishing connections among scientific concepts (Linn & Eylon, 2006; Linn, 2006; Liu et al., 2008). The KI framework has been used to develop curriculum materials and assessments to help students link, distinguish, evaluate, and organize their ideas on science (Linn et al. 2006). Shen and Linn (2010) further elaborated on three types of connections that students need to make: between explanatory views, between states and processes, and between science knowledge and everyday experience. Shen and colleagues also developed the framework of transformative modeling (TM), a modeling-based framework delineating learning and instruction as a process of modeling the world through transforming both the constructs of models and forms of representations including science terms (Shen & Confrey, 2007; Shen, Liu, & Chang, 2010). Both frameworks have important implications in interdisciplinary understanding.

Adapting KI and TM, we interpret interdisciplinary understanding in three important and interrelated dimensions: integration, translation, and transformation. We elaborate these aspects in the following. Table 1 (not included here) provides a comprehensive description that includes the definitions of the dimensions, design features for assessments, and examples on osmosis. This topic is often addressed in animal physiology, plant physiology, chemistry, and (possibly) physics.
• Integration: Students need to integrate concepts, theories, tools, and methods learned from different disciplines to understand natural phenomena and solve complex problems (COSEPUP, 2004). Assessment items used to evaluate interdisciplinary integration need to incorporate complex phenomena or everyday experience that involves concepts from different disciplines.
• Translation: Students need to be able to translate scientific terms in order to effectively communicate to audience from a different disciplinary background. Interdisciplinary assessment items that incorporate this dimension need to have students compare and contrast similar terms used in different disciplines.
• Transformation: Students need to be able to use explanatory models learned from one disciplines to apply to a different disciplines, transforming the meaning of the initial model and the understanding of the new topic. Interdisciplinary assessment design needs to consider typical contexts of scientific models within specific disciplines.

Our framework provides a theoretical foundation and pragmatic guidance to develop instruments to measure student’s ability to think across disciplines. This is extremely useful for teachers who wish to know if students can integrate their knowledge derived from different perspectives, and help design measures to facilitate interdisciplinary learning.

Authors

• Ji Shen, University of Miami

• Hsianghan Shannon Sung, University of Georgia - Athens