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Is Interdisciplinary studies the future of higher education?

Jamie R. Edgin
Bachelor of Professional Studies IDS
OL 4963 Organizational Leadership Capstone
Jennifer Enderlin, Senior Instructor
November 19th, 2023
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As I began researching my topic, I quickly realized that there is limited information on

my specific degree. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Professional Studies with a

concentration of Interdisciplinary Studies degree from Arkansas Tech University. I chose this

concentration because I did not want to commit to a single area of study. I wanted something that

could build upon my previous AAS in occupational therapy assistant degree. My plans include

obtaining a master’s degree therefore I wanted a degree I could utilize for entry into multiple

different master’s programs.

My topic for research is finding evidence of the possibility that interdisciplinary studies

could be the future of higher education. My research question is as follows; Is Interdisciplinary

studies the future of higher education? The field of interdisciplinary studies is not a new concept,

so why was locating empirical evidence so difficult?

To answer my research question, I must first define the interdisciplinary learning

approach in higher education. Interdisciplinary studies include a multifaceted pathway to

developing skills in multiple different disciplines. My current degree track allows me to utilize

classes from my associates of applied science in occupational therapy assistant degree toward my

BPS. I have taken the knowledge gained from the OTA program and built upon that with my

recent classes that focus on professional development and organizational leadership.

During my research I noticed a lack of a clear definition of interdisciplinary studies as it

relates to my degree. The various articles seem to broaden the term to a concept too far off from

my concept of IDS. I found myself more confused the more I read. There is one thing that all the
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research had in common and that is a strong implication for the need for more research on the

topic.

I think that interdisciplinary studies are an excellent way for non-traditional students,

such as myself, to balance working, families, and higher education. Instead of focusing on one

specific area of expertise, an IDS concentration allows students to gain a larger tool bag of skills.

I feel that I will qualify for a multitude of different careers once I graduate. I also feel that IDS

concentration allows me to be more well rounded in my studies as I have learned

interdisciplinary thinking. Spelt et al. (2009) suggests a proper balance between knowledge and

skills development, repeated exposure, and scaffolding appears to be required to enable

interdisciplinary thinking.”

In today’s world people have immediate access to a wealth of information. With this comes

the need to mentally process the information and utilize it correctly. Unfortunately, the ability to

complete this responsibility requires guidance and practice. In higher education any student that

intends to graduate with a degree will have to first complete pre-requisite courses. These courses

are designed to provide the student with a foundation of skills necessary to perform in advanced

or specialty courses. (Howell, 2023) Just as a teenager needs to learn how to fact check

information presented on social media, a college student needs to acquire a foundation of general

knowledge. This allows them the ability to process and successfully utilize the information for

their learning potential.

Pre-requisite courses are responsible for providing learners with opportunities to learn

basic concepts and principles as well as how to apply those concepts when appropriate. Core

classes are presented in primary and secondary education and serve to complete a general

education curriculum. These classes are examples of multidisciplinary classes. In

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interdisciplinary studies a student is focusing on a specific area such as professional development

in my case, however, they are not narrowed down to one specific area of professional

development. Spelt et al. (2009) implicates “interdisciplinary thinking is defined as the capacity

to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways

that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered

as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills.”

In my opinion interdisciplinary studies is an excellent concentration area for students to

utilize for their undergraduate degree. This way they acquire the “interdisciplinary thinking”

which allows them to gain useful knowledge they can apply to their lifelong learning journey.

Each article concludes with a strong implication for the need of more research on the topic. I

have to agree that there is a lack of information and research related to the topic.
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References

Bowling, A. (2021, December 8). What is interdisciplinary studies?. UC News.

https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2021/12/what-is-interdisciplinary-studies.html

Bowling (2021) suggests

(Bowling, 2021)

Corbacho, A. M., Minini, L., Pereyra, M., González-Fernández, A. E., Echániz, R., Repetto, L.,
Cruz, P., Fernández-Damonte, V., Lorieto, A., & Basile, M. (2021). Interdisciplinary
higher education with a focus on academic motivation and teamwork diversity.
International Journal of Educational Research Open, 2, 100062.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2021.100062

Cornacho et al. (2021) suggests..

Howell, A. (2023, August 17). The importance of prerequisite classes: Maximizing your college
journey. SouthErn Staru Sabda. https://southernstarusabda.org/the-importance-of-
prerequisite-classes-maximizing-your-college-journey/

(Howell, 2023)

Oudenampsen, J., Blijlevens, N., & Das, E. (2023). Interdisciplinary education affects student
learning: A focus group study. BMC Medical Education, 23.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04103-9

Oudenampsen et al. (2023)

Okamura, K. (2019). Interdisciplinarity revisited: Evidence for research impact and dynamism.
Palgrave Communications, 5(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0352-4

Okamura (2019) suggested

(Okamura, 2019)

Spelt, E. J., Biemans, H. J., Tobi, H., Luning, P. A., & Mulder, M. (2009). Teaching and learning
in interdisciplinary higher education: A systematic review. Educational Psychology
Review, 21(4), 1–378. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-009-9113-z
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Spelt et al. (2009)