Integrative Learning International research and practice

Current teaching, learning and assessment practices can lead students to believe that courses within a programme are self-sufficient and separate. Integrative Learning explores this issue, and considers how intentional learning helps students become integrative thinkers who can see connections in seemingly disparate information, and draw on a wide range of knowledge to make decisions. Written by international contributors who engaged reflectively with their teaching and their students’ learning, the book seeks to develop a shared language of integrative learning, encouraging students to adapt skills learned in one situation to problems encountered in another, and make autonomous connections across courses, between experiences, and throughout their lives. More informed teachers can help students develop the necessary attributes for intentional learning, which include having a sense of purpose, fitting fragmentary information into a ‘learning framework’, understanding something of their own learning processes, asking probing questions, reflecting on their own choices, and knowing when to ask for help. Integrative Learning draws on international research and vast studies to provide the reader with the resources to ensure access to a unified learning experience. The book discusses conceptual and technical tools necessary for facilitating integrative learning across a range of disciplines as well as providing learning pedagogies and considers integrative learning in the context of the relevance of higher education in the complexity and uncertainty of the 21st century. It will appeal to academics and researchers in the field of higher education, as well as those generating higher education curriculums.

List of illustrations Editors Biographies Contributors Biographies Dedication Introduction DANIEL BLACKSHIELDS, JAMES CRONIN, BETTIE HIGGS, SHANE KILCOMMINS, MARIAN MCCARTHY &ANTHONY RYAN 1 Integrative learning in U.S. education: where we’ve been; where we're going MARY HUBER 2 Integrative learning for creative teaching: planning eportfolios for academic development in higher education BELINDA ALLEN 3 Problem-based learning as an integrative approach for cultivating person centredness and empathy in higher education TERRY BARRETT & CORINA NAUGHTON 4 Integrative learning in a campaigns and elections class JEFFREY L. BERNSTEIN, HAILEY HUCKESTEIN & STEVE MIKULIC 5 Yes and…cultivating the art of conversation through improvisational classroom experiences DANIEL BLACKSHIELDS 6 The learning journey – learning agreements as road maps to integrative learning MARY CREANER & JANE CREANER-GLEN 7 Silence as presence: integrating meta-cognitive practices in visual studies JAMES G.R. CRONIN 8 Making connections: the use of ethnographic fieldwork to facilitate a model of integrative learning MICHELLE FINNERTY 9 Integrative learning: the first year seminar BETTIE HIGGS 10 Developing the Self in Economics: The Role of Developmental Space in an Integrated Undergraduate Education ELLA KAVANAGH & ASSUMPTA O’KANE 11 Capstone modules as a vehicle for integrative learning SHANE KILCOMMINS 12 Integrated team teaching and learning frameworks: developing applied learning environments for teacher professional development ANNE MANGAN & MARTIN FITZGERALD 13 The drama workshop as a catalyst for integrative learning KATE MCCARTHY 14 The course portfolio model as a catalyst for integrative learning MARIAN MCCARTHY 15 Interdisciplinary science: integrative learning in first year undergraduate science EILISH MCLOUGHLIN & ODILLA E. FINLAYSON 16 Learning beyond cognition - embodying integration from seminar to the stage JACK MINO & PAT SANDOVAL 17 Building Bridges to Learning Communities GEOFF MUNNS 18 Digital humanities and integrative learning JULIANNE NYHAN, SIMON MAHONY & MELISSA TERRAS 19 Embedding integrative learning in community based research CATHERINE O’ MAHONY 20 Learning by doing: a practicum for head and neck cancer prevention ELEANOR O’SULLIVAN 21 Situating integrative learning in medical education through a communities of practice lens AISLINN JOY & ANTHONY RYAN 22 Joining the dots: the c.v. as an integrative learning AILEEN WATERMAN Conclusion: The Significance of Disrupting Ourselves DANIEL BLACKSHIELDS, JAMES CRONIN, BETTIE HIGGS, SHANE KILCOMMINS, MARIAN MCCARTHY &ANTHONY RYAN Index

Daniel Blackshields is a Lecturer in the School of Economics and Teaching Fellow for Reflective Practice in University College Cork. James G. R. Cronin is a learning resources officer and program co-ordinator in the School of History and Adult Continuing Education, University College Cork. Bettie Higgs is a Senior Lecturer in Geology, and Co-Director of Ionad Bairre, The Teaching and Learning Centre, University College Cork. Shane Kilcommins is a Professor of Law at Universityof Limerick. Marian McCarthy is Co-Director of Ionad Bairre, The Teaching and Learning Centre in University College Cork. Anthony Ryan is a Consultant Neonatologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital, HSE, and an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics & Child Health at University College Cork.