Repko, Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies 2e

Examination Questions for Chapter 8: Thinking

Critically About Disciplinary Insights

CHAPTER 8
Level 1: Remembering or recalling factual information

1. What is critical thinking?

a. Analysis and induction

b. Deduction and induction
c. Analysis and evaluation

Ans: C
Learning Objective: LO 1
Answer Location: Critical Thinking Attitudes
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

2. What is interdisciplinary critical thinking?

a. Interdisciplinary critical thinking includes critical thinking but also it requires

awareness of the limitations of expertise, self-awareness, intellectual courage, and respect
for different viewpoints.
b. Interdisciplinary critical thinking includes critical thinking but also it requires
awareness of sources, disciplinary adequacy, and metacognition.
c. Interdisciplinary critical thinking is the same as critical thinking.

Ans: A
Learning Objective: LO 1
Answer Location: Critical Thinking Attitudes
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Awareness of the limitations of expertise means that

a. you know that when something is published in a peer reviewed journal or

book, the author must be completely all knowing and free from bias.
b. you know that just because something is published in a peer reviewed journal
or book, the author is neither all knowing nor free from bias

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c. you know that when something is published in a peer reviewed journal or

book, the author must be interdisciplinary.

Ans: B
Learning Objective: LO 1
Answer Location: Critical Thinking Attitudes
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Self awareness

a. means you are aware of the views you have on complex problems.
b. means you are aware of the disciplines you know about.
c. means you are aware of your own biases and you treat all arguments with the
same degree of skepticism.

Ans: C
Learning Objective: LO 1
Answer Location: Critical Thinking Attitudes
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

5. When you challenge your own beliefs and worldview

a. it can lead to uncertainly and takes intellectual courage.

b. you should remember your convictions and stick to them.
c. you should ask your friend what she thinks and go with that.

Ans: A
Learning Objective: LO 1
Answer Location: Critical Thinking Attitudes
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

6. When someone completely disagrees with your point of view on something

a. You should just walk away and remember never to discuss this topic with her
or him again.

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b. You should incorporate their ideas into your worldview.

c. You should recognize there is probably a kernel of truth in what she or he is
saying, and recognize this as an opportunity to identify common ground.

Ans: C
Learning Objective: LO 1
Answer Location: Critical Thinking Attitudes
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

7. There are 4 key questions you should ask when reading disciplinary work.
Name 3 of them:

1.

2.

3.

Ans:
1. What Are the Author’s Conclusions?
2. What Are the Supporting Arguments?
3. What Assumptions Does the Author Make (and Are These Justified)?
4. What Evidence Does the Author Marshal?

Learning Objective: LO 2
Answer Location: Categories of Statements
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

8. A disciplinary insight is
a. A conclusion or conclusions in a work—both main conclusions and
supporting arguments.
b. An opinion.
c. A conclusion but not its supporting arguments.

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Ans: A
Learning Objective: LO 2
Answer Location: What Are the Supporting Arguments?
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

9. There are set of 4 critical thinking questions you should ask of every scholarly
work that you read. In addition there are 6 types of statements used in disciplinary
work. Name 4 of them.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Ans:

1. Statements of motivation.
2. Statements of belief.
3. Guiding questions.
4. Definitions of key concepts.
5. Statements of evidence or information.
6. Implications.

Learning Objective: LO 2
Answer Location: Other Types of Statements You Will Encounter
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Are there differences between disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to

critical reading and thinking?

a. Yes
b. No they are the same

Ans: A
Learning Objective: LO 2

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Answer Location: A Distinctive Approach to Critically Analyzing Disciplinary Insights

Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

Level 2: Understanding key concepts and theories

11. One advantage that an interdisciplinary reader has over a disciplinary

colleague is that

a. the interdisciplinary reader can compare and contrast insights generated by

different disciplines.
b. the interdisciplinary reader can use the insights of one discipline to critique
the insights of another.
c. both “a” and “b” are correct.

Ans: C
Learning Objective: LO 2
Answer Location: A Distinctive Approach to Critically Analyzing Disciplinary Insights
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

12. If you find yourself confronted by a disciplinary insight that is unclear,

you should

a. Find another insight.

b. Ask yourself why there is a lack of clarity in the insight.
c. Try to figure it out. A muddy understanding is better than nothing.

Ans: B
Learning Objective: LO 2
Answer Location: How to Find What You Need in Disciplinary Insights
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

13. One of the most common problems with disciplinary insights is that they
contain jargon that makes the insight unclear. In this case, it might be helpful to

a. Make a guess based on what the word means in everyday speech

b. use a dictionary
c. look the word up in a key reference work of that discipline

Ans: C

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Learning Objective: LO 3
Answer Location: Why Interrogate Disciplinary Perspectives (or Practice Critical Pluralism)
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Interdisciplinarians stress the importance of breadth of vision, broad

context, and systemic thinking. By contrast, disciplinarians

a. emphasize the need to have a deep understanding of a particular subject

matter, which we have called “disciplinary reductionism
b. emphasize the need to have a deep understanding of a particular subject,
which we have called “disciplinary adequacy”
c. emphasize the need to publish in disciplinary journals.

Ans: A
Learning Objective: LO 3
Answer Location: How to Find What You Need in Disciplinary Insights
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

Level 3: Applying concepts to specific situations that are hypothetical or real world

15. An economist calculates the potential burglar’s costs and benefits. The
benefits are the money the burglar can receive by selling what he steals. The costs
are the probability of being caught multiplied by the penalty imposed for burglary.
The economist calculates the penalty that needs to be imposed in order for the costs
to exceed the benefits and thus crime to be deterred.

We can make the following statements about this disciplinary insight

a. The insight uses effective evidence to support the assumptions.

b. This insight on crime is an incomplete assessment of the complex topic of
crime of burglary.
c. Both “a” and “b” are correct.

Ans: B
Learning Objective: LO 3
Answer Location: Examples of Applying an Interdisciplinary Approach to Critically
Analyzing Disciplinary Insights
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

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16. Why does mapping interdisciplinary connections help when conducting

research?

a. It helps map relationships among phenomena.

b. It clarifies which relationships among phenomena many be the most
important.
c. It identifies which set of relationships a particular work addresses.
d. “a”, “b”, and “c” are correct.

Ans: D
Learning Objective: LO 4
Answer Location: Mapping Interdisciplinary Connections
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Interdisciplinarians contribute to the evolution of new fields by

a. Evaluating disciplines.
b. Making connections between disciplines in tackling problems that no one field
of discipline is capable of addressing
c. Suggesting synergies between disciplines that may lead to the evolution of
interdisciplinary fields.
d. “b” and “c” are correct.

Ans: D
Learning Objective: LO 3
Answer Location: Mapping Interdisciplinary Connections
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Which of the following statements on interdisciplinarity are accurate?

a. It encourages making connections between otherwise isolated disciplines

b. It addresses conflicts where disciplines overlap
c. It may identify relationships or even phenomena that deserve to be studied in
greater detail than they are by disciplines
d. None of the statements is accurate.
e. All of the statements are accurate.

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Ans: E
Learning Objective: LO 5
Answer Location: What Mapping the Scholarly Enterprise Reveals
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

20. If after mapping the phenomenon associated with a complex problem to

reveal its disciplinary parts you see that two of the disciplines disagree on an
aspect of your complex problem, you should

a. Choose another problem.

b. Ask yourself whether the disciplines are actually studying different aspects of
the phenomenon.
c. Attempt to reconcile the conflicting points of view.

Ans: B
Learning Objective: LO 5
Answer Location: Mapping Interdisciplinary Connections
Question Type: MC
Difficulty Level: Easy

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