Since the pandemic, many faculty have noticed a decline in student engagement and motivation within their classrooms (Supiano, 2022). Further, the value of higher education is being challenged across the country (Carlson, 2024). Two approaches are offered below to help students reengage and find value in our courses and in their educational experience.
Explore interdisciplinary learning partnerships
As we know, the field of developmental psychology and adult development is, at its core, interdisciplinary. Leaning into this strength and building interdisciplinary connections with colleagues both in and outside of psychology can provide our students with fresh perspectives and experiences that may ignite their passion for a future career focused on adult development and aging.
Interdisciplinary learning is defined as the “capacity to integrate knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines or established areas of expertise to produce a cognitive advancement—such as explaining a phenomenon, solving a problem, or creating a product—in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means” (Boix Mansilla, Duraisingh, Wolfe, & Haynes, 2009, p. 337).
It is important to note that interdisciplinary learning is distinct from multidisciplinary learning. In multidisciplinary approaches, students are exposed to different disciplines, but each discipline stays within its own lane and is not integrated with the others. In contrast, an interdisciplinary approach provides students with opportunities to make connections between what they are learning from within each discipline and hopefully come away with a comprehensive whole that is larger than the sum of its individual parts.
An interdisciplinary approach is essential in preparing students for future careers in aging. These careers often require students to work with multidisciplinary teams from different backgrounds and specialties to achieve common goals. Creating interdisciplinary experiences in the classroom will allow students to discover the strengths and weaknesses of different disciplines, explore the relevance of their own discipline in novel contexts, uncover potential biases, both within themselves and within different disciplines, and come away with a broader understanding of a topic beyond what could have been achieved in their discipline alone. Further, these experiences are associated with a variety of positive academic outcomes (Bear & Skorton, 2019).
For example, I recently assembled a team of faculty from psychology, philosophy, respiratory therapy, and gerontology to address barriers to Advance Care Planning (ACP) in our respective classes. Together, we created an online module where our students could engage with faculty and students from different disciplines and explore this topic together in depth. In addition to their own disciplinary grounding, this unique experience provided students with multiple perspectives on a real challenge that is personally and professionally meaningful. This interdisciplinary approach could be adapted across a range of courses and disciplines to address important issues in adult development and aging in novel ways.
Enhance applied learning opportunities with community partners
Applied learning is defined as a pedagogical approach in which students are encouraged to apply what they have learned to real-world problems or settings (Ash & Clayton, 2009). Applied learning can take many forms both inside and outside of the classroom and can be used on its own or in addition to an interdisciplinary approach. For example, applied learning typically includes service learning, undergraduate research, and internships (AAC&U, 2024), but can also include projects and assignments in which students work together to solve a problem or address a need within their local community.
According to the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) applied learning experiences are considered high-impact practices (HIPs), ”based on evidence of significant educational benefits for students who participate in them—including and especially those from demographic groups historically underserved by higher education” (AAC&U, 2024). These experiences provide students with an opportunity to actively engage with course content in new ways and discover the purpose and value of their coursework.
Although applied learning is not novel, I have found that some tried and true assignments and projects could use a fresh and more targeted approach. One key recommendation is to create projects that address challenges that students can relate to and that will directly impact their local community in meaningful ways. This allows students to easily identify the purpose of their projects and find meaning in what they are doing. For example, within our interdisciplinary module, we asked our individual students to interview an adult over and under the age of 65. The interview questions were designed to elicit interviewees’ experiences with, understanding of, and perceived barriers to ACP and palliative care. Students then came together in interdisciplinary teams to synthesize their interview data and identify the barriers that emerged from their qualitative responses. Next, they created mentoring guides to directly address these observed barriers to ACP. These mentoring guides will be used among caregiver dyads at the local Senior Resource Center in our county. The caregiver program pairs a new caregiver with a current or former caregiver to support the new caregiver as they begin navigating their new role. Students reported really valuing this project because the experience was grounded in a real challenge (low rates of ACP in the US) and resulted in a final product that actually helped address the challenge directly (helping new caregivers start these difficult ACP conversations with their loved ones) in their local community. This approach could be modified to meet many different challenges faced within any local community.
In conclusion, finding new ways to engage students that focus on interdisciplinary learning and applied experiences may help reinvigorate both you and your students. Taking time to create projects that are grounded in purpose and meaning is worth the effort, is positively received by students, and has tangible real-world results.
References
American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U; 2024, September). Trending Topic: High Impact Practices. https://www.aacu.org/trending-topics/high-impact
Ash, S.L. & Clayton P.H. (2009). Generating, Deepening, and Documenting Learning: The Power of Critical Reflection in Applied Learning. Journal of Applied Learning in Higher Education, 1, 25-48.
Bear, A. & Skorton, D. (2019). The World Needs Students With Interdisciplinary Education. Issues in Science and Technology. https://issues.org/the-world-needs-students-with-interdisciplinary-education/
Boix Mansilla V., Duraisingh E.D., Wolfe C.R., & Haynes C. (2009). Targeted Assessment Rubric: An Empirically Grounded Rubric for Interdisciplinary Writing. The Journal of Higher Education, 80, 334-353.
Carlson, S. (2024). What’s Really Behind the View That Higher Ed Isn’t Worth It? The Chronical of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/whats-really-behind-the-view-that-higher-ed-isnt-worth-it
National Society for Experiential Education (2024, September). Eight Principles of Good Practice for All Experiential Learning. https://www.societyforee.org/
Supiano, B. (2022). Teaching: Solving the Student-Motivation Problem One Piece at a Time. The Chronical of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/teaching/2022-03-03
Acknowledgement: I would like to thank my interdisciplinary team members, Jamy Chulak, Elizabeth Fugate-Whitlock, Kirsten Kringle-Baer, and Tina Newsham, for coming along on this interdisciplinary applied learning adventure and creating such a meaningful experience for our students.