Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries and Forging Collaborations

Ways boundaries crossed Personal relationships Assigned ambassadors to build/expand cross- disciplinary network Delivery of practical results Joint appointments across disciplines Leveraging existing “bridge” programs/ organizations (e.g., MESA) Exploit natural overlaps (culture, size, background) of departments, individual faculty

Obstacles encountered No room in curriculum for X (minimize X)  seamless, painless integration Departmental reluctance to share faculty with other department K12 resistance to innovation (standards driven) Latency in starting project – takes time to build connections (project durations too short??)

Strategies to overcome obstacles Out of necessity, reduce #modules produced to minimize disruption to existing curricula Opportunistic – tag along with planned changes Shove content into senior design projects Encourage junior faculty to insist on greater collaboration (grass roots) Rethink curricula, escape bondage to “content”

Challenges when working with faculty and students Students: lack interpersonal skills/values that prevent meaningful student-student collaboration Students still need to be motivated to enroll in cross-disciplinary courses Adjustments to course prerequisites need to be negotiated Being limited to incremental changes creates a barrier to significant, radical change.

Unexpected outcomes Negative: Low enrollment CT resistance – misconception that CT is for CS only, not important to the general student Positive Positive reaction by HS teachers Surprising interest, enrollment by students in social sciences Cross-disciplinary teams (CDT) are immersive, positive experiences for students CDTs stimulate development of communication skills that are ignored elsewhere in curriculum

Ways CPATH community can help Share discussions of this type with the broader community Resistance to change caused by the fear that curriculum changes may affect ABET accreditation: if this is a misconception, clarification is needed. Encourage non-CS areas to take leading role in CPATH (e.g., Health Info Mgmt) Take the message to deans, administrators (principals in K12)

Other big ideas