INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES IN THE HUMANITIES (IRANIAN JOURNAL OF CULTURAL RESEARCH)
Year:2010 | Volume:2 | Issue:4 (8)|Papers Count:8

Ever increasing focus on interdisciplinary curricula in higher education is a sign of existing challenges which seriously criticize subject-oriented curricula. Globalization is the major player of this challenging field. Globalization has implications to the curriculum filed-except the paper's view- which the implications come from students accelerating and increasing access to academic documents through lets. Alongside being the world work market and new jobs and careers, taking new responsibilities, students call for new competencies to play their own roles as global, national and local citizens. Traditional curricula do not provide such opportunities. In line with this view, internationalization of higher education as a process is a strategy to reaction against the challenges which have rooted from globalization. This strategy is suggested and preferred by higher education experts and some world class and progressive universities. This paper will briefly review the concept of globalization and internalization through its characteristics, and also will focus on globalizing and internationalizing of higher education curricula. Major part of the paper will stress on evidences and reasons for moving toward globalizing of higher education curricula on basis of global infrastructures and perspectives. Finally, the idea is that global citizenship competency-oriented curricula in higher education will respond to competencies of today world phenomenon and the rapid changes of the world.

In general, all of the definitions of interdisciplinary curriculum include:(A combination of subjects, An emphasis on projects, Sources that go beyond textbooks, Relationships among concepts, Thematic units as organizing principles, Flexible schedules, Flexible student groupings). The interdisciplinary study is a reflection of the real world, students become more interested and motivated in their learning. The ability to make connections, to solve problems by looking at multiple perspectives, and to incorporate information from different fields, will be an essential ingredient for success in the future. The aim of this paper was to present the process of developing a model for interdisciplinary across the curriculum. To develop an interdisciplinary curriculum, a district needs an action plan. The plan's four phases: conducting internal and external action research, developing a proposal, implementing and monitoring a pilot unit, and adopting the program, can be accomplished over a three-year period.

The theoretical basis of interdisciplinary curriculum is found in progressive educational philosophy. The progressive movement is an approach to learning that places great emphasis on creativity, active learning, "naturalistic" learning, real world outcomes, and experience. The other more recent theoretical basis for interdisciplinary curriculum is found in constructivism theory. Constructivism is a theory of learning that states that each person must construct his or her own reality. The constructivism principle states that experience is the key to meaningful learning, not someone else's experience abstracted and condensed into textbook form, but it is based on one's own direct experience. In the interdisciplinary curriculum, the debates about themes or content development will refuse any disciplinary classification. The content will define on exist problems and this problem must to have a bases in reality. The essential and real problems of life will be a basic that must to use not only in design of curriculum bout also in the process of teaching. In the other hand, the curriculum has core elements that have not correct structure without them. In this article, we try to reviewing the literature of interdisciplinary curriculum in higher education and in other section, we will determine core element of higher education interdisciplinary curriculum and practical guideline to design an interdisciplinary curriculum.

Review and study how and type of planning system of higher education, is considered constant and serious. According to the needs and circumstances, a variety of ideas, over time, have raised. In this article, interdisciplinary approach including it's concepts, applications, conditions, requirements and challenges by using of theoretical and analytic method has been studied. Results have indicated that the wide range of conceptual approaches, multiple levels and requirements. Despite of being numerous problems and complexity, it could be used in higher education, an one effective approach, among or beside others, to address the new requirements and needs.

Academic disciplines are like tribes, each of which has its own unique terrain, boundaries, norms and culture. Assuming this, Becher describes the culture of different academic disciplines. He believes that pure sciences are culturally competitive, politically well-organized, own high rate of publication and are task- oriented. On the other hand, applied social sciences are utilitarian, power- based, scientifically functional, culturally exogenous, situationally vague, aim to promote behaviors, and have low rate of publication. Based on this assumption, this study aims to explore the norms which affect two groups of M.A students in selecting their research supervisor, one group from an interdisciplinary field (Education) and the other from a pure field (Mathematics). The study was conducted within the qualitative framework, using phenomenological method. Semi-structured interviews were the main tools for gathering data. To acquire the needed data, 16 Education M.A students and 9 Mathematics M.A students from a renowned Tehran university were selected using purposeful sampling method. The results show that Education M.A students consider the following criteria when selectinga research supervisor: professors' behavioral traits, professors' status, academic criteria, non-academic criteria, possible support, and limitations. On the other side, Mathematics MA students consider some other different criteria when selecting a research supervisor as follow: research supervision style, professors' scientific qualities, professors' personality characteristics, non-academic criteria, limitations. A comparative exploration of the results within Gestaltian framework indicates that Mathematics MA students are influenced more by figure (academic dimensions of dissertation) when selecting their supervisor, while Education MA students are impacted by ground (expediency and relations) when choosing their supervisor.

The purpose of this study was to examine the notion of evaluation of interdisciplinary courses. To this end, relevant literature and theoretical framework was reviewed. The paper specifically focused on assessment and measurement of learning activities in interdisciplinary courses. The main question addressed here was what the major criteria are for assessment of assignment in interdisciplinary courses. Given the Interdisciplinary significance of the notion of "interdisciplinary understanding ". this paper mainly Studies in the Humanities focused on elaborating on this concept. therefore, interdisciplinary understanding 21 was presented at four levels including: naive interdisciplinary understanding, novice interdisciplinary understanding, apprentice interdisciplinary understanding and Abstract master interdisciplinary understanding. Further, four dimensions of interdisciplinary understanding including: purposefulness, disciplinary grounding, integration and critical awareness were discussed. Finally, the matrix of assessment of interdisciplinary assignment was developed on the basis of its levels and dimensions.

Methodology of interdisciplinary social sciences has been evolved during the time and has been faced with fundamental challenges; in the beginning, it has experienced positivistic paradigm and quantitative approach in understanding social phenomena and later recognized that this approach is not appropriate for understanding all aspects of social phenomenon. So, inspired by interpretive, has been focused on qualitative methods and turned his attention from the outer layers to the inner layers of social reality. Along with strengthening qualitative approaches, a considerable intellectual divide between qualitative and quantitative researchers. This divide, emerging primarily as confrontation later as collaboration, helped raising the third wave of methodology; mixed methods based on pragmatism. Mixed methodologist and interdisciplinary researchers intended to make something new and without a special emphasis, integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches for better understanding of social phenomena. Using documentary method, this paper introduces the basic concepts of mixed methodology.