Abstract
Interdisciplinarity refers to the process of addressing a topic or problem from the angle of different disciplines or sciences, not just one. Typically, those who promote interdisciplinarity argue that the complexity of modern societies demands an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. This claim has gained traction in the field of Product Design in recent years, with some scholars and commentators arguing that technological, social, and economic changes have made the process to develop new products more collaborative. At the same time, however, there is a sense that universities focus on training specialists, and that there is a need for new pedagogies. Interdisciplinarity, however, can be understood—and implemented—in different ways. Should students be trained in a wide range of subjects? Or so that they can function in an interdisciplinary team? Different views can result in substantially different educational experiences and sets of skills. This chapter outlines some aspects of the process to facilitate interdisciplinarity in a course involving product design and engineering students.
TopIntroduction
As Boisot (1972) points out, definitions of interdisciplinarity are often either based on disciplinary perspectives or personal experience (p89). Therefore, in order to develop a proper understanding of interdisciplinarity, it is first of all necessary to develop an understanding of the discipline. That however, as it will be hopefully shown, is a more challenging question that may appear at first. From the different definitions given in the literature for example, it is impossible to determine if a discipline and a science are the same, or if one is a pre-requisite for the other (Apostel, 1972, p. 148).
Note on terminology: As it will be shown later, in general, we can say that there is not a ‘black and white,’ clear division between what is interdisciplinarity and what is not. Instead there are different levels of disciplinary integration that different people/scholars call different names.
What Is a Discipline?
In its most general form, Marcel Boisot (1972), says that a discipline is concerned with objects, methods, procedures, and laws. In this case, objects refer to observable elements that constitute a phenomena. Thus, the aim of a discipline, is the explanation of such phenomena.
Leo Apostel (1972) on the other hand, treats sciences and disciplines as the same, and argues that a science, is in fact the product of a group of people, who engage in certain actions, leading to certain interactions, which are only possible by means of communications aimed primarily to the practitioners of the science themselves but also to the outside world. Apostel claims that a necessary requisite for a science to exists, is that it can be reproduced from one generation to another through education (p146). In Apostel’s conception, neither disciplines nor sciences do ‘exist,’ per-se. What exists, is just persons and groups of persons doing the same activities. Then the question is; what is the maximum level of difference in the activities practiced by two persons, which would still permit to say that they are practicing the same discipline?
Verhagen (1972) on the other hand, extends the concept of the discipline outside the scientific world, and says that in general, different trades or professions are characterized by the problem they try to solve, the products they create, and the techniques they employ. Moreover, highlights that in this conception, systematic scientific study is not a characteristic a discipline. Thus, a differentiation could be made between disciplines, and scientific disciplines (Verhagen, 1984, p. 95). In the modern University, the fields of study known as physics, chemistry, sociology, economy, etc. are what constitute different disciplines, each of which is hosted in a department or faculty.
Disciplinarity
Heckhausen (1972), defined disciplinarity as the specialised scientific exploration of a given homogeneous subject matter producing new knowledge and making obsolete old knowledge (p89). He adds that disciplinary activities, result in constant reformulations of the body of knowledge of the discipline.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Informal Learning: Term used to refer to all the learning that occurs outside formal education or schooling. It can be intentional or not; such as when something is learnt without expecting it, and/or self-driven or not; as when something is learnt purposefully but without the help of any tutor or formal study guide.
UKPFS: Refers to the United Kingdom’s Professional Standards Framework. It is a scheme developed to describe the competences and values expected of University teachers. It consists of four levels of descriptors (corresponding to different roles in higher education), and three dimensions of practice (areas of activity, core knowledge and professional values) expected at each level. The scheme is in principle voluntary; however, most universities are requiring that their lecturers complete a qualification to ensure they meet the standards.
“T-Shaped” Person/“T-Shaped” Skills: Metaphor used to refer to the idea of a person who is neither a specialist, nor a generalist in a given discipline or profession, but who’s training is some sort of mid-point between the two. The metaphor comes from the fact that the vertical bar in the “T” represents depth of knowledge/competence in a particular field or profession, while the horizontal represents knowledge of different disciplines or professions. The term has been used at least since the 1980s when consulting company McKinsey & Co. used it for recruiting. More recently it has been popularized in the Design scene after being used by famed CEO of IDEO Tim Brown.
Design for Manufacture: Also known as Design for Manufacture and Assembly, refers to the best practice of designing products while taking into consideration their manufacturability. Depending on the specific discipline, its implementation varies, but the overarching principles remain the same.
Transdisciplinarity: Within the context of Interdisciplinary scholarship, it generally refers to one of the most advanced forms of integration of the different disciplines, and in which a completely new perspective resulting from the merging of different disciplines emerges.
Team-Teaching: Approach to classroom instruction involving several teachers over a single group of students. The group of teachers can get together to do any or all of the following as a team: set goals, design the syllabus, prepare lesson plans, teach students, and do evaluations. Ideally members of the team can have the same disciplinary background, as in the case of a large class requiring multiple teachers to handle individual or smaller groups of students, or come from different disciplines, as those cases in which it is necessary to cover interdisciplinary content in the same course.
Monodisciplinarity: In the context of interdisciplinarity scholarship, it refers to the approach to problem-solving from the perspective of a single academic discipline.
Interdisciplinarity: In general, it refers to the combination of multiple disciplines in order to solve a problem or address a topic. interdisciplinarity however is an elusive concept, and the term is often used as synonym with Multidisciplinarity, Pluridisciplinarity, Crossdisciplinarity, and others. Moreover, there is no complete agreement about the specific level of disciplinary integration that distinguishes/defines interdisciplinarity.
21st Century Literacies: Sometimes also referred to as “New Literacies,” is the range of abilities and competencies that a person is believed will need to succeed in the 21st century. There is no definitive articulation of what these literacies are, however the National Council of Teachers of English for example, include the following: developing fluency with the tools of technology, building cross-cultural relationships with others to solve problems collaboratively while strengthening independent thought, designing for, and sharing information with, global communities for a variety of purposes, managing, analyzing, and synthetizing multiple streams of information, creating, criticizing, analyzing, and evaluating multimedia texts, attending the ethical responsibilities of the environment.
Product Design: Also referred to as Industrial Design, is a discipline concerned with giving form to products with the aim of providing the best value to consumers. This is done not just by determining the appearance of a product, but also its functions and mode of operation. Companies have grown increasingly aware about the importance of Product Design to gain a competitive edge. Well known contemporary product designers include Phillipe Stark, Karim Rashid, Jonathan Ives, and Yves Béhar.
Concurrent Engineering: Approach to new product development in which different activities/tasks are done at the same time, instead of one after the other (sequentially). It has the advantage of reducing lead-time. Multi-disciplinary teams work in parallel at the same time, developing different parts and features of each part of a product.