Systems thinking in the development of process and content models for interdisciplinary curriculum change

The purpose of this study was the development of systematic models to be used as an aid to the revision of curricula to encompass the principles of interdisciplinary inquiry. A review of existing literature in relevant areas (including curriculum, systems thinking, and interdisciplinarity) was conducted to provide background for the models, and two models were created. One model focuses on the process aspect of curriculum change, while the other focuses on content as the agent of change.

After a pretest of the models' clarity and applicability, a non-statistical evaluation of the models was conducted. A sample of University of Tennessee faculty and administrators was invited to comment on the models, and the responses were tabulated to provide an evaluation of the two models.

The major finding of the evaluation was that a model of curriculum change combining process and content aspects could prove more appropriate than either of the two models used singly. Consequently, a process/content model combining the two earlier models was developed.

Further research should explore revisions in the models themselves to make them more complete and more generally applicable. Also, some type of empirical testing and evaluation of the models should take place. The models in this study may then form the basis for interdisciplinary curriculum change in a variety of areas.