In an effort to include small interdisciplinary offerings, the Multidisciplinary Learning and Team Teaching (MLTT) committee is expanding its request for proposals to include courses that accommodate 20-25 students.
The courses must represent a crossing of traditional disciplinary boundaries and be sustainable after the initial support period, as well as align with the long-term priorities of the units involved, says committee chair Ben van der Pluijm, professor of geology and of the environment, and senior counselor to the provost.
“To this point our focus in promoting cross disciplinary learning and teaching activities has been on new degree programs and courses that involve large numbers of undergraduates. In this next round the committee wishes to include the development of smaller undergraduate courses at all levels, from introductory classes to capstone experiences,” van der Pluijm says.
“The rapidly growing campus interest in interdisciplinary learning, both among our students and faculty, ensures the sustainability of these offerings, especially when they align with the long-term goals of the units involved.”
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The Office of the Provost, in cooperation with the committee, invites proposals from instructors representing two or more disciplinary areas in departments, schools or colleges. Proposals are due Dec. 12. The RFP and award criteria can be found at www.provost.umich.edu/programs/MLTT/rfp/.
One of President Mary Sue Coleman’s four initiatives for the University announced in 2005, the MLTT Initiative was allocated $2.5 million over a five-year period for the development of new courses and programs. To date the initiative has supported five courses and two programs that already affect many hundreds of students each term.
This fall an informatics program led by Paul Conway, associate professor of information, School of Information, is underway. The LSA, College of Engineering and School of Information joint offering focuses on the daily lives of people as they relate to technology and information systems.
Another offering that begins this semester, Applied Complex Systems, is led by Scott Page, professor of political science and of economics, LSA, research professor, Center for Political Studies, Institute for Social Research, and adjunct professor of business, Stephen M. Ross School of Business. The program is built around the concept that many of the biggest challenges facing the modern world — such as, global warming, sustainability, epidemics, terrorism, and impacts of technology and globalization — are complex and require multiple perspectives to solve.
Courses funded in the most recent cycle are Gender and Health Policy, led by Anjel Vahratian, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Medical School, and assistant professor of women’s studies, LSA, and Xiao Xu, research investigator of obstetrics and gynecology, Medical School, and assistant research scientist of health management and policy, School of Public Health, in partnership with LSA and Creative Process, sponsored by the four North Campus Deans through the Arts on Earth program. Both offerings are available in Winter 2009.
As part of continuous outcomes and impact evaluation, the MLTT committee supports the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) to promote ongoing assessment among the funded courses.
“We learn a great deal as we partner with the faculty who teach these multidisciplinary courses, by researching the student learning in both the short run and the long run,” says Crisca Bierwert, associate director of CRLT.
A retreat in May 2008 brought together the faculty members who have received initiative funding and MLTT committee members to review preliminary outcomes gathered by CRLT on student learning in these courses, and to share teaching models, experiences and lessons learned, as offerings have developed.
