Developing Integrative Thinking in Undergraduate Students through an Interdisciplinary General Education Course on Mental Illness

Abstract

Because interdisciplinary thinking is critical to address complex issues, we created and evaluated an interdisciplinary team-taught undergraduate course on mental illness using the kaleidoscope approach. After grounding students in biology, psychology and sociology, we aimed to develop students’ abilities to think interdisciplinarily and cultivate their appreciation of the importance of integration. We found that guided integration practice enhanced students’ interdisciplinary abilities, whereas repeated application of these skills emphasized their importance. Future interdisciplinary courses should intertwine both types of experiences to increase the likelihood students develop integration abilities and choose to apply them to solve complex problems facing our world.

Keywords:

• Interdisciplinary approach
• integration ability
• importance of integration
• kaleidoscope approach
• team-taught
• mental illness
• indirect vs. direct assessment

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and our respective departments for their support of this interdisciplinary teaching endeavor. We would also like to thank the students who engaged in this course with us. Initial development of this course was supported by a 2015 Instructional Development Grant from the Butler University Holcomb Awards Committee.