Page 47 - Interdisciplinary Studies 11-12 (2002)

INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES, GRADE 12, OPEN (IDC4O/IDP4O)
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– evaluate the effectiveness of the collabora- tive strategies they used in planning and implementing interdisciplinary products and activities (e.g., by identifying how well they sought inclusive solutions, shared goals and conflicts, structured discussions and decision-making, and tested and extended individual ideas).
Impacts
By the end of this course, students will:
– describe and critically analyse contempo- rary examples of interdisciplinary products and activities that apply innovative approaches and solutions to a variety of real-life situations around the world
(e.g., the use of robotics in industry and commerce, the development of e-learning opportunities for remote locations);
– describe and critically analyse the poten- tial cultural, economic, political, environ- mental, and technological impacts on present and future societies of interdisci- plinary endeavours related to the subjects or disciplines studied (e.g., the impact of the Bauhaus movement on modern archi- tecture, design, and the arts; of cybernetics on effective organizations; of alternative medicine on health-care systems);
– research, analyse, and describe, with partic- ular reference to each of the subjects or disciplines studied, the personal and social impacts of significant information-related inventions and developments (e.g., move- able type, radio, television, communica- tions satellites, the Internet);
– 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 impacts of emerg- ing information technologies (e.g., the effect of technology on student learning
and schooling, the impact of automation in the workplace, the limits of innovation in information technologies).
Personal and Career Development
By the end of this course, students will:
– demonstrate an understanding of selected interdisciplinary texts related to each of the subjects or disciplines studied and present an analysis of their reading preferences
and needs, using a variety of strategies (e.g., collaborative inquiry, classification of types of texts, identification of significant authors and titles in specific genres);
– analyse their personal information skills (e.g., their ability to cope with information overload, to follow appropriate safety and privacy procedures, to synthesize findings from a variety of sources) and identify those skills that require development if they are to achieve success in interdiscipli- nary studies;
– research the importance of effective collaborative and communication skills (e.g., team building in new entrepreneur- ial ventures; joint presentations to govern- ment for new arts facilities by architects, urban planners, and social agencies) in interdisciplinary careers related to the sub- jects and disciplines under study;
– identify postsecondary training require- ments for and potential employment opportunities in interdisciplinary fields related to the subjects or disciplines under study, using various methods (e.g., using job-search strategies on the Internet, analysing descriptions of projects in peri- odical sources, identifying the background and qualifications of leading practitioners) and create a personal inventory of required interdisciplinary skills for each.