Interdisplinary, or science of integration, refers to the integration of discrete bodies of knowledge with each other to create new knowledge syntheses. Interdisciplina/rity is a process where elements from different disciplines are integrated, in a crossing of traditional disciplinary lines without an aim to challenge the borders of the disciplines. In the era of globalization the world is facing key social issues and challenges for comprehensive understanding of such challenges, we require the collaboration of physical scientists, social scientists, humanities scholars and engineers, and will be highly interdisciplinary. It also helps to ensure better educational programs, which give students better ability to work in a problem-oriented way and at the same time the ability to think across fields and interact. It responds to the need to prepare students for an increasingly interdisciplinary, collaborative, and global job market. Good interdisciplinary research structures not only open up new areas of research, but also provide flexibility and expansion possibilities for traditional disciplines. In this context, this article discusses how interdisciplinary research plays a significant role in integrating all the.
Interdisciplinarity boosts students to triumph over an inclination to maintain preconceived notions and fosters the attainment of foundational knowledge, promotes assimilation of diverse ideas from different subject boundaries and develops insight on how to utilize knowledge all of which advance a student’s understanding of how to learn. Moreover, this approach also encourages the contribution of disciplines that emphasize the roles of caring and social interaction when analyzing problems. In present times, the Interdisciplinarity has achieved popularity in policy making, teaching and research. Interdisciplinarity is an important approach because modern society increasingly demands knowledge based orientation which requires and scientific knowledge and the combination and integration of knowledge form various disciplines. Traditionally, the disciplines have been very rigid in the organization. Interdisciplinary work gets done by moving across the vertical plane of depth and the horizontal plane of breadth. In this borderless world, solid boundaries have undergone tremendous transformation just to liquidate the knowledge, information and goods. In case of academics the subject boundaries are more blurred. This dismantling of boundaries among the subjects became the runway for expansion of knowledge; hence overcome the rigidity of knowledge. This approach is providing students a strong foundation across multiple subjects, enabling them to select courses from a wide range of disciplines to gain mastery of a subject of their choice. Interdisciplinary approach opens opportunities for student mobility. To improve the standard of higher education it is important to inculcate new approach which enables student to understand the complexities of world and to develop the specialization among the students. For example economics students can have the specialization as mathematics economists, development economists, financial experts, micro-level economists, labour economists and so on.
Interdisciplinary programs provide opportunities to strengthen the interaction between the business sector and research, especially in relation to the humanities and social science research and education, where interaction has been especially underdeveloped. Interdisciplinary thinking and the creation of interdisciplinary programs, research groups, centers and institutes are rapidly becoming integral features of academia as the issues and challenges facing society become more global and complex. Such global and complex problems require the collaboration of multiple disciplines. As we know this world is full of uncertainties and to overcome these uncertainties, we need multiple approaches to combat these emerging uncertainties. The students have more scope to enhance their skills and more scope of taking up assignments, projects. The most positive aspect of this approach is that its student centric. It recognises the importance of individual learning, wherever and whenever it is achieved.
The foundation of interdisciplinary understanding is in line with the core features of significant learning, therefore we must engage students in interdisciplinary education so that critical examination of knowledge undergoes trial and opens new academic conversations to ideas from a diversity of disciplines so that students from different academic background should be able to relate and contribute to the dialogue. The ultimate goal of this approach is to bring reforms in higher education so that students develop thinking, as well as an analytical ability, and they are equipped with necessary skills ultimately making them suitable for an employment and to integrate values of our culture with education. We must introduce interdisciplinary approach that allows a student to study what he prefers in his own sequence as per his interests so that they can learn at their own pace. The students have more scope to enhance their skills. This approach will help students in enabling the performance of students on a scientific scale.
In order to bring efficiency and excellence in higher education, promotion of interdisciplinary research is mandatory to expand academic quality in all aspects to expand academic quality in all aspects, right from the curriculum to the learning-teaching process to examination and evaluation systems but the this seems to narrow the role of education from encouraging the development of well-rounded individuals to training for marketable skilled workforce. It is important to emphasize the difference between curricula and syllabi which seems to be ignored in interdisciplinary. There are challenges such as drafting the entire new syllabus, defining the credit system, motivating and training staff for smoother implementation, encouraging students to stay involved throughout the term and improving attendance, and continuous evaluation. The academic boards in the universities will have to play an important role to overcome these challenges and help in preparing the new syllabus in a definite time. Interdisciplinary research seems to increase the need for faculty and workload of teachers, as institutions are supposed to widen their offerings to provide more optional courses but unfortunately, there was no attention paid on reflecting upon the curricular or pedagogic issues involved. Thus, instead of targeting the core problem areas in the Indian education system, the Interdisplinary is set to increase the already existing problems in the higher education. What is needed is that the universities implement this approach following some rigorous elaborate steps such as review of curricular contents.
This approach to research and training is essential underpinning to meet the dynamic needs of today’s higher education students and aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking among students. Universities should promote the taste of interdisciplinary approach among students just to integrate, synthesise, balance and accommodate knowledge from multiple disciplines in order to produce something greater than would be possible from any one disciplinary perspective. Experts believe that if this approach is followed and implemented, it will potentially revolutionize higher education sector and ensure bright future for our youth.
The author has Doctorate from the Department of Geography, University of Kashmir. He is presently doing his Post-Doctorate.