Crossing Interdisciplinary Boundaries: Impediments and Enablers to Faculty Collaboration and Integra

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Crossing Interdisciplinary Boundaries
Impediments and Enablers to Faculty Collaboration
and Integration
Eighth AAHE 2000 Conference on Faculty Roles and
Rewards New Orleans, LA, February 2000

• Frances S. Johnson, Anthony J. Marchese
• and Patricia Mosto

Rowan University 201 Mullica Hill Rd. Glassboro,
NJ 08028
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Crossing Interdisciplinary BoundariesImpediments
and Enablers

• The Punch Line
• Successful interdisciplinary efforts can and do
  exist
• without a wealth of institutional resources, or
• in spite of institutional resistance.
• How is this possible?
• Willingness to take risks
• Trust in your teammates and work toward a common
  goal
• Determination and commitment

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OverviewCrossing Interdisciplinary Boundaries ...

• Introduction
• Group Activity 1. Create your own
  interdisciplinary course.
• Case Study 1. Sophomore Engineering Clinic
• Group Activity 2. Campus Impediments and
  Enablers
• Case Study 2. Honors Environmental Ethics
• Group Activity 3. Personal Impediments and
  Enablers
• Closure and Questions

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Rowan University
Who we are...

• The comprehensive state university of Southern
  New Jersey.
• Located in Glassboro, NJ, founded in 1923.
• The Gift University renamed in honor of Henry
  and Betty Rowan after 100 million gift in 1992.
• Enrollment 6,150 full time and 3,200 part time
  students.
• Rowan University consists of six colleges
• Business
• Communication
• Education
• Engineering
• Fine and Performing Arts
• Liberal Arts and Sciences

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Rowan University
Interdisciplinary Efforts

• College of Communication and College of
  Engineering
• The Sophomore Engineering Clinic Jointly taught,
  the clinic teaches multidisciplinary engineering
  design principles with an extensive written and
  oral communication component.
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Honors Program Interdisciplinary courses offered
  to Honors students from various disciplines
  (Environmental Ethics, Community and Environment,
  etc.).
• Women Studies Interdisciplinary courses focusing
  on women issues, (Issues in Woman's Health, Women
  in Perspective).
• Liberal Studies Interdisciplinary courses within
  the Science and Math Track (Patterns of Nature,
  Ecology and Society).

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Group Activity 1
Create Your Own Interdisciplinary Course

• Step 1. Break into pairs and introduce yourself
  to your partner.
• Step 2. Quickly create an interdisciplinary
  course blending both of your disciplines.
• Course Title
• Catalog Description
• Step 3. Report to Group.

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Case Study 1
Sophomore Engineering Clinic

• The College of Engineering at Rowan includes
  departments of
• Chemical Engineering,
• Civil and Environmental Engineering,
• Electrical and Computer Engineering,
• Mechanical Engineering.
• Optimum size
• 25 to 30 students per year in each department,
• 100 to 120 students per year in the College.
• The Engineering Clinic
• The hallmark of the engineering program
• Taken each semester by every engineering student
• Based on the medical school model,
• Laboratory experiments, design projects and
  research.

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Case Study 1
Sophomore Engineering Clinic I

• Sophomore Engineering Clinic I
• Third course in the 8-semester engineering clinic
  sequence
• Taught jointly between Engineering and College
  Writing
• 4 Credits total 3 Communication 1 Engineering
  (in theory!)
• Two main goals of the Sophomore Engineering
  Clinic
• Produce creative engineering designers
• Produce effective engineering communicators
• Course Structure
• Semester long, multidisciplinary engineering
  design project
• Requires a series of communication deliverables
  in addition to development of engineering
  hardware.

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The Sophomore Engineering Clinic
Course Structure

• The two semester long design projects this term
  consisted of a choice between
• NASA Mars Mission
• Human Powered Stair Climber
• Written communication is integrated throughout
  the course.
• Specifically, students produce 7 written
  communication deliverables
• Letters of introduction
• Proposal of the research topic
• Technical process description (group)
• Annotated bibliography
• Research paper
• Client report (group)
• Executive summary (group)

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The Sophomore Engineering Clinic
Course Structure

• The projects are jointly evaluated by the faculty
  team (2 professors from Communication and 5 from
  Engineering).
• Final semester grades are jointly determined in
  the grading marathon.
• All assignments are jointly created by the team.
• The team meets on a regular basis to discuss
  classroom activities, problems, successes, and
  goals.
• Engineering professors sit-in and assist in
  presenting course information in the
  communication portion of the course.
• Faculty from Communication and Engineering
  produce conference papers, articles, and write
  grant proposals.

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Impediments
Sophomore Engineering Clinic

• Power of The Gift
• Lack of Ownership
• Decision to integrate was made from the top down.
• Engineering vs. Communication battles.
• Junior faculty left to pick up the pieces.
• University structure and reward system
• Stranger in a Strange Land
• Faculty assessment
• Student resistance

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Enablers
Sophomore Engineering Clinic

• Ownership
• Second time around
• Willingness to take risks
• Cooperation toward the big picture
• Willingness to change
• Dedicated effort
• Trust
• Recognition of faculty growth

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Group Activity 2
Campus Impediments and Enablers

• Step 1. Examine how your campus culture may
  affect the success of your course.
• Step 2. What are the enablers and impediments
  present on your campus?
• Step 3. What changes need to occur on your campus
  for your course to be successful?
• Step 4. Report to group.

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Case Study 2
Honors Environmental Ethics

• Interdisciplinary course that addressed
  environmental ethical issues including
• the relationships between individual, society and
  the natural environment
• the importance of common attitudes and prevailing
  world-views for responding to environmental
  challenges
• the need for changes in those attitudes and
  world-views
• Team taught by a philosopher and a biologist

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Case Study 2
Honors Environmental Ethics

• The course was designed along four axes
• world-views
• multi-perspective ethical frameworks
• environmental challenges and crises
• economic, political, religious, medical,
  aesthetic, and philosophical aspects of the
  topics under consideration

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Honors Environmental Ethics
Course Structure

• Seminar Format
• discussion of reading materials
• strong student participation
• Faculty Team Effort
• met every week prior to class
• learned from each others discipline
• developed a cohesive and well organized
  lecture/discussion class
• jointly attended all classes, guiding weekly
  discussions
• challenged students to think in an
  interdisciplinary way

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Honors Environmental Ethics
Course Results

• Student Assessment
• class participation in the discussion process,
• short weekly papers
• an extensive paper and oral presentation
• Faculty team jointly evaluated students work
• Students evaluations and both professors
  perceptions indicated that the course was a total
  success.

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Enablers
Honors Environmental Ethics

• Trust
• Team encouraged faculty disagreement within the
  classroom
• Different perspectives were respectfully
  challenged
• Students were able to express their own voices in
  a relaxed and cordial atmosphere
• multi-perspective views generated a deep learning
  community
• Faculty Commitment
• initial motivation of both teachers
• passion for the subject matter
• ownership
• Support from the Honors Program

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Impediments
Honors Environmental Ethics

• The load issue
• credit hours per faculty member
• placement of the course
• Faculty and course assessment
• Student resistance

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Group Activity 3
Personal Impediments and Enablers

• Step 1. Examine how your personal baggage
  (background, values, expectations, etc.) may
  affect the success of your course.
• Step 2. What are the personal enablers and
  impediments that each of you bring to your
  course?
• Step 3. What can each team member do make your
  course a success?
• Step 4. Report to group.

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Closure and Questions
Crossing Interdisciplinary Boundaries...

• Summary
• Campus enablers and impediments
• Personal enablers and impediments
• Successful interdisciplinary efforts can and do
  exist
• Risk
• Trust
• Determination and commitment
• Group Discussion
• http//engineering.rowan.edu/marchese