Deck 2: The Rise of the Modern Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity

Question 1

The relationship between interdisciplinarity and the disciplines is

A) Complementary. The disciplines are foundational to interdisciplinary work
B) Antagonistic. The disciplines are damaging to interdisciplinary work.
C) Irrelevant. The disciplines have no effect on interdisciplinary work.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The impulse toward specialization in the disciplines was welcomed by everyone
a. True
b. False

Answer 2

False

Question 3

In the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S., a new set of reforms emerged after calls for a new general education curriculum. This was prompted by

A) A need to provide a common core of knowledge, beliefs and values that would help create a national identity to oppose Soviet totalitarianism and communist ideology
B) A need to reduce the deepening isolation of the disciplines from one another
C) A radical rejection of traditional education
D) All of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

One of the reasons universities started to organize themselves around the disciplines was

A) to effectively compete for resources
B) to attract more students
C) to make scheduling easier

Question 5

Most interdisciplinarians believe that

A) Interdisciplinarity is a panacea for today's problems
B) Disciplines and interdisciplinary studies working together might produce creative breakthroughs that would otherwise not be possible using traditional approaches.
C) Disciplinarity is the answer to today's problems

Question 6

Complex problems benefit from interdisciplinary investigation because

A) Interdisciplinary research does not focus only on one component of the problem
B) A truly comprehensive understanding draws on several disciplinary contributions
C) Both of the above

Question 7

If you embark on interdisciplinary work

A) You do not need any disciplinary knowledge
B) You need to draw on disciplinary perspectives
C) You need to choose one discipline and choose only problems that fall within its purview

Question 8

One cause of specialization in the sciences was

A) The need to focus journals in one area [or the need for journals to focus on one area]
B) The increasing cost of instrumentation, elaborately equipped laboratories, and highly trained personnel
C) The link between science and useful technology

Question 9

The professional association that clarifies the name and practice of interdisciplinarity is

A) The Association of Transdisciplinary Thought (ATT)
B) The Association of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS)
C) The Association of Nonspecialisation (AN)

Question 10

Specialization may not be the best way to deal with today's problems because

A) Today's problems are increasingly complex and rapidly changing
B) Today's problems need us to invent new disciplines to deal with contemporary problems
C) Today's problems are beyond the help of university disciplines

Question 11

Specialization in the sciences was also affected by

A) An economy increasingly dependent upon scientific research
B) An economy increasingly dependent upon the disciplines
C) Interdisciplinarity

Question 12

Specialization can hinder creative breakthroughs because

A) Creative breakthroughs often happen when unrelated ideas from other disciplines are brought together
B) Specialists are naturally uncreative.
C) Interdisciplinarians focus on creative disciplines

Question 13

Interdisciplinarity recognizes that the disciplines are limited because

A) Specialism may make you less aware of the broader context of a situation
B) Specialism makes more likely to see connections between ideas
C) Specialism makes your more likely to answer theoretical but not practical problems

Question 14

The rise of interdisciplinarity began in the U.S. with

A) the reform of general education after Vietnam
B) the reform of general education after World War I
C) the reform of women's education

Question 15

The underlying premise of interdisciplinary studies is that

A) The disciplines are an obstacle to the progress of knowledge.
B) The disciplines are themselves the necessary foundation of the interdisciplinary enterprise.
C) The disciplines should be replaced by multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches.

Question 16

The body of knowledge known as the humanities gained popularity as they were called upon to

A) increase quantitative literacy
B) celebrate the inheritance of "Western Civilization" [or contributions]
C) increase knowledge of the scientific method

Question 17

Interdisciplinarity gained popularity as a response to the sense that the intellectual tradition was becoming too

A) reductionist
B) specialized
C) both of the above

Question 18

The revolution associated with an increased insistence on testing theories through careful observation or experiment is the

A) Scientific revolution
B) Industrial revolution
C) Enlightened revolution

Question 19

The term "discipline" was introduced by the

A) Greeks
B) Persians
C) Romans

Question 20

The purpose of interdisciplinary studies is to

A) Develop your capacity to integrate and apply knowledge
B) Replace the disciplines.
C) Focus less on the university and more on the real world.

Question 21

An advantage of interdisciplinary thinking is that

A) You don't need to know details
B) You gain a more comprehensive understanding of complex problems
C) You can target your future career goals into one disciplinary silo

Question 22

When examining the complex problem of Sex Discrimination in the workplace

A) A disciplinary examination is sufficient.
B) An interdisciplinary approach would be beneficial because this problem has facets that are the focus of more than one discipline
C) The discipline of sociology would be the best discipline to use