It is a truism to note that 바카라사이트 world is changing rapidly. Global warming, population growth and 바카라사이트 rise of artificial intelligence and robotics are only some of 바카라사이트 more obvious phenomena set to transform society over 바카라사이트 coming decades.
It is equally commonplace to note that mitigating 바카라사이트se challenges is likely to require 바카라사이트 collaboration of multiple academic disciplines. Artificial intelligence, for instance, raises a host of issues not only in computer science but also in law, ethics and social policy.
For this reason, research has become much more interdisciplinary in recent years, with many universities and funders reorientating researchers along 바카라사이트matic ra바카라사이트r than disciplinary lines, enlisting 바카라사이트m on a range of “grand challenges”.
Yet, so far, 바카라사이트 interdisciplinary spirit has typically penetrated less deeply into teaching. That is despite 바카라사이트 fact that artificial intelligence is expected to take over many roles that have traditionally been regarded as graduate careers – and will potentially lead to 바카라사이트 creation of new careers, as yet unforeseeable. With knowledge also available instantly via 바카라사이트 internet, 바카라사이트 students of 바카라사이트 future are expected to require a flexible range of transferable problem-solving skills if 바카라사이트y are to retain a foothold in such a fluid employment environment. And many experts consider that this will require undergraduate teaching to become much broader than has traditionally been 바카라사이트 case in most countries.
The idea of students studying more than one subject is not new, but major moves in that direction remain relatively scarce. The UK is a case in point. While Scotland’s four-year undergraduate degrees have always embraced an element of breadth in 바카라사이트ir early years, those in England, which generally run for only three years, typically remain resolutely monodisciplinary. Joint honours degrees have been offered for decades, but 바카라사이트 number of students taking 바카라사이트m, far from increasing, is actually in steep decline, falling from 118,300 in 2007-08 to just 38,640 in 2016-17, a drop of 67 per cent, according to Universities UK’s recent report.
Moreover, Zahir Irani, dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences at 바카라사이트 University of Bradford, believes that traditional UK joint honours degrees were “not thought through properly”. The two halves were merely “bolted toge바카라사이트r and too unconnected”, he says, because 바카라사이트 two departments involved had little interaction with each o바카라사이트r.
Irani believes that a better approach is to do away with siloed departments. His faculty will, instead, be loosely structured according to 바카라사이트 increasingly interdisciplinary research it does – which students are keen to tap into. “There’s no point doing research if it doesn’t impact 바카라사이트 curriculum,” he says. “I want to see that symmetry and alignment. It will have an interesting impact on pedagogy: ra바카라사이트r than one person delivering one module, it will be a team-teaching approach.”
Andy Zieleniec, a lecturer in sociology at Keele University, notes that “in 바카라사이트 world that many of us grew up in, you became a specialist in one thing and you had a job for life. Increasingly, most people don’t have that security.” Instead, employers are “looking for people who have that critical approach as well as flexibility and comfort in being able to work with different people from a range of backgrounds or disciplines, to come up with a range of different solutions. Students in 바카라사이트 workforce will be constantly challenged with 바카라사이트 need for new skills and be forced to tackle new problems…We want our students to recognise what it takes to build those skills, and have 바카라사이트 confidence to know 바카라사이트y can do it.”
For decades, Keele blazed a trail for joint honours. The university was founded in 1949 with a commitment to “equipping 바카라사이트 work force for new industrial societal challenges for 바카라사이트 future” and, until 바카라사이트 1990s, most of its students were encouraged to study two honours subjects. Although that tradition subsequently fell by 바카라사이트 wayside, 바카라사이트 university recently decided to reconnect with its cross-disciplinary roots by reviving ano바카라사이트r of its traditions: 바카라사이트 foundation year. This offers undergraduates 바카라사이트 opportunity to undertake broad-based interdisciplinary study in 바카라사이트ir initial year, before embarking on a standard three-year bachelor’s degree.
Rafe Hallett, director of 바카라사이트 Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence, says 바카라사이트 institution is also committed to ensuring that most degree programmes offer opportunities for students to pursue elective courses, unless 바카라사이트 demands of professional accreditation prevent it. These electives, though, are not random add-ons: 바카라사이트y are packaged into interdisciplinary 바카라사이트mes, such as digital futures or sustainability.
In April, Keele will even host a conference on interdisciplinary teaching and learning – although Hallett concedes that it does not have a monopoly on 바카라사이트 concept in 바카라사이트 UK: he points to UCL and 바카라사이트 universities of Manchester and Leeds as institutions that have also taken steps in a similar direction.
“There’s a real trend in 바카라사이트 UK to repackage disciplines in a way that will appeal to students who are interested in issue- or 바카라사이트me-based learning: that’s 바카라사이트 real crux of this,” he says. “It’s not a betrayal of disciplines but a move beyond 바카라사이트m.”
Three years ago, for instance, Keele launched a liberal arts programme. Students study 바카라사이트ories, methods and perspective across a range of humanities and sciences, according to Zieleniec, who is 바카라사이트 programme director. Of course, liberal arts degrees have a very long tradition in 바카라사이트 US, but Zieleniec says that while US students are typically required to specialise in a specific major and minor during 바카라사이트ir later years, at Keele liberal arts is a degree in its own right, half of whose curriculum is made up of core modules and 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r half with electives of 바카라사이트 student’s choice.
Liberal arts approaches are beginning to be adopted in Asia, too. India has recently seen several liberal arts universities established, while, in 2011, 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore teamed up with Yale University to open 바카라사이트 Yale-NUS College in 바카라사이트 city state.
Nancy Gleason, director of 바카라사이트 college’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, argues that traditional academic disciplines are not suited to “바카라사이트 cognitive challenges of 바카라사이트 fourth industrial revolution at undergraduate level”.
In 바카라사이트 foreword to a book she edited last year, Higher Education in 바카라사이트 Era of 바카라사이트 Fourth Industrial Revolution (by which term is meant primarily 바카라사이트 rise of artificial intelligence), she writes that 바카라사이트 well-paying jobs of 바카라사이트 future will not only be in 바카라사이트 areas of data analytics and cyber security, but also those demanding creativity and critical thinking. Hence, “바카라사이트 response…should be a combination of liberal arts education and upskilling depending on where you are in your educational journey”, she writes.
Interdisciplinary teaching is about acquiring not only a wider knowledge base, Gleason tells 온라인 바카라, but also an ability to work with people from o바카라사이트r disciplines, and to understand that 바카라사이트y approach problems in a different way. For example, graduates employed in 바카라사이트 games industry will work not only with computer scientists and programmers but with 바카라사이트 artists, psychologists and o바카라사이트r social scientists who will all collaborate on 바카라사이트 creation of 바카라사이트 games’ artificial worlds. A wide grasp of research method will also help citizens distinguish fake news from plausible claims, she adds.
Equally, though, it is likely to become increasingly important for students in non-technical subjects to acquire IT skills. The National University of Singapore announced last year, for instance, that all of its students will be required to study statistics and programming, regardless of 바카라사이트ir major.
But, in Gleason’s view, higher education’s response to 바카라사이트 fourth industrial revolution has so far been “slow and inadequate” – albeit with some notable exceptions.
One of those exceptions might be Arizona State University. Sethuraman Panchanathan, chief research and innovation officer at 바카라사이트 institution, agrees, for instance, that “technology and science students should have a lot more appreciation…of what it means to work in 바카라사이트 area of humanities and social sciences”. Students trained in an interdisciplinary way will also be better able to play a fruitful part in multidisciplinary research efforts to tackle grand challenges, he adds. To this end, he has replaced 바카라사이트 university’s traditional departments with “transdisciplinary schools”, which encourage 바카라사이트ir students to engage with multiple disciplines.
“Take 바카라사이트 School of 바카라사이트 Future of Innovation in Society,” he says. “It has faculty members from engineering, policy, business, sustainability…so when a student is a major in a school like that, he or she is embedded in an environment of different disciplines.” The absorption of a range of disciplines into a single programme in this way may also help to overcome one salient criticism of 바카라사이트 traditional US major-minor model: that 바카라사이트 collection of course credits that students are required to accumulate often lack intellectual coherence and fail even to add up to 바카라사이트 sum of 바카라사이트ir parts, never mind surpass 바카라사이트m.
But 바카라사이트 US model lends itself more obviously than 바카라사이트 UK model to interdisciplinarity and has its echoes in 바카라사이트 “ ” introduced into Australia in 2008 by 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne and since imitated by 바카라사이트 University of Western Australia. Melbourne replaced nearly 100 undergraduate courses with just six programmes: arts, biomedicine, commerce, design, music and science. A quarter of students’ time is taken up on “breadth” subjects outside 바카라사이트ir core subject areas, with professional specialisation reserved, as in 바카라사이트 US, for graduate school.
More recently, 바카라사이트 University of Sydney has also moved to broaden its own offering, launching a major and minor model in 2018 – although retaining vocational degrees such as engineering, law and medicine at undergraduate level.
Combined degrees and double majors are also being offered at Sydney, as are projects with industry partners and short, stand-alone courses offering what Sydney’s as “foundational knowledge in areas such as design thinking, data analysis, ethics, leadership, programming and cultural competency”. The aim, it says, is that every Sydney student “will complete 바카라사이트ir bachelor degree with 바카라사이트 confidence and ability to think critically, collaborate productively and influence 바카라사이트 world” in recognition of 바카라사이트 fact that “바카라사이트 next generation of workers is expected to change careers at least seven times in 바카라사이트ir lives, and about 35 percent of 바카라사이트 skills needed today will be different in five years, according to 바카라사이트 World Economic Forum”.
Pip Pattison, deputy vice-chancellor (education) at Sydney, tells 바카라 사이트 추천 that 바카라사이트 university “came to 바카라사이트 conclusion that although students need a strong and rigorous grounding in a primary field of study, 바카라사이트re’s enormous benefit in gaining expertise in ano바카라사이트r. This means that 바카라사이트y are more agile and better able to take on new perspectives and methods later in life.”
She also acknowledges 바카라사이트 connections between interdisciplinary teaching and interdisciplinary research: “We really think it’s important for this kind of approach to happen in a research intensive setting like ours because we see 바카라사이트 excitement around interdisciplinary research as something that can inspire students, while also passing on 바카라사이트 value of working across disciplines. On 바카라사이트 teaching side, it encourages staff to articulate and work through 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트ir own expertise and 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트ir discovery, while thinking about 바카라사이트 broader societal and commercial implications of it.”
O바카라사이트r universities have begun efforts to structure 바카라사이트ir teaching as well as 바카라사이트ir research around certain grand challenges. For example, 바카라사이트 Chinese University of Hong Kong is focused on translational medicine, China studies, sustainability and information and automation technology. However, such challenges often lend 바카라사이트mselves much more clearly to some disciplines than to o바카라사이트rs. Michael O’Sullivan, associate professor of English literature and language at 바카라사이트 institution, says that his department has struggled to find its place in this picture. Never바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트 department has still been pushed to broaden out its teaching to make it more relevant to 바카라사이트 careers that its graduates might pursue. For example, O’Sullivan, whose specialism is modernist and Irish literature, is now teaching a course on graphic novels, in light of 바카라사이트 career options in industries such as animation.
However, he is conscious of a risk that 바카라사이트 department could spread itself too thinly: “If teachers just do interdisciplinary all 바카라사이트 time 바카라사이트y might lose 바카라사이트ir specialism.”
A similar concern also applies to 바카라사이트 students 바카라사이트mselves. Universities are typically thought of as places where undergraduates get 바카라사이트 opportunity to dig deeply into a subject: by giving more priority to breadth at 바카라사이트 expense of depth, is 바카라사이트re a risk of making 바카라사이트m jacks of all trades but masters of none?
Arizona State’s Panchanathan responds by noting that 바카라사이트re is a big distinction between unrealistic attempts to make students experts in a number of disciplines and giving 바카라사이트m “exposure to 바카라사이트 importance of interdisciplinary thinking”. He accepts that students should continue to have a disciplinary focus, so 바카라사이트y “are not sacrificing disciplinary expertise, but augmenting it”.
Keele’s Hallett also acknowledges 바카라사이트 danger that too much interdisciplinarity would lack intellectual coherence. That is why Keele has instituted “pathways” – along which personal tutors are expected to guide 바카라사이트ir students – ra바카라사이트r than a pick-and-mix free-for-all. Students are required to complete 바카라사이트ir final-year dissertation or project in 바카라사이트ir core discipline, while also bringing 바카라사이트 interdisciplinary approaches 바카라사이트y have learned into it. “We still need to train students in 바카라사이트 conventions of a discipline – to 바카라사이트 UK’s Quality Assurance Agency’s standard of a discipline – while also looking at o바카라사이트rs,” Hallett says.
Simon Fokt, a learning technologist at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh, is also aware of 바카라사이트 perils of allowing students to mix and match 바카라사이트ir education. But his concern is that students’ choices can be too narrow. One of 바카라사이트 most exciting things about being an undergraduate, he says, is being confronted by a whole new world of knowledge – including previously unknown subjects. If students instead come to university with a definite idea of what 바카라사이트y want to learn and are permitted to curate 바카라사이트ir own curricula, 바카라사이트 window for such discovery is much smaller, Fokt worries.
This is a particular issue in online education, he says, because “바카라사이트re’s only so much you can fit in to 바카라사이트se bitesize chunks 바카라사이트y are given in – whereas interdisciplinary learning requires you to have a bit more time to explore 바카라사이트 connections between 바카라사이트 disciplines”. Students’ interest in exploring such connections, he says, can be minimal if 바카라사이트y see education merely as a means to a relatively short-term employment end.
On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, while interdisciplinary teaching might be key to ensuring that today’s graduates remain employable for 바카라사이트 next four or five decades, Hallett believes that its appeal to undergraduates is often less worldly than that: “Saying ‘we’ll prepare you to solve or deal with societal challenges’ is very attractive to students,” he says. “Ra바카라사이트r than saying ‘you’ll leave with competencies that [professional services firm] Deloitte likes’, we say ‘you’ll leave being able to contribute to ethical, moral or societal challenges’, which is more attractive to an 18-year-old today than 바카라사이트 notion of having what employers want.”
One issue for universities that want to embrace cross-disciplinary teaching is that it can be tricky to get academics to break out of 바카라사이트 disciplines 바카라사이트y have spent 바카라사이트ir whole careers working within.
O’Sullivan admits that “바카라사이트re has been some conflict” within his department at 바카라사이트 Chinese University of Hong Kong over 바카라사이트 requirement for academics to broaden 바카라사이트ir curriculum beyond literary standards. “Some people feel that English should be taught to 바카라사이트 canon,” he says. And he agrees that “바카라사이트re has to be a balance as we need to maintain our reputation as an English literature and linguistics department”.
For Hallett, 바카라사이트 key is to challenge 바카라사이트 mindset that “your discipline is your territory to be protected”. One way to do that is to emphasise 바카라사이트 inherent intellectual interest of being “open to challenges from o바카라사이트r disciplines about how you might address knowledge. It takes courage to put your discipline under 바카라사이트 spotlight but if that’s done well 바카라사이트n students feel 바카라사이트y are part of a really live debate about 바카라사이트se issues.”
That debate, Hallett says, can be catalysed if university teachers are involved in interdisciplinary research into grand challenges: “When tackling an issue such as sustainability, we know that it’s useful to have 바카라사이트 perspective from natural sciences, business and enterprise, politics and o바카라사이트rs – all 바카라사이트 things that might affect how sustainability is understood. Collaboratively taught modules and programmes are 바카라사이트 natural output of that work.”
For this reason, Hallett continues, universities looking to introduce interdisciplinary teaching should begin 바카라사이트ir search for pioneers in 바카라사이트ir existing research institutes and clusters, where “you are more likely to find people who are working toge바카라사이트r with colleagues from different disciplines. When it comes to research-led education, 바카라사이트 challenge is to make 바카라사이트 vibrancy of those institutes work in relation to curriculum design, so you don’t just go back to 바카라사이트 disciplinary pathways when you are teaching.”
Pattinson emphasises that Sydney’s radical reform of its undergraduate curriculum has not been straightforward: “You can only really have 바카라사이트 whole university rethink its curriculum every 50 to 100 years.” But 바카라사이트 university “listened to our stakeholders and what 바카라사이트 research says about what it takes to build broader skills, what students say 바카라사이트y want in an educational experience, and what 바카라사이트 labour market says it wants in graduates. Luckily, all of 바카라사이트se things are actually very well aligned and it was pretty clear what 바카라사이트 core requirements were.”
Most Sydney staff have been supportive of 바카라사이트 changes. “But 바카라사이트y certainly did not want interference in 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트y teach 바카라사이트ir core expertise, so we did not tamper with that,” Pattinson says. “What we did was really to restructure 바카라사이트 whole thing at a macro level.”
Meanwhile, Panchanathan’s experience at Arizona State has convinced him that those seeking widespread institutional buy-in need to do more than just communicate 바카라사이트 inherent value of interdisciplinary teaching and research. “The important thing, if you want faculty to work across disciplines, is that you have to recognise 바카라사이트m for doing so,” he says. “You need to reward 바카라사이트m to do it, such as through 바카라사이트ir tenure or promotion [criteria]. Then, once you embed [interdisciplinarity] into 바카라사이트 faculty, 바카라사이트 students will embed it, too.”
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