Prior research has demonstrated the efficacy of general education coursework among American college students (Ball, 2012; Rosenzweig, 2009). Traditional models of general education programs are predicated on the understanding that exposure to a broad set of educational experiences creates well-rounded graduates (Roche, 2010). However, emerging research shows the importance of integrative learning experiences including general education programs (Lowenstein, 2015). These programs are just now at the initial stages of development and implementation at colleges and universities making it possible to study direct effects on student learning. What remains, however, is limited ways to measure such learning in emerging programs. One large, research university in a mid-Atlantic state provides opportunity to construct a measure of integrated learning. This study addressed the salient literature on general education in higher education today and then used quantitative methods and qualitative methods to investigate an empirically based measure of integrative learning. Findings revealed the continuous process of integrative learning from disciplinary knowledge to application to real world and established an initial framework for assessing students learning outcomes of integration. Finally, the research provided implications for researchers and practitioners to utilize the instrument and extend it to a wider range of students and academic programs. / Doctor of Philosophy / The general education framework has deep roots and is quintessential to American higher education (Ball, 2012; Rosenzweig, 2009). While general education models have evolved over time, traditional expectations are cultivating students with broad knowledge in courses that span a broad range of academic subjects (Roche, 2010). Recent research show that general education program has an impact on student development (Lowenstein, 2015). Emerging programs are beginning to shift the focus of general education from a menu-style curriculum to one that focuses on integrative learning. Currently, there is limited ways to measure and evaluate students' learning outcomes, particularly with complex learning concepts such as integration. This study was designed to develop a new measure of integrative learning. The study occurred at a large, research university in a mid-Atlantic state that implemented a novel general education program designed to focus on integrated learning in general education. The study first explored the existing literature on general education in higher education. Next, the study designed and tested a new instrument to measure integrative learning. Finally, the research provided implications for researchers and practitioners to utilize the survey. Further, it calls for additional research with different types of students across a broader range of institutions, and enhancements to the instrument that include new items to strengthen the measure.

Thesis (M.S. )--University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on July 17, 2008). Research advisor: Xin Zhang, Ph.D. Document formatted into pages (xv, 197 p. : ill.). Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-197).

<p>  </p> <p>The symbolic reference to being in the “beyond” captures how individuals occupying the hybrid space create identities and cultures that extend beyond the dominant pathways recognized in engineering. The fundamental understanding of the cultural theory suggests that hybridity emerges when two cultural identities overlap that were previously discrete. Scholarship focused on hybridity emerged from studies centered on racial, ethnic, and gender identity and has progressed to examine hybridity in learning environments. I draw on fundamental understandings of hybridity to examine how an interdisciplinary engineering program reflects a hybrid space. </p> <p>This dissertation employed an ethnographic case study approach to investigate the following overarching research question: How is the interdisciplinary engineering program characterized as a hybrid space? The corresponding research questions examine how the interdisciplinary engineering programs shape students’ identities, agency, and belonging and what considerations faculty make concerning students identity development, belonging, and agency in the classroom? This study involved the analysis of three streams of interview data and supporting evidence from site documents retrieved from participants and publicly available sources. </p> <p>This within-case analysis resulted in the emergence of four categories of hybrid spaces—a) structural, b) cultural, c) physical, and d) pedagogical. The structural category represents how the interdisciplinary engineering program reflects a hybrid space through its policies, people, and resources. The cultural category represents how the interdisciplinary engineering program reflects a hybrid culture through its core values. The physical category represents how the interdisciplinary engineering program reflects a hybrid space through students’ access and navigation across multiple curricular and co-curricular spaces. The pedagogical category is concerned with the opportunity structures present in the curricular spaces enabling students to author and negotiate their identity as interdisciplinary engineers. Most importantly, the pedagogical category illustrates how the structural, cultural, and physical categories coalesce. By understanding this interdisciplinary engineering program, these insights can provide transferable lessons to new and emerging programs. </p>

<p>Interdisciplinary education has been viewed as a way to give an edge to graduates in terms of developing creativity, innovation, ability to synthesize knowledge, and develop a range of professional skills (Haynes, 2017). However, the push towards interdisciplinarity as opposed to a disciplinary field is a challenge due to strong educational traditions, power dynamics, academic freedom, as well as the power faculty has to form their areas of research interest and disciplines (Ashby & Exter, 2019; Becher & Trowler, 2001; Klein, 2006). Likewise, the diversity of members of an interdisciplinary team can lead to negative forces that can only be overcome with open communication and understanding of both boundaries and ways to address them. This means that an interdisciplinary team may need to have a translator to help build common knowledge, facilitate engagement, and address tacit issues. Instructional designers have the potential to play a translator role. Rooted across the author’s three publications, the focus of this dissertation is to establish the vision for instructional designers getting a more proactive role on an interdisciplinary program design team (translator agency), where mediation of knowledge is needed across faculty to build a successful program. </p>