Interdisciplinary Research in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (1987) / Chapter Skim
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3 EXPERIENCE WITH INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
3 EXPERIENCE WITH INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Pages 34-56
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From page 34... ...
0 Although fiche curriculum improvement program never exceeded $20 million per year in size arid generally represented around 10 percent of the total NSF science education budge t9 it was responsible for the development of nationally recognized reform curricula in ~aa~chematics and science for all levels of precollege education The character! sties of these curricula 9 their effects on students, and their impact on education are still being analyzed today.
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From page 35... ...
`mior high school and elementary school were undertaken. For example, the Elementary School Science Study in~rol~red cognitive scientists, physicists, biologists, chemists, mathematicians, engineers, a philosopher of science, and educational researchers, as well as the mix of institutional affiliations and professions represented in the high school pro]
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From page 36... ...
brought together mathematicians, paychometricians, and educational researchers and provided the training ground for many of the most prominent researchers in mathematics education today. A somewhat different approach to interdisciplinary work was taken by Robert Karplus, who became as recog" nized for his knowledge and application of Bruner'n And Piaget's work in cognitive science as he was for physics research.
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From page 37... ...
Particularly at the elementary level 9 however, i~plemen~cation issues - ° the training of teachers and the maintenance of kits and materials for hands-on experiments -- were not successfully addressed. What can one learn from the experience of the curric ulna projects of the l950s and 1960s about interdisciplinary research and development?
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From page 38... ...
In 1965, for example, when space arid mili~cary funding was still easy to ob~cais~, several of us began a switch from -~pace efforts to work with New York's newly elected mayors John Lindsay9 as we Cried to apply our backgrounds to urban problem. Today9 there seeom deco note to be no comparable social and ethical forces on the 40°year~old engineer becoming bored with more and more abstract theory in his/her field.
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From page 39... ...
Management and Resources NSF used a direct management style that emphasized the recruitment of outstanding people for the curriculum improvement projects and the expectation that highquality curricula would be produced. Thy internal management of the projects was similarly result oriented.
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From page 40... ...
A system that nuns at an annual expenditure of some ho hundred billion dollars per year cannot be repaired for anything but a reasonable percentage of that amount. So before you ~cacicle ache problems of incentive, collaboration, or institutional prided you D'USt know where fading stands -- the available pattern, its management, its robustness and oh@ soundness or frailty of planning for coomitted expenditures .
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From page 41... ...
coming back and persisting in the effort. Undoubtedly, the initial irwolvement was sparked by money, but then people recognized the tremendous intellectual challenge in the work of taking a piece of mathematics and teaching it effectively to precollege students while keeping ache mathe matics honed This turned out to be as coup as research in mathematics per se....
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From page 42... ...
, I won't hold it against youO" The situation Iasy be somewhat improved now; there are institutions of higher education that give recognition to Junior faculty for activities other tears research, e . g., the quality of their teach ing' echoic involvement in faculty and campus affairs, contributions to precollege education.
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From page 43... ...
For the most part, educational researchers and administrators were not involved. Henry Pollak: Essentially, there was no collaborative work involving other disciplines as far as the high school courses were concerned.
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From page 44... ...
Glenn Seaborg: No collaborative work with people from other disciplines was involved, because ache top priority was to re£orm the high-school chemistry course O However9 from the begirming ~ceaciaer-~ were full partners in the projec~c9 their role was critical in keeping the universi~cy chemists in touch with the reality of the classroom and ensuring that the materials were teachable. Also, chemistry faculty from smaller colleges -- institutions that concentrate on teaching rather than research~°were involved, especially in institutes and other teacher training activities.
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From page 45... ...
Today, of course, there is the added frontier of the use of computers in instruction and in interfacing in the laboratory. Gerald Holton: The Project Physics Course products may have been one of the chief models of "collaborative work," involving from the beginning scientists, educators on school and college levels, educational researchers, editors , historians of science, philosophers of science, graphic artists ~ filmmakers, laboratory equipment designers, reading specialists, etc.
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From page 46... ...
Furthermore, current management styles and the funding exigencies characteristic of the relevant federal agencies probably preclude the style of project that produced ache reform curricula of ache 1960s ~ Given these factors, adaptations or new social inventions are needed for conducting interdisciplinary research that focus on current priorities; deal with ache managerial and fiscal constraints of the 1980s; take advantage of advances in the social and behavioral sciences relevant to improving mathematics, sciences and techs~c~logy educations particularly the work on teaching and learning in these fields 9 Assad structure participation of teacher administrators, and other practitioners in a fashion that will alleviate the difficulties of imples~enting educational improvements. Of particular concern in this connection is the paucity of courses that represen~c effective subjec~c°natter preparation for either preservice or in~sezvice teachers°°a high priority for s~ul~cidisciplinary research and developo~ent.
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From page 47... ...
These same factors also characterized the curricula projects of the 1960so Research involving several scientific and engineering disciplines in cooperative work is the aim of the National Materials Program, created in 1960 with the establishment of interdisciplinary Laboratories O By 1969, more than 600 faculty members and 2,400 graduate students were participating in materials research in the 12 laboratories, and several thousand research papers were being produced each year. The original method of funding the laboratories through block grants to universities rather than through grants to individual investigators had the goal of stimulating interdisciplinary administration of funds and delegation of authority to local institutions (Schwartz, 1985~.
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From page 48... ...
flexible boundaries Tong units so as deco promote eross~disciplinary team formation and allow for rewards for interdisciplinary activity, careful bounding of the problem before research begins in order deco control the scope of the study, and communication among researchers from different fields and some waders~canding of the interrelationships of the disciplines involved Scientific research in health and medicine is another area that frequently calls for interdisciplinary investigations, including collaboration between physicians and scien~cists. The National Institute of General Medical Services (NIGHS)
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From page 49... ...
Another postdoctoral program is oriented toward new M.Do~ to provide them with experience in the methodology and conduct of clinical research on the effects of drug actions in humans, involving Icnowledge and techniques in such areas as pharmacology, biochemistry, physiology, and analytical methodology. In fiscal l9B5, the predoctoral program supported 840 trainees in about 40 universities at a cost of more than $5 million for stipends alone - - a substantial federal commitment to training in interdisciplinary research.
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From page 50... ...
In a realistic attempt to Sect various specialties in Joint effort, all these kinds of differences must be taken into account organizationally O ~e presence of difference and dis~cance does not have deco lead to problems, provided the work has been appropriately organized. Organizing Diversity Wha~c to do with the differences?
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From page 51... ...
This option is often used in development involving design of a number of complex elements: coordination takes place at the overall planning level rather than among individual task forces. Under such circumstances, however, successful integration requires fairly tight specification of each task and an attendant loss of flexibility.
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From page 52... ...
Perhaps more important, they also may fear loss of opportunity to enhance their career Stan and level of prestige°-a very real opportunity cost for academic researchers at the beginning and Addle of their careers. At the same time, persons of lower rank may be reluctant to effacer into collaboration with Chose of higher rank because they are intimidated by them O Once a Joint effort has begun, anxiety over the potential and actual risks involved may be expressed through outward agreement with the aims of collaboration accompanied by covert resistance, particularly by lowerstatus participants.
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From page 53... ...
. These conditions must be taken into account in plans to improve science, mathematics, and technology education, but they do not make interdisciplinary research impossible.
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From page 54... ...
~ second critical aspect of fostering interdisciplinary research is the funding agency' s mechanics' for reviewing proposals O Care must be exercised to draw reviewers from ~ wide enough spectrum of expertise so that the proposed activities can be Judged from the several perspectives to be represented in ache work. Since in~cerdisciplismry work, by definition ~crangresses the bounds of traditional organization the review process DIUSt, while redefining its rigor9 also undo - BIBS nontraditio~1 mixes of expertise appropiately Latched to the sponsor's goals and program characteristics O The need for care applies not only to he review of proposals: judgment of work in progress as well as of completed projects also requires selection of reviewers who understand the complexities and special requirements of interdisciplinary work.
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From page 55... ...
The current academic reward system based on peer review tends to lead toward narrow specialization in the choice and management of research, which continually disadvantages individuals interested in worlting across boundaries. In that respect, an analogous problem in Judging interdisciplinary work arises for a host institution as for a potential sponsor.
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From page 56... ...
The two predominant fores of organization of interdict ciplinary trams are project organization and matrix organization. A matrix organization is common to missionoriented research (Low, 1983)
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