EDIM 508 u03a1 Theory of Knowledge

Share a classroom strategy (e.g., project, activity) that incorporates the use of digital resources in an interdisciplinary approach. Share a classroom strategy (e.g., project, activity) that incorporates the use of digital resources in an interdisciplinary approach.

Wow was one of the first words that came to mind after I read the focus of this week’s blog. I felt this task was daunting to begin with and was even more daunting as I read Gardner’s chapter on the synthesizing mind. I had thought that an interdisciplinary approach could mean students researching the topic of water. In their science classes students could test pH levels, hardness and salinity. In their English classes students could create poems about the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. In their geography classes students could look at the current demand for clean drinking water across the globe. Then all the students could get together for a potluck dinner and share their results. Interdisciplinary approach achieved, or so I had thought. “But these endeavors do not involve disciplines in any legitimate sense of that term. If no single discipline is being applied, then clearly interdisciplinary thinking cannot be at work” (Gardner, 2006, p. 55).

Gardner concludes his chapter with this comment:
“Yet, given the import of the issues that require interdisciplinary work, much effort will be devoted in coming years to nurturing of the interdisciplinary mind and to the delineation of experiences at school or the workplace that at least convey the power of interdisciplinary thinking. The Theory of Knowledge course, offered during the final year of the International Baccalaureate (IB), represents one promising effort in this regard” (p. 73).

I am lucky to have been an IB teacher for the past twelve years or so. I really do think that the Theory of Knowledge course that all students have to take when they are involved in this diploma program is a true test of students developing a synthesizing, creative, respective and ethical mind.

The course offers students and their teachers the opportunity to:

• reflect critically on diverse ways of knowing and on areas of knowledge.
• consider the role and nature of knowledge in their own culture, in the cultures of others and in the wider world.

In addition, it prompts students to:

• be aware of themselves as thinkers, encouraging them to become more acquainted with the complexity of knowledge.
• recognize the need to act responsibly in an increasingly interconnected but uncertain world (IBO, 2009).

The Theory of Knowledge course is outlined in the diagram below. The course focuses on students being the knower and them becoming familiar with the ways of knowing and how this knowing is connected to the six different areas of knowledge.

One activity I presently use could easily be transformed into an activity that makes use of digital resources. In this activity students have to choose one of six different graphical representations of the growth of scientific knowledge. They have to defend their choice and also be able to explain why the other choices were not chosen. Traditionally I have gotten students to make oral presentations of their choice and have held a class discussion after each presentation. To incorporate digital resources students could create and develop a two-minute video in the style of a 60 Minutes news report where they create brief scenes that would correspond to the different parts of their chosen graph. Or they could easy create a media-infused PowerPoint presentation where they include still photos of various stages in the growth of scientific knowledge.

During the development of their arguments, the discussion of the growth of scientific thought soon connects with major events in history and literature. For example, did a decline in scientific knowledge occur during the Dark Ages? What role did the bloom of religion play in the growth of scientific though? If WWII did not happen would the growth in scientific thought been as great? What perspective should be used when viewing the graph – a Western, Middle Eastern or Asian one? What timeframe does each graph represent? These questions give evidence that this activity is truly an interdisciplinary one.

References

Gardner, H. (2006). Five minds for the future. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

International Baccalaureate Organization. (2009). Diploma programme curriculum, core requirements. Retrieved June 30, 2009 from http://www.ibo.org/diploma/curriculum/core/knowledge/