Teachers at two specialized public secondary schools—the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) in Aurora, Ill., and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.—described their experiences in working together to create interdisciplinary curriculum units. The four-year collaborative project is funded by the Smithsonian Institution.
Although IMSA had already explored making the curriculum more interdisciplinary, the idea still caused some discomfort, Sue Eddins, a math teacher at IMSA, acknowledged. Teachers don't want "to do something on the periphery" of their disciplines, she said.
The Duke Ellington School had no interdisciplinary units, said science teacher Jacqueline Shepard. Through interdisciplinary teaching, she hoped to tap the creative instincts of her students in an academic setting.
The team from Duke Ellington linked the visual arts and chemistry through a problem in art conservationship. According to the problem scenario, a painting of uncertain value has been discovered in an attic. The painting may be the work of an African-American artist from the Harlem Renaissance era. The student takes on the role of an expert hired to assess the painting. Students must do research in art history, write an essay describing the painting aesthetically, and identify—if possible—the artist, period, and value.
Students must also research the techniques that could be used to analyze the painting chemically. In class they use polarized light microscopy; on field trips, they explore other techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy and x-ray analysis. Students are required to write a formal lab report summarizing their analysis and describing the paint composition and any other data found.
"We were trying to motivate the students in ways they had never been motivated before," Shepard said of the unit's pilot test. Students responded with enthusiasm because "we were dealing with real science and real paint."
Motivating students through interdisciplinary work is a primary goal of the teachers in the project. "If I can find a way to get them interested, that's exciting enough to get me to give up some of my old habits," Eddins said.