Journal of Educational Practice and Research (Jun 2023)
Exploring the Outcomes of Interdisciplinary Project-Based Learning: A Case Study of Integrating Drama-in-Education into Psychology
Abstract
To address the challenges faced in teaching psychology courses, particularly students’ difficulties in understanding the key concepts of psychology and applying psychological knowledge to their lives, this study employed action research to examine the experiences and outcomes of university arts students in a cross-disciplinary psychology course engaged in topic-oriented learning integrated with educational drama. The study involved 38 students enrolled in a general psychology course at the university of the Arts. This research mainly adopted the action research method to tackle practical teaching challenges. A range of data was collected for analysis, including 18 teacher reflections, 268 individual classroom experience is more precise in academic reporting, 30 group history files, and transcripts from 6 focus group interview. Following the course, six groups were visited for 90 minutes each. The research yielded two primary findings: The first pertained to the process of learning psychology knowledge, highlighting two major themes: “fusion” of personal life experience and psychology knowledge—encompassing understanding and application; and “transformation” of psychology knowledge in plot creation—focusing on analysis and generalization. The second finding concerned the effectiveness of project-based interdisciplinary curricula, emphasizing aspects such as “Ease of Communication and Adaptive Negotiation”, “Empathetic Dialogue and Tolerance of Differences”, and “Unified Cooperation and Achievement of Goals.” Based on these findings, specific recommendations were formulated. A notable contribution of this research was the demonstration of was an 18-week “Psychology” course as a model of “intentional” interdisciplinary curriculum. When designing interdisciplinary curricula, it was crucial to consider the learners’ prior knowledge and learning styles. The benefits of project-based interdisciplinary curriculum learning include gains beyond knowledge acquisition, such as the ability among partners to communicate and negotiate, engage in dialogue and tolerate, as well as to cooperate and achieve goals.
