Page 39 - Interdisciplinary Studies 11-12 (2002)

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES, GRADE 12, UNIVERSITY PREPARATION (IDC4U/IDP4U) 37
Impacts
By the end of this course, students will:
– describe and critically analyse historical and contemporary examples of interdisci- plinary products and activities that apply innovative approaches and solutions to a variety of real-life situations around the world (e.g., the artistic, social, and literary contributions of the Arts and Crafts movement; the development and regula- tion of gene mapping and therapy; the international coordination of crime pre- vention and criminal justice networks);
– describe and critically analyse the contri- butions to society of leading practitioners who have engaged in interdisciplinary endeavours related to the subjects or disci- plines studied and describe the potential impact of their work on future society (e.g., David Suzuki, biologist; Buckminster Fuller, futurist; Margaret Mead, anthropol- ogist; Douglas Cardinal, architect);
– research, analyse, and describe the personal and social impacts of the information- related work of famous individuals
(e.g., Charles Babbage, designer of the first computer; Ada Lovelace, writer of the first computer program; Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone and photo- phone; Melvil Dewey, creator of the Dewey Decimal Classification System; Conrad Zuse, inventor of the first pro- grammable digital computer; Tim Berner- Lees, inventor of the World Wide Web) and assess their contributions to the sub- jects or disciplines studied;
– plan, conduct, and present independent, interdisciplinary research, with particular reference to each of the subjects or disci- plines studied, on the potential social, political, and economic impact of emerg- ing information technologies (e.g., the
impact of technology on academic free- dom, the effectiveness of literacy programs around the world, the impact of gene mapping).
Personal and Career Development
By the end of this course, students will:
– demonstrate an understanding of signifi- cant interdisciplinary texts related to each of the subjects or disciplines studied and present personal reading plans that iden- tify, classify, and describe texts appropriate for further study;
– compare their personal information skills with those of leading practitioners in the subjects or disciplines studied (e.g., their ability to organize data from a variety of sources, to analyse an author’s suppositions and premises, or to choose appropriate technology for particular purposes) and identify those skills that require develop- ment if they are to achieve success in interdisciplinary studies;
– research the importance of effective col- laborative and communication skills in interdisciplinary careers related to the sub- jects or disciplines under study (e.g., in the validation and publication of scholarship in sociobiology, in the electronic sharing of data in paleopathology);
– identify postsecondary training require- ments for and potential employment opportunities in interdisciplinary fields related to the subjects or disciplines under study (e.g., by searching trade
and professional publications, consulting university calendars, or inviting guest speakers to class) and describe possible future trends and opportunities (e.g., by researching economic forecasts and futur- ist speculations).