The Development of an Interdisciplinary Affinity Indicator

• In Event: 52.029 - Interdisciplinary and Integrated STEM Education: Research, Practices, and Perspectives

Abstract

This poster will trace the development of a quantitative measurement of interdisciplinary affinity and discuss some classroom characteristics that correlate with it. Though interdisciplinarity has been a popular topic of research over the last few decades, most studies have focused on students’ performance in interdisciplinary courses or projects. Other studies have investigated interdisciplinary courses or methods of evaluating interdisciplinary work. However, these have overlooked motivations and interests of students. Therefore, this work has focused on developing a way of effectively measuring interdisciplinary affinity, defined as students' interest and desire to integrate information and perspectives from multiple disciplines as well as self-perceptions of their competence to do so.

This interdisciplinary affinity indicator originated in data from the Sustainability and Gender in Engineering (SaGE) project. Part of the SaGE study was a survey administered in freshman English classes at colleges and universities around the United States. For validation of survey items and to generate new ideas for measuring interdisciplinarity, a small study was conducted in an introductory physics class. Data from this study consisted of open-ended responses to questions probing students’ thoughts on interdisciplinary related ideas. Analysis of these two studies resulted in a couple of validated survey items that were useful in research.

The next stage in the evolution of this interdisciplinary affinity indicator was done as part of the Outreach Programs and Science Career Intentions (OPSCI) study. Like SaGE, part of this project was a large-scale, survey administered in freshman English classes around the country. Building on a framework of interdisciplinarity stemming from interdisciplinary research grants (Borrego & Newswander, 2010), we included items on the survey intended to capture the following dimensions of interdisciplinarity: disciplinary grounding, integration, communication and translation, and critical awareness. Results were mixed. While we were not able to distinguish these different characteristics of interdisciplinarity, we found several of the new items to be valid and useful additions to our measure of interdisciplinary affinity.

This measure of interdisciplinary affinity is useful for investigating connections to students beliefs about and interests in interdisciplinarity. A focus on these affective dimensions complements the existing research by probing student beliefs and not just performance assessments. For example, by investigating links between the classroom and students’ interdisciplinary affinity, researchers can identify pedagogies that are effective in developing interdisciplinary affinity in students. Therefore, this poster will also discuss several characteristics of high school science classrooms that significantly correlate with interdisciplinary affinity.

Authors

• Tyler Scott, Northwestern College

• Zahra Hazari, Florida International University

• Geoff Potvin, Clemson University

• Leidy Klotz

• Gerhard Sonnert, Harvard University

• Philip M. Sadler, Harvard University