Announcing

The Keck/PKAL Facilitating Interdisciplinary Learning Project

Project Kaleidoscope is pleased to announce a grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of $500,000 in support of a three-year project, Facilitating Interdisciplinary Learning.

Three challenges to facilitating interdisciplinary (ID) learning will be addressed:

1. content (how to shape a coherent ID course, major, program, center, etc.);
2. infrastructure (how to develop senior administrative support, budgets and facilities, strategic plan of action, etc.);
and
3. assessment (how to assessment the impact of ID programs on student learning).

2008 timeline for the project:

• April 2008:
  Meeting of Project Leadership Team.
• April 30, 2008:
  Call for participating institutions (campuses interested in a three-year collaborative effort to advance and inform their efforts to facilitate interdisciplinary learning).
• June 1, 2008:
  Announcement of selected institutions.
• August 2008:
  Orientation meeting from liaisons from selected institutions.
• Fall 2008:
  Workshops and other targeted activities for selected institutions.

The three-year series of activities will culminate in summer of 2010 with a national conversation on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Learning in the Undergraduate STEM Learning Environment. Lessons learned from the experiences of selected institutions will be highlighted.

Three members of PKAL Faculty for the 21st Century are co-pi’s for this Keck-funded project:

• Susan Elrod, Director of Center for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education— California Polytechnic State University
• Michael Kerchner, Associate Professor of Psychology— Washington College
• Stephanie Pfirman, Professor & Chair of Environmental Science— Barnard College.

They will work with PKAL Director Jeanne L. Narum and a National Project Leadership Team. Please view the Project Narrative for more information on this project.

Please be in touch if you have questions.