Abstract:

Today’s fast-paced, increasingly diverse global society demands innovative approaches in pedagogies and curriculum development at the undergraduate level. Calls have been made for addressing issues including student engagement, undergraduate research, integrated learning and community-based experience (Chen, Kuh, and Gonyea, 2008).
There is now strong support for integrating learning across disciplines and settings in the effort to encourage students to connect skills and knowledge from multiple sources, apply practices in settings outside of the classroom, utilize diverse or contradictory points of view, and understand issues and positions contextually (Huber, Hutchings and Gale, 2005). In response to these international concerns, faculty from the disciplines of Nursing and Sociology have collaborated in the development, teaching and assessment of “Reminiscing: The Art and the Science”, an interdisciplinary, team-taught course that examines the therapeutic intervention of reminiscing utilizing theories in Nursing and Sociology as well as research and critical thinking. As noted in the scholarship on the impact of interdisciplinary curriculum, a wide range of desirable student learning outcomes include: an appreciation for perspectives other than one’s own, an ability to evaluate testimony of experts, tolerance for ambiguity, ability to synthesize and integrate knowledge, and sensitivity to disciplinary, political or religious bias (Newell, 2006). In the newly designed Reminiscence course, students conduct qualitative research via semester-long open-ended interviews with well elders utilizing reminiscence therapy to recall past events, feelings, and thoughts through narratives. Students examine the data through socio-cultural, developmental, and clinical lenses. Course objectives are based on the societal necessity to support positive experiences in the care of older adults and to facilitate intentional encounters between students and elders. This paper describes the development process of this type of interdisciplinary course including pedagogical choices and community involvement, and identifies the very real challenges of implementation on the ground level. An instructor and student assessment plan for the course is also included.

Keywords:

Curriculum design, pedagogical practices, interdisciplinary course, student engagement, undergraduate research, reminiscence therapy.