How do students see the connections among undergraduate courses?
1. How do students see the connections
among undergraduate courses?
Using concept mapping to make
interdisciplinarity visible
Paulo Correia, Camila Cicuto & Joana Aguiar
Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
3. Interdisciplinarity
Real-world problems in classroom: Why?
Professional skills
• Complex scenarios must be addressed by teams
• “The right answer” is replaced by “the best choice”
• Holistic view enriches the specific professional knowledge
4. Interdisciplinarity
Real-world problems in classroom: When?
Curricular planning
• Formally program interdisciplinary experiences
• Academics have an active role as planners
• Students are submitted to the planned curriculum
5. Interdisciplinarity
Real-world problems in classroom: How? [1]
Epistemological challenge
• Amount of information (disciplinary fields)
Communicational challenge
• Productive collaborative work (synergy)
6. Interdisciplinarity
Real-world problems in classroom: How? [2]
Instructional planning
• Methods must avoid cognitive overload
• Information processing is limited by our working memory
• Cognitive resources must be available to build &
automatize schemas
9. Novakian Cmaps
Visible information represented into a propositional
framework [1]
• Initial Concept Linking Phrase Final Concept
• Interdisciplinary ??? Higher Education (HE)
• Interdisciplinary is critical to improve HE
• Interdisciplinary is not critical to improve HE
• Interdisciplinary may be critical to improve HE
10. Novakian Cmaps
Visible information represented into a propositional
framework [2]
• Several uses in higher education to improve teaching and
learning
11. Novakian Cmaps
Visible information represented into a propositional
framework [3]
• Pedagogic resonance: the degree of mismatch between
teacher’s expert knowledge and students’ learning
12. Novakian Cmaps
Team work
• Externalization, elicitation & consensus building
• Conceptual relationships visible to all, all the time
13. Novakian Cmaps
Hierarchical reductionism
• Complex systems described using a hierarchy of
organisations, each of which is only described in terms of
(few) objects (concepts) one level down in the hierarchy.
Dawkins, R. (1996). The blind watchmaker: Why the evidence of evolution
reveals a universe without design . New York: Norton
14. Novakian Cmaps
Hyperlinked Cmaps
• Complex systems represented by a set of Cmaps
• Vertical links between Cmaps in different hierarchical
levels
• Horizontal links between Cmaps at the same hierarchical
level
• Addition of any digital resources attached to Cmaps
18. Settings
School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (USP)
Basic Cycle courses (n=6): concurrent courses
• NS: Natural Sciences (1st/SCI)
• DTIA: Data Treatment and Information Analysis (1st/SCI)
• SMR: Society, Multiculturalism and Rights (1st/HUM)
• PECI: Psych, Education and Contemporary Issues (2nd/HUM)
• SEC: Society, Environment and Citizenship (2nd/HUM)
• BACL: Brazilian Art, Culture and Literature (2nd/HUM)
19. Settings
School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (USP)
Basic Cycle courses (n=6): same culture courses
• NS: Natural Sciences (1st/SCI)
• DTIA: Data Treatment and Information Analysis (1st/SCI)
• SMR: Society, Multiculturalism and Rights (1st/HUM)
• PECI: Psych, Education and Contemporary Issues (2nd/HUM)
• SEC: Society, Environment and Citizenship (2nd/HUM)
• BACL: Brazilian Art, Culture and Literature (2nd/HUM)
20. Case study
First-year higher-education students (n=52)
• Three groups (16-18 students)
• Three sets of linked Cmaps (n=7)
Vertical
Links
Horizontal
Links
30. Classroom procedure
Hyperlinked Cmaps + hierarchical reductionism
allowed students to
• Deal with lots of information
• Increase group synergy
Activities for interdisciplinary purposes must be
• Included in curriculum
• Structured to reduce cognitive load & foster team work
31. Students’ perception
Only DTIA was disconnected from Basic Cycle courses
• Specific content involving statistics
Concurrent effect
• Courses offered simultaneously presented 4x more links
Culture effect
• Courses from the same knowledge area presented 2x
more links
32. Future research
Check students’ perception after the Basic Cycle
• Students at the beginning vs end of curriculum
Compare perceptions about the Basic Cycle
• Academics’ expectations vs students’ perception
• Visible information makes possible the pedagogic
resonance for planning the curriculum
• Inputs from students’ perception are valuable
information to curriculum planners