Table of Contents
Week 1: January 22
(Re)Introducing Ourselves
Class Time
- Introductions
- About this Course:
- Activity: Revisiting and Mapping our IDS Majors
- Activity:
- ePort: (Re)Introduction
Assignments: Due 1/29
- Survey: Please fill out the quick survey on Canvas ASAP. This is to help me make sure I have names, interests, etc., and it will help me plan future weeks.
- ePort: Dust off your ePort and Reintroduce yourself! Tell us about how your IDS program has gone. Tell us what you plan to do after graduating. Tell us what you did this summer. Just tell us something! SUBMIT ON CANVAS.
- Optional reading: To get a sense of why ePorts are important, read “For the Love of God, Make Your Own Website” by Gita Jackson (Aftermath, 2024) or review our old IDS favorite, “The Web We Need to Give Students” by Audrey Watters (2021).
- Read & Reflect: Read “Interdisciplinary education affects student learning: a focus group study” from BMC Medical Education, 2023. As you read, think about a few things:
- How does this article resonates with your own experience as an interdisciplinary scholar at PSU and in IDS?
- How do you read this article — sentence by sentence? Do you skip sections? How? Why?
- What is confusing about this article? Dig into that confusion, try to identify where it comes from. What’s the challenge for you: context, vocabulary, personal interest…? Are there things you can do to make yourself a better reader of this article?
- Activity: Complete the Skills Inventory (Word doc to download) and come to class prepared to talk about your results. (Alternate link to PDF for Skills Inventory.)
- Action Project: Begin thinking about your project and working on your proposal!
Week 2: January 29
Focus on Major Class Work: Action Project, Writing Portfolio, ePort
Class Time
- Review: Reading and Skills Inventory
- Research Activity: Reading academic scholarship in various disciplines.
- Discuss & Plan: Action Projects brainstorming continued.
- ePort Work Time:
- Action Project Proposal Page
- Action Project Category
- Writing Portfolio Category
- Research Toolkit Page/Category
- Skills & Abilities Page
Assignments: Due 2/5
- ePort: Continue working on your ePort pages. Work on organizing and structuring your site.
- Read & Reflect:
- Read “Career Readiness: Competencies for a Career-Ready Workforce” from the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE). Think about your work on the skills inventory. How ready do you feel for life after PSU? (Don’t be scared! You’ve got this!)
- Read “Digitalization and the American Workforce” and reflect upon what the trends in digital technology mean for your future career goals. Do you know much about the technologies that you might need to master for your career? Do you feel prepared for the technology challenges that you may face in your career?
- How do the two readings connect to each other? Write a brief ePort post about this. Submit the link on Canvas.
- Action Project: Continue working on your AP proposal!
Week 3: February 5
Your major, field, career goals ... and technology
Class Time
- Discussion & Activity:
- Takeaways from two articles.
- Rapid Research activity, (building your Research Toolkit)
- Group Feedback: Discuss your action project ideas
- Work Time: Action Project Proposal
- ePort Work time: Themes & Design
Assignments: Due 2/19
- Read & Reflect:
- “Never Forgive Them” by Edward Zitron
- “Data and Justice: An Introductory Lesson” by Jacob Pleasants
- Reflect on these readings. Did they surprise you? Confuse you? Interest you? How might you connect them to technology in your major/field/career?
- ePort: Write a post about technology in your major/field/career. What kind of technology do you think you’ll need to be comfortable with in your future? What technology do you feel adept with from your time at PSU? What do you need to learn more about? You may need to do some research, or you may use your experience. It’s up to you. (Also: define “technology” however you want. A pencil is technology, after all!)
- Action Project: Complete your proposal and post to your ePort. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
Ski Day
Week 4: February 19
Research and Scholarship
Class Time
- Discussion & Activity: Academic writing in your field(s)
- Writing Portfolio: Review & discuss first writing assignment
- Check-Ins: Meet with Matt about your project proposal
- ePort Work Time: Organization & Structure
Assignments: Due 2/26
- ePort: Locate an article in an academic journal that interests you. Read it and write an ePort post about it that gives us a summary of the article and then reflects on why it interests you and what you learned from reading it.
Resources:
- Watch, Read, & Reflect:
- Watch the video Interdisciplinarity
- Read the excerpt “The Defining Elements of a Discipline” from Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies (Repko, Szostak, Buchberger; 2017) on Canvas.
- Think about how the video and the excerpt resonate with your own experience as an IDS major. Come to class next week prepared to discuss:
- Do you feel like your major has been more of a fruit salad or a fruit smoothie?
- Can you identify the content, method, and epistemologies of the various disciplines you combined in your program?
- What new kinds of knowledge do you think you’ve built for yourself through the combining of different disciplines?
- Have you been able to “practice” the combining of your disciplines in your coursework before now?
- Do you ever feel like your disciplines “contradict” each other? How do you navigate or reconcile those contradictions?
- What unexpected viewpoints has your IDS major offered you?
- Action Project: Work on your project!
- Writing Portfolio: First Draft of Research Summary. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
Week 5: February 26
Interdisciplinarity and your Major
Class Time
- Discussion & Activity: Interdisciplinarity in your major
- Takeaways from reading
- Mapping our Disciplines Activity
- “Building” our IDS Major Activity
- Writing Portfolio: Review & discuss second writing assignment: IDS Topical Essay
- Work Time: ePort, Project updates, writing
Assignments: Due 3/5
- ePort: Post about today’s readings and at least one of the activities we completed in class this week. How can you strengthen your understanding of the relationship among the different fields in your IDS major? What do you need to learn more about or understand more deeply? SUBMIT ON CANVAS
- Read & Reflection:
- Choose and read one of these articles about the impact of AI on jobs/the workforce (Canvas login required)
- Action Project: Post your first project update to your ePort. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
- Writing Portfolio: First Draft of IDS Topical Essay SUBMIT ON CANVAS
Week 6: March 5
TBA
Class Time
Discussion & Activity
- TBA
Writing Portfolio: Review & discuss third writing assignment: Your Choice
Work Time: ePort, writing, project
Assignments: Due 3/12
- Six Week Self-Evaluation: Complete this short form to reflect upon your work in the class so far.
- ePort Post: Free choice! Write about something that interests you! SUBMIT ON CANVAS
- Action Project:
- Work on your project!
- Sign-up for a check-in meeting
- Writing Portfolio: First Draft of Your Choice piece. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
Week 7: March 12
No In-Person Class
Class Time -- NO IN PERSON CLASS THIS WEEK
Assignments: Due 3/26
- Virtual Writing Workshop: Matt will post instructions for this in Canvas
- Writing Portfolio: Final(ish) Draft of Research Summary. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
- Action Project: Keep working and schedule a check-in meeting with Matt before next class.
Spring Break
Week 8: March 26
TBA
Class Time
TBA
Check-in on Deadlines & Work
Assignments: Due 4/2
- Assignment Catch-Up: Check Canvas to make sure you’re not missing any assignments.
- Action Project:
- Schedule your check-in with Matt if you haven’t already.
- Keep working!
Week 9: April 2
No In-Person Class
Assignments: Due 4/9
- Project:
- Keep working!
- Second Project Update post on ePort. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
- Come to class next week prepared to share your project progress
- Writing Portfolio: Final(ish) version of IDS Topical Essay. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
Week 10: April 9
Class Time
- Project Update Presentations
- Peer Editing Exercise
- Writing and ePort Time
Assignments: Due 4/16
- Project & Portfolio: Keep working!
Week 11: April 16
Class Time
TBA
Assignments: Due 4/23
- Project:
- Keep working! Projects are due next week!
- Writing Portfolio: Final(ish) version of Your Choice assignment. SUBMIT ON CANVAS
Week 12: April 23
Class Time
- Discussion & Activity:
Assignments: Due 4/30
Project: Final Action Project DUE! Come to class prepared to share about it!
Writing Portfolio: Work on polishing up your portfolio. Start bringing everything together, doing more revisions, and making it what you want it to be.
Week 13: April 30
Class Time
TBD
Assignments:
Final Week: Exam & End of Semester Celebration
Class Time
TBD