Interdisciplinary thinking in agricultural and life sciences higher education

Interdisciplinary thinking as a skill appears to be of value to higher education students and those in employment. This idea is explored with reference to the agricultural and life sciences. The need for further understanding of the development of interdisciplinary thinking is acknowledged. This is closely related to the requirement for well-founded curriculum and course design. This publication presents a brief introduction to a systematic review of scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education. While tentative, the understanding arising from the review findings is considered to be of potential value to educational practice. A selection of the review findings is presented by way of illustration. The selection is believed to be of relevance to the agricultural and life sciences. The review findings presented here take the form of interdisciplinary thinking sub skills and enabling condition

Teaching and Learning in Interdisciplinary Higher Education: A Systematic Review

Interdisciplinary higher education aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking. In the present review study, interdisciplinary thinking was defined as the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills. The review was accomplished by means of a systematic search within four scientific literature databases followed by a critical analysis. The review showed that, to date, scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education has remained limited and explorative. The research advanced the understanding of the necessary subskills of interdisciplinary thinking and typical conditions for enabling the development of interdisciplinary thinking. This understanding provides a platform from which the theory and practice of interdisciplinary higher education can move forwar

Grooming behaviour of honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on varroa (Mesostigmata: Varroidae)

Resumen: Entre los factores que pueden ayudar a disminuir y controlar la población de Varroa destructor en colonias de Apis mellifera está el comportamiento de acicalamiento. Este comportamiento consiste en la capacidad de la abeja de detectar, morder y eliminar los parásitos en etapa forética. En esta investigación se analizó la presencia del comportamiento de acicalamiento en colonias de abejas a través de la observación de ácaros dañados. Para ello se utilizaron seis colonias de abejas de la especie A. mellifera en colmenas tipo Langstroth, las cuales se evaluaron diariamente durante 30 días en abril y mayo del año 2008. Las muestras correspondieron a la caída diaria de ácaros a placas de metal con vaselina, ubicada en el piso de cada colmena por un periodo de 24 horas. Los resultados indicaron 95% de varroas caídas muertas y 5% vivas de un total de 2.005 varroas. Se encontró un 49% de ácaros con daños y 51% sin daños. Con base en lo observado existe la posibilidad de elegir colonias con comportamiento de acicalamiento de importancia como daño dorsal y daño completo sobre el acaro, lo cual puede ser muy útil para estudiar selección de abejas y diseñar estrategias de manejo integrado del ácaro V. destructor

Disciplining anthropological demography

This study furthers the epistemological development of anthropological demography, and its role in understanding the demography of Europe. Firstly we situate anthropological demography against the context of an evolving world of research in which boundaries between academic disciplines have become much more permeable. This is achieved via an overview of recent theoretical debates about the role and nature of disciplinarity, including interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. Secondly, in order to understand the current state of the art, we sketch out the evolution of anthropological demography, paying particular attention to the different knowledge claims of anthropology and demography. Finally, we flesh out some of the epistemological and theoretical debates about anthropological demography by sketching out the formative research process of our own work on low fertility in the UK.anthropological demography, anthropology, demography, disciplinarity, epistemology, Europe, interdisciplinarity, low fertility, multidisciplinarity, reproductive decisions

Pest categorisation of the Gonipterus scutellatus species complex

The Panelon Plant health performed a pest categorisation of the Australian Eucalyptus snout-beetle Gonipterusscutellatus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), for the EU. G.scutellatus should be referred as the G.scutellatus species complex because it includes several cryptic species. A complete nomenclature of the species present in the EU is still pending. It is a quarantine pest listed in Annex IIB of Council Directive 2000/29/EC. Protected zones are in place in Greece and Portugal (Azores). In the EU, it has been found in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. It only consumes Eucalyptus species leaves. The main pathways of spread are the trade of Eucalyptus timber, hitchhiking in various commodities, trade of apple fruit as well as of plants for planting or plant parts. Spread by flight is also possible. The climate of the EU protected zones is similar to that of the Member States (MS) where the G.scutellatus complex is established, and the pest's main host plants are present. The damaged trees suffer die-back and the development of epicormics shoots. Severe attacks may provoke massive amounts of tree death. Biological control by using the egg parasitoid wasp Anaphesnitens is the most effective control measure. Some species within the G.scutellatus complex are not yet present in the EU (including G.scutellatus sensu stricto) and might therefore be considered as potential union quarantine pests for the EU territory. At least two species within the G.scutellatus complex (most likely G.platensis and Gonipterus species no. 2) meet the criteria assessed by EFSA for consideration as potential protected zone quarantine pests for the territory of the protected zones: Greece and Portugal (Azores). The criteria for considering the G.scutellatus complex as a potential regulated non-quarantine pest for the EU are not met since plants for planting are not the main pathway

Skills for learning across disciplines in project-based learning

Education focusing on developing interdisciplinary skills is gaining traction in Higher Education. Often this type of education takes shape through project-based learning. Prior research shows that the focus of such interdisciplinary learning should lie on attaining synthesis and that the end result of an interdisciplinary project should be more than the sum of its disciplinary parts and be truly synergetic. Two important prerequisites of successful interdisciplinary (project)work are reaching a common goal in which each discipline is of added value towards synthesis and attaining a common ground of methods, concepts and views. In this research project, the focus was on mapping if students were able to reach a common ground and synthesis during working on an interdisciplinary project. The context is the Smart Solutions Semester of Saxion University of Applied Sciences, where third- and fourth-year students from three or more (engineering) disciplines work together in project teams on large (25 ECTS) projects, provided by research groups and the business community. A learning activity was developed for and conducted with four student teams after which semi-structured interviews were held with the students and corresponding tutor. Results confirm the importance of a common goal and common ground. Additionally, results show the importance of fostering interdisciplinary exchange and the crucial role of the tutor in guiding students toward synthesis

Development and assessment of key skills in undergraduate students: An action-research experience

Employers look for professionals able to work in a team, able to approach problems, with the capacity to analyze and resolve problems, under the constant renewal of knowledge and competencies. In this paper, a group of University teachers from different areas of knowledge presents an experience to introduce key employability skills in the higher education students’ curricula. This work has been developed under the action research scope. The first goal was to make an analysis of terms referred to key skills, generating an integrated denomination for each competency. The elaboration of general templates for key skills is proposed here as a useful tool that provides information about development, assessment and marking of each skill. Different types of rubrics and assessment templates, used during this experience, are presented.DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v2i1.3

Enacting the Australian Curriculum: Primary and secondary teachers’ approaches to integrating the curriculum

Integrated approaches to curriculum planning and delivery are not a recent phenomenon. In the 1930s John Dewey advocated for a more cohesive conceptualisation of students’ learning. Yet, despite state and national endorsement of curriculum integration in Australia, it is generally considered an alternative curriculum design that has failed to gain traction in Australian schools. A qualitative case study, situated in two inner city government schools in the state of Victoria, explored the integrative approaches undertaken by primary and secondary teachers when planning and implementing their curriculum to account for their students’ needs, interests and the school and community context. The study identified that the establishment of a concept-based curriculum framework which documented the learning goals, assessment tasks and planned learning experiences sustained the teachers’ focus on the cross disciplinary connections. A conceptual framework emerged as critical for generating the professional dialogue pivotal to planning and enacting integrated curriculum