Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education (Jan 2012)
Transdisciplinarity and Microbiology Education
Abstract
A graphical representation of the transdisciplinary pyramid, as a tool, helps us in the design of practical classroom activities that deal with transdisciplinarity, microbiology, and, more generally, with biology. As regard to classroom implementation, we propose two main practical approaches. On the one hand, we can concretize/realize transdisciplinarity through a new design of the lesson, which shall rely on a team of four teachers/professors representing disciplines from all the four levels of the pyramid. On the other hand, a class debate with a teacher–moderator shall be used as a Trojan horse to launch the insights into the newly proposed point of view. The presence of four teachers/professors provides a rigorous study of the topics together with a concretized high-quality transdisciplinarity. Conversely, the class discussion promotes student involvement and the development of critical thought.