Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Teacher and student enactments of a transdisciplinary art-science-computing unit

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Instructional Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Transdisciplinary learning environments have potential to bring together the arts, sciences, and computing within schools. We investigate the student and teacher enactment of sensemaking practices that break down disciplinary silos. We describe a pedagogical approach, Luminous Science, where students make dynamic, computationally-rich artistic representations of data from a classroom garden. Then we present an analysis of students’ sensemaking practices used during the transdisciplinary unit in three cases of art, science and computing classrooms. Qualitative analysis of a student group and teachers’ curricular materials in each of these classrooms elucidates how teachers’ enactment choices, organization, and facilitation of the unit we co-designed with them facilitated opportunities for students’ transdisciplinary thinking and learning. We show that when teachers’ enactments supported increased computational complexity and ties between artifact and phenomenon, then students participated in deeper transdisciplinary sensemaking. We discuss the implications for the design of curricular materials and professional development to support effective organization and discourse practices by teachers in orchestrating transdisciplinary sensemaking.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Boix-Mansilla’s definition for interdisciplinary is akin to our transdisciplinary definition but she does not provide a definition for transdisciplinary.

  2. We use this term more broadly than is used in mathematics literature where it is used to describe recognition of patterns (Alexander 2016).

References

  • Abrahamson, D., & Lindgren, R. (2014). Embodiment and embodied design. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (2nd ed., pp. 358–376). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A. (2016). Relational thinking and relational reasoning: Harnessing the power of patterning. Science of Learning, 1, 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aram, J. D. (2004). Concepts in interdisciplinarity: Configurations of knowledge and action. Human Relations, 57(4), 379–412.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ball, D. L., & Cohen, D. K. (1996). Reform by the book: What is—or might be—the role of curriculum materials in teacher learning and instructional reform? Educational Researcher, 25(9), 6–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry, D., & Meisiek, S. (2010). Seeing more and seeing differently: Sensemaking, mindfulness, and the artworks. Organizational Studies, 31(11), 1505–1530.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastos, F. M. C. (2009). Disruptive pedagogies in art education. Art Education, 62(3), 5–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becher, T. (1989). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the cultures of disciplines. Buckingham: Society for Research into Higher Education, Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bensman, D. (2000). Central park east and its graduates: “Learning by heart”. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berland, L. K., & Reiser, B. J. (2010). Classroom communities’ adaptations of the practice of scientific argumentation. Science Education, 95(2), 191–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, J. H. (2015). Transdisciplinarity: A review of its origins, development, and current issues. Journal of Research Practice, 11(1), 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blikstein, P. (2008). Travels in Troy with Freire: Technology as an agent for emancipation. In P. Noguera & C. A. Torres (Eds.), Social justice education for teachers: Paulo Freire and the possible dream (pp. 205–244). Rotterdam: Sense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blikstein, P. (2013). Digital fabrication and ‘making’ in education: The democratization of invention. In J. Walter-Herrmann & C. Buching (Eds.), FabLabs: Of machines, makers and inventors. Bielefeld: Transcript Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blikstein, P., & Krannich, D. (2013). The makers’ movement and FabLabs in education: Experiences, technologies, and research. In Proceedings of the 2013 Conference on Interaction, Design, Children (pp. 613–616). ACM.

  • Becker, C. (Ed.). (1994). The subversive imagination: Artists, society and social responsibility. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boix-Mansilla, V. (2005). Assessing student work at disciplinary crossroads. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 37(1), 14–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boix-Mansilla, V. (2006). Interdisciplinary work at the frontier: An empirical examination of expert interdisciplinary epistemologies. Issues in Integrative Studies, 24, 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boix-Mansilla, V., & Duraising, E. D. (2007). Targeted assessment of students’ interdisciplinary work: An empirically grounded framework proposed. The Journal of Higher Education, 78(2), 215–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, A. L., & Galbraith, L. (2015). Images of art teaching: Comparing the beliefs and practices of two secondary art teachers. Studies in Art Education, 33(2), 86–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, T., Schwarz, C., & Windschitl, M. (2016). What we call misconceptions may be necessary stepping-stones toward making sense of the world. Science and Children, 53(7), 28–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carolan, M. S. (2008). The bright- and blind-spots of science: Why objective knowledge is not enough to resolve environmental controversies. Critical Sociology, 34(5), 725–740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coburn, C. (2004). Beyond decoupling: Rethinking the relationship between the institutional environment and the classroom. Sociology of Education, 77, 211–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dervin, B., & Naumer, C. M. (2009). Sense-Making. In S. W. Littejohn & K. A. Foss (Eds.), Encyclopedia of communication theory (pp. 877–880). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1944). Democracy and education. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • diSessa, A. A. (2000). Changing minds: Computers, learning, and literacy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Efland, A. (1976). The school art style: A functional analysis. Studies in Art Education, 17(2), 37–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fields, D. A., Landa, J., Nakajima, T., Kafai, Y. B., Goode, J., Margolis, J., et al. (2018). Stitching the loop: An electronic textiles unit in exploring computer science. Exploring computer science. https://exploringcs.org. Accessed 30 Nov 2019.

  • Finch, L., Shaprio, R. B., & Carstens, F. (2018). Teachers' values in co-design of an art-science-computing unit. In Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 663–670). ISLS.

  • Finch, L., Moreno, C., & Shapiro, R. B. (in press). Luminous science: Teachers designing for and developing transdisciplinary thinking and learning. Cognition and Instruction.

  • Fischer, G., & Giaccardi, E. (2006). Meta-design: A framework for the future of end-user development. In Lieberman H., Paterno F., Wulf V. (Eds) End user development (pp. 427–457). Human-Computer Interaction Series, Vol 9. Dordrecht: Springer.

  • Gaztambide-Fernández, R. (2013). Why the arts don’t do anything: Toward a new vision for cultural production in education. Harvard Educational Review, 83(1), 211–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giladi, P. (2016). Embodied meaning and art as sense-making: A critique of Beiser’s interpretation of the “End of Art Thesis”. Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, 8, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giudici, C., Rinaldi, C., Barchi, P., & Children, R. (2001). Making learning visible: Children as individual and group learners. Cambridge, MA: Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, C. (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist, 96(3), 606–633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, M. (1987). Creating, experiencing, sense-making: Art worlds in schools. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 21(4), 11–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greeno, J. G., & Hall, R. P. (1997). Practicing representation: Learning with and about representational forms. The Phi Delta Kappan, 78(5), 361–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grisoni, L., & Collins, B. (2012). Sense making through poem houses: An arts-based approach to understanding leadership. Visual Studies, 27(1), 35–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzdial, M. (2010). Does contextualized computing education help? ACM Inroads, 1(4), 4–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guzdial, M. (2019a). Task-specific programming languages: People aren’t dumb. Programming is hard. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://computinged.wordpress.com/2019/03/25/task-specific-programming-languages-past-guzdial-is-smarter-than-present-guzdial/

  • Guzdial, M. (2019b). Computing education as a foundation for 21st century literacy. Keynote at Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) Conference, Minneapolis, MN, February.

  • Hall, S., Stevens, R., & Torralba, T. (2002). Disrupting representational infrastructure in conversations across disciplines. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 9(3), 179–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halverson, E. R., & Sheridan, K. (2014). The maker movement in education. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 495–504.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, C. J., Phillips, R. S., & Penuel, W. R. (2012). Examining teachers' instructional moves aimed at developing students' ideas and questions in learner-centered science classrooms. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 23, 769–788.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2007). Scaffolding and achievement in problem-based and inquiry learning: A response to Kirshner, Sweller, and Clark (2006). Educational Psychologist, 42(2), 99–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herrenkohl, L. R., Lund, K. S., Polman, J. L., Radinsky, J. Suthers, D., Tabak, I., et al. (2018). Life-long life-wide learning within and beyond the disciplines. In J. Kay & Luckin, R. (Eds.), Rethinking learning in the digital age: Making the learning sciences count, 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) (pp. 1290–1295). London: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

  • Herrenkohl, L. R., & Polman, J. L. (2018). Learning within and beyond the disciplines. In F. Fischer, C. E. Hmelo-Silver, S. R. Goldman, & P. Reimann (Eds.), International handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 106–115). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heskett, J. (1980). Industrial design. New York: Thames and Hudson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holley, K. A. (2009). Special issue: Understanding interdisciplinary challenges and opportunities in higher education. ASHE Higher Education Report, 35(2), 1–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kafai, Y., Fields, D., & Searle, K. (2014). Electronic textiles as disruptive designs: Supporting and challenging maker activities in schools. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 532–556.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kafai, Y., Franke, M. L., Ching, C. C., & Shih, J. C. (1998). Game design as an interactive learning environment for fostering students’ and teachers’ mathematical inquiry. International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning, 3, 149–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, E. F. (1983). A feeling for the organism: The life and work of Barbara McClintock. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidron, A., & Kali, Y. (2015). Boundary breaking for interdisciplinary learning. Research in Learning Technology. https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.26496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experimental, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, J. T. (2000). A conceptual vocabulary of interdisciplinary science. In P. Weingart & N. Stehr (Eds.), Practising interdisciplinarity (pp. 3–24). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knorr-Cetina, K. (1993). Construction and fiction: The prospect of constructionism in the study of science and beyond. Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, 28, 80–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krakauer, D. C. (2011). Transscience: Disciplines and the advance of plenary knowledge. SFI Bulletin, 25, 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwon, S. M., Wardrip, P. S., & Gomez, L. M. (2014). Co-design of interdisciplinary projects as a mechanism for school capacity growth. Improving Schools, 17(1), 54–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B., & Woolgar, S. (1979). Laboratory life: The construction of scientific facts. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lattuca, L. R. (2001). Creating interdisciplinarity: Interdisciplinary research and teaching among college and university faculty. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liao, C. (2016). From interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary: An arts-integrated approach to STEAM education. Art Education, 69(6), 44–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. H. (1995). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. Belmont: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marallo, L. A. (2014). Integrating Art+STEM: An exploratory study of three science centers. Masters thesis. Retrieved from Washington ResearchWorks Archive.

  • Markauskaite, L., Muukkonen, H., Damsa, C., Reimann, P., Shaffer, D. W., Kali, Y., et al. (2019, June). Theories and methods for researching interdisciplinary learning. Workshop conducted at International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, Lyon, France.

  • Marshall, J. (2014). Transdisciplinarity and art integration: Toward a new understanding of art-based learning across the curriculum. Studies of Art Education, 55(2), 104–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, J., & Donahue, D. M. (2014). Art-centered learning across the curriculum: Integrating contemporary art in the secondary school classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MC2 STEM High School. (2016). About Us. Retrieved on November, 30, 2019, from https://www.mc2stemhighschool.org/about_us.

  • National Core Arts Standards. (2015). National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. Retrieved on November 30, 2019, from https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/.

  • National Research Council (NRC). (1996). National science education standards. Washington DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Retrieved on May 5, 2020, from https://www.nextgenscience.org/.

  • Nicolescu, B. (2005). Transdisciplinary—Past, present and future. Vitoria: Centro de Educacao Transdisciplinar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nikitina, S. (2002). Three strategies for interdisciplinary teaching: Contextualizing, conceptualizing, and problem-solving. Interdisciplinary Studies Project, Project Zero: Harvard Graduate School of Education.

  • Odden, O. B., & Russ, R. S. (2018). Defining sensemaking: Bringing clarity to a fragmented theoretical construct. Science Education, 103(1), 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oleson, A., & Voss, J. (1979). The organization knowledge in modern America, 1860–1920. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagosa Peak Open School. (n.d.). Retrieved on November 30, 2019, from https://pagosapeakopenschool.org/.

  • Papert, S. A. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peppler, K. A., & Bender, S. (2013). Maker movement spreads innovation one project at a time. Phi Delta Kappan, 95(3), 22–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peppler, K. A., & Glossen, D. (2013). Stitching circuits: learning about circuitry through e-textile materials. Journal of Science Education Technology, 22(5), 751–763.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peppler, K. A., & Wohlwend, K. (2017). Theorizing the nexus of STEAM practice. Arts Education Policy Review, 119(2), 88–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pippin, R. B. (2014). After the beautiful: Hegel and the philosophy of pictorial modernism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, J. D., & Ozcelik, A. T. (2015). Preservice teachers developing coherent inquiry investigations in elementary astronomy. Science Education, 99(5), 932–957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pluta, W. J., Chinn, C. A., & Duncan, R. G. (2011). Learners’ epistemic criteria for good scientific models. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(5), 932–957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polman, J. L. (2000). Designing project-based science: Connecting learners through guided inquiry. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puntambekar, S., Stylianou, A., & Goldstein, J. (2007). Comparing classroom enactments of an inquiry curriculum: Lessons learned from two teachers. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16(1), 81–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabinow, P. (1999). French DNA: Trouble in purgatory. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reiser, B. J. (2013). What professional development strategies are needed for successful implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards? Invitational Research Symposium on Science Assessment. 1–22.

  • Richman-Abdou, K. (2019). Ceramicist uses science to crafthea clay bowls covered in electroformed crystals. My Modern Met. Retrieved on November 30, 2019, from https://mymodernmet.com/nature-bowls-sabri-ben-achour/.

  • Rodgers, C. (2002). Defining reflection: Another look at John Dewey and reflective thinking. Teachers College Record, 104(4), 842–866.

    Google Scholar 

  • Root-Bernstein, R., Pathak, A., & Root-Bernstein, M. (2019). A review of ACD-STEMM integration. Leonardo, 52(5), 496–497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russ, R. S., Coffey, J. E., Hammer, D., & Hutchinson, P. (2008). Making classroom assessment more accountable to scientific reasoning: A case for attending to mechanistic thinking. Science Studies and Science Education, 93(5), 876–891.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schunn, C. D. (2017). Scientific sensemaking: A critical resource for science learning in school. Education, 20(8), 1467–1468. 

    Google Scholar 

  • Searle, K. A., & Kafai, Y. B. (2015). Boys' Needlework: Understanding gendered and indigenous perspectives on computing and crafting with electronic textiles. In Proceedings of ICER'15 (pp. 31–39).

  • Severance, S., Penuel, W. R., Sumner, T., & Leary, H. (2016). Organizing for teacher agency in curricular co-design. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 25(4), 531–564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silander, P. (2019). Phenomenal education: Phenomenon based learning. Retrieved on May 5, 2020, from https://www.phenomenaleducation.info/phenomenon-based-learning.html.

  • Simon, H. A. (1969). The sciences of the artificial. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spillane, J. P., & Hopkins, M. (2013). Organizing for instruction in educational systems and school organizations: How the subject matters. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 45(6), 721–747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stein, Z., Connell, M., & Gardner, H. (2008). Exercising quality control in interdisciplinary education: Toward an epistemologically responsible approach. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 42(3–4), 401–414.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stember, M. (1991). Advancing the social sciences through interdisciplinary enterprise. Social Science Journal, 28(1), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, R., Wineburg, S., Herrenkohl, L. R., & Bell, P. (2005). Comparative understanding of school subjects: Past, present, and future. Review of Educational Research, 75(2), 125–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1997). Grounded theory in practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sturloni, S., & Vecchi, V. (Eds.). (1999). Everything has a shadow, except ants. Reggio Emilia: Reggio Children.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, M. (2019). When makerspaces meet school: Negotiating tensions between instruction and construction. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 28(2), 75–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ulbricht, J. (1998). Interdisciplinary art education reconsidered. Art Education, 51(4), 13–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, B., Ballenger, C., Ogonowski, M., Rosebery, A. S., & Hudicourt-Barns, J. (2001). Rethinking diversity in learning science: The logic of everyday sense-making. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(5), 529–552.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The writing of this article was made possible in part a gift from Oracle. We thank the teachers and students who participated in this study, who were willing to try out new things, teach us about their personal and disciplinary perspectives, and figure out how to develop transdisciplinary learning environments with new and at times challenging tools.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado Boulder (ATLAS Institute), Boulder, CO, USA

    Lila Finch & Celeste Moreno

  2. University of Colorado Boulder (Computer Science), Boulder, CO, USA

    R. Benjamin Shapiro

Authors
  1. Lila Finch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Celeste Moreno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Benjamin Shapiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lila Finch.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendices

Appendix A

Final codes for sensemaking practices.

See Table 8.

Table 8 Final codes for analyzing sensemaking practices students from their descriptions of their lanterns
Full size table

Appendix B

Code for each focal group’s lantern.

See Figs. 12, 13, and 14.

Fig. 12
figure 12

Lantern code for group W4. This program can also be viewed online at: https://bit.ly/3aOQk3X

Full size image
Fig. 13
figure 13

Lantern code for group M1b. This program can also be viewed online at: https://bit.ly/3aPY8m0

Full size image
Fig. 14
figure 14

Lantern code for group P7. This program can also be viewed online at: https://bit.ly/3d4Oeyl

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Finch, L., Moreno, C. & Shapiro, R.B. Teacher and student enactments of a transdisciplinary art-science-computing unit. Instr Sci 48, 525–568 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-020-09518-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-020-09518-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation