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Multi/Interdiciplinary Approach

Introduction

The Philippine Professional Standard for Teacher (PPST) emphaizes that the teaching of
any concepts must be relevant to the lives of the learners. In order to make this a reality in the
classroom, teacher must demonstrate content knowledge within and across discipline. The must
engage students to activities which will help them develop the 21st Century Skills as empahsized
in the K to 12 Curriculum in general and Science Curriculun in particular. This is to make
learners realize that the concepts taught to them are very relevant to their daily activities. For this
fact that they will also realize that they will understand and explain the phenomenon around
them. This particular emphasis is also one of the hallmark of teaching Science and Mathematics.
This is described as multidiciplinary/interdisciplianry approach to teaching Science and
Mathematics.

Multidisciplnary and interdisciplinary approaches are two different approaches with

distinct characteristics of its own. Many authors have different deonotative and connotative
description of this two approaches. However, most often than not, these terms are often used
interchangeably in describing an actual classroom practice. The delineation between the two is
very narrow that when someone made talk about multidiscplinary teaching approach, he/she
describe the apporach using both the characteristics of multidisciplinary and interdisciplianry
aproaches. As such in this lesson although we are going to differentiate the two but we will focus
on the the synergy of the two.

Objectives

a. Differentiate multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary approach to teaching

Science and Mathematics;

b. Explain multi/interdisciplinary approach in teaching Science and

Mathematics;

c. Determine the instructional characteristic of multi/interdisciplinary

approach in teaching Science and Mathematics;

d. Enumerate the advantages of multi/interdisciplinary approach in teaching

Science and Mathematics;

e. Draft a learning plan with Multi/Interdisciplinary Approach in Teaching

Science and Mathematics.

Focus Questions

a. How do multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches differ?

b. Why Teach Science and Mathematics with an Multi/Interdisciplinary
Approach?
c. What are the instructional characteristics of multi/interdisciplinary approach
in teaching Science and Mathematics?
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d. How do we make learning with multi/interdisciplinary approach?

Concept Development

A. Multi Disciplinary Approach

A multidisciplinary approach is a comprehensive" method that focuses primarily

on the different disciplines and the diverse perspectives they bring to illustrate a topic,
theme, or issue. It is a very powerful method of teaching that crosses the boundaries of
discipline or curriculum to enhance the scope and depth of learning. Each discipline
sheds light on the topic like the facets of a gem. Teachers who use this approach organize
standards from the disciplines around a theme. Figure 2 shows the relationship between
different subjects to each other and a common theme.

For example, reducing the CO2 emissions from a car can be achieved by
studying: how to develop fuel chemistry, how to improve car engine performance, what
might be the effect of carbon dioxide reduction to the economy, the envorioment and the
community.

Figure 1. Multidisciplinary

B. Interdisciplinary Approach

The interdisciplinary approach is an integrative method, or set of methods, used to

teach across curricular disciplines or "the bringing together of separate disciplines to
examine a theme, issue, question or topic (Shown in Figure 3). It is often associated with
or a component of several other instructional approaches. In this approach to integration,
teachers organize the curriculum around common learnings across disciplines. They
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chunk together the common learnings embedded in the disciplines to emphasize

interdisciplinary skills and concepts. The disciplines are identifiable but push beyond by
taking insights from a variety of relevant disciplines, synthesizing their contribution to
understanding, and then integrating these ideas into a more complete, and hopefully
coherent, framework of analysis. Thus, acquiring a deep and thorough understanding of
complex issues and challenges students to synthesize what each of the disciplines offers
before attempting to design efforts to resolve noted concerns.

For example, the local river system central theme, the English teacher would link
it to Language Arts by studying river vocabulary and teaching students how to do a
research report. The science teacher might teach children about the river ecosystem, and
the Social Studies teacher might help students research the local history and peoples who
used the river for food and transport.

Figure 2. Interdisciplinary

C. Multi/Interdisciplinary Approach

Multi/interdisciplinary apporach is one of the major approaches from which K to

12 Science and Mathematics Curricula are anchored from. Multi/interdisciplinary
apporach is being recognize for its advantages as its drive learners not only to understand
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scientific and mathematical concepts but also the relevance of these concepts in their
lives. Enganging students to activities wherein knowledge learned from one area are
being applied to explained a certain phenomenon lead to a meanigful learning. The
apporach will give learners the opportunity to develop and further enahnce 21st Century
skills which are expected from them to learn and master. It also helps learners applied
learning from within and across disciplines which enhances renttention and applciation.

Situation or phenonmenon in the physical world doesn’t happen in isolation and

cannot just be explained by concepts learn from one discipline but rather necessitate the
learning from other discipline to digest the problem and simplify it and find solution to it.
The recognition of the complexity of the problems give importance on the understanding
of the learners of various disciplinary concepts. In a multi/interdiscplinary perspective,
various disciplines (subjects) are now tools to be used in order to understand, explain and
solve scientific and mathematical problems. For example, the teaching of the concept
climate change cannot be explained by a single science discipline. In order for the
concept to be easily understood an learners have better understading and appreaction,
various disciplines in science (such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc) and other
disciplines (Mathematics, economy, sociology, politics, etc) are necessary. Another
example us the construction of a house. Concepts from geoemtry is necessary to construct
a house but is not enough. Knowledge from Physics, economy, geology, and other areas
are necessary to complete build the house. Thus, multi/interdisciplinary apporach
empowers students to explore different perspectives and views.

Physics
Meteorolog Math
y

Chemistry Geology

Climate
Biology Change
Biology

Sociology Economics
Politics

Figure 3. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Approach for Climate Change

The quality of multi/interdisciplinary teaching approach to science and

matehmatics depends on the teachers. As emphasize in the PPST, teachers need to
develop and demostrate understanding of a specific concept from various perspective and
notice a meaningful pattern of information. Science and Mathematics teachers’ primary
role in a multi/interdisciplinary instruction is to help students explore natural phenomena
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and real-world problems, which are complex and cannot be understood and resolved from
a single discipline perspective. This will lead to various benefits for the learners and the
teachers. One of which is the development of higher-order thinking (freedom of inquiry,
critical thinking, deductive reasoning, reasoning by analogy, and synthetic thinking to
name few) for the students and the easy achievement of the learning goals for the
teachers. The multi/interdisciplinary teaching provide learners a more meaningful
learning experience which enables learners to understand the big picture of a given
concept or problem with knowledge from multiple science disciplines.

D. Characteristics of Multi/Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Science and

Mathematics.

1. Learners are given several perspectives for a situation.

2. Learners gain several opinions (as learner came from different disciplinal
backgrounds) that help explore problem at all possible angles.
3. Learners are given equal opportunity to discuss their different viewpoints.
4. Learners ae given the chance to communicate to handle the most difficult situations
easily.
5. Learners have equal opportunity to makes a viable contribution with his skill and
knowledge, and all this shared knowledge inspires them to go beyond their limitations
and find better solutions.
6. Learners have an avenue to inspire and motivate everyone so that they become much
better.
7. Learners can create an atmosphere where each one of them understand and become
considerate
8. Learners are encouraged to innovate.
9. Learners have clear understanding of the goals to leave no room for confusion.
10. Learners are encourages for cost-effective completion of projects.

E. Why Teach with an Multi/Interdisciplinary Approach?

1. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Increases Student Learning

2. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Helps Students Uncover Preconceptions or
Recognize Bias.
3. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Helps Advance Critical Thinking and Cognitive
Development
4. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Helps Students Tolerate or Embrace Ambiguity
5. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Helps Students Appreciate Ethical Dimensions of
Concerns
6. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Promotes Significant Learning
7. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching Promotes Understanding when Students Learn in
Heterogeneous Ways
8. The World is Multi/Interdisciplinary
9. Multi/Interdisciplinary Teaching is Not Too Costly and It's Rewarding

F. How to Make Your Classroom Multi/Interdisciplinary?

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1. Pre-Instructional Planning - Prior planning establishes the topics to be examined in

an interdisciplinary manner, and allows the educator to acquire the requisite
knowledge, and to develop an action plan--codified in a set of notes that may include
open ended questions--to guide the classroom experience.
2. Introduce the Methodology to Students - Explain to students the nature of
interdisciplinary, rather than discipline based learning. Impress upon them the
importance of integrating insights and approaches from multiple disciplines to form a
framework of analysis that will lead to a rich understanding of complex questions.
Make clear that you will be modeling how to approach an issue in an interdisciplinary
manner, and that ultimately they will be asked to master this skill. Allay student fears
by noting they will be given assignments that help them reach this objective by
practicing approaching topics as interdisciplinary investigators.
3. Take it to the Classroom - Model how to explore questions from an interdisciplinary
perspective. Repko and Welch (2005), leading figures in the movement to promote
interdisciplinary education, identify 9-steps to follow to engage students in an
interdisciplinary exploration
4. Practice Interdisciplinary Thinking - Students practicing interdisciplinary thinking by
reenacting what they observe in the classroom is an effective way to acquire this
higher order cognitive skill. Students can be assigned the task of rethinking an issue
discussed in a discipline based manner in class by bringing another discipline to bear
and then attempting to synthesize and integrate their analysis.
5. Provide Feedback - Extension and interdisciplinary position papers should be
evaluated regularly using a rubric. The aim should be to provide the students with
feedback on their ability to understand and delineate the underlying structure and
analytical framework of other relevant disciplines (multidisciplinary thinking) and to
produce an integrated analysis (interdisciplinary thinking).

6. Assessment - Students should engage in self evaluation periodically by rating their

ability to: set out the structure of multiple disciplines that are well suited to the
problem of interests, synthesize insights from multiple disciplines, and integrate
ideas across disciplines. This information will allow them to gauge their progress,
identify challenging areas, to seek help, and set goals for improvement.

G. Sample Learning Activity

Content The learners demonstrate understanding of motion in terms of distance and time
Performance Unkwon (based on the Science CG)
Standard
Competency describe the motion of an object by tracing and measuring its change in position
(distance travelled) over a period of time (M4ME-IIIh-49 )
Objectives 1. Describe speed of an object;
2. Determine the speed of an object through measurement of distance
travelled and the time of travel;
3. Solve problems about speed of an object;
4. Reflect on the importance of road road signs;
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Area/Skill: Science, Science-describe and calculate the speed of an object

Mathematics, Mathematics-calculate the speed of the object
Measurement-measure the distance travelled by the object and the time of travel
Problem solving, Problem solving-solve problems on involving speed
Reading, Writing, Reading-reading roads signs
Social Studies, Writing-write a reflection letter
Policy/Laws, Social studies-social effects and safety implication of road signs
Communication Policy/Laws-familiarity of the roads and the road safety laws and policies
Communication-communicate the meaning of the different roads signs.
Activity Teacher
1. Ask the pupils how fast can they go the canteen.
2. Then, group them intro groups with four or five members.
3. Let them do the activity, “How fast I can be?”

Activity 1: How fast I can be?

Procedure:
1. Ask the group to measure the distance between the classroom and the
canteen.
2. Each member of the group will walk from the classroom to the canteen.
3. Record the time of travel of each member.
Analysis:
1. Who is the fastest member of the group?
2. Who is the slowest member?
3. Why do you say he/she is the fastest and the slowest?
4. What factor/s to consider in order to determine the speed of an object?
5. How do you describe speed of an object?

Teacher
1. Ask the pupils to solve the word problem involving speed.

Activity 2: Speed Problem

1. The tricycle travels the distance of 4000m from PNU to the bus terminal. It
takes 15 min to reach the terminal. What is the speed of the tricycle?
2. Jimmy travels a distance of 15km in 55min from his home to school while
Johnny travels 5.5km from his home to school in 15 minutes. Who is faster
between the two? Why do you say so? Provide proof.

Teacher
1. Post different road signs on the board, such as:

2. Ask students what does it mean.

Activity 3: The Road Signs and Its Implication

1. Students will determine the meaning of the different road signs (given by
the teacher).
2. Write reflection about the safety implications of the different road signs.
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Exercises and Learning Activities

 Select a competency from either Elementary Mathematics or Elementary

Science. Then make an Interdisciplinary Learning Activity

Assessment/Evaluation

1. How do you describe the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach?

2. How do you use multi/interdisciplinary approach in teaching Math and
Science?
3. Describe a classroom wherein multi/interdisciplinary approach is evident.
4. Why we teach Math and Science with an multi/interdisciplinary approach?

Assignments/Related Readings

Read “Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Futures

Education” (https://jfsdigital.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/144-S05.pdf ). Then,
write your insight (4 to 10 sentences).