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A different kind of diversity

Collaboration across content areas intensifies learning

By Ryan Goble
October 2010
Most high school graduates probably recognize the names Watson and Crick. Those with sharp memories might even remember that these guys discovered the structure of DNA. Few people outside the sciences know about JamesWatson’s and Francis Crick’s unwitting collaborator — Rosalind Franklin. Although many acknowledge Franklin had developed the best x-ray images of DNA, she did not have an “aha” moment enabling her to see the structure right in front of her eyes. Evolutionary biologist and science writer Olivia Judson (2009) proposes that Franklin “had a fixed idea about how the problem should be solved. Namely, she wanted to work out the structure using the methods she had been taught.” Franklin’s work laid the foundation forWatson and Crick. They used her images (without Franklin’s knowledge) to create their Nobel-winning hypothesis about the structure of DNA. Allen Repko (2008) suggests interdisciplinary processes

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Authors

Ryan Goble and Nick Sousanis

Ryan R. Goble (rrg75@me.com) is a doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary studies at Teachers College, Columbia University, and an adjunct professor at Aurora, Benedictine, DeVry, and Roosevelt Universities in the Chicago area.

Nick Sousanis (nsousanis@gmail.com) is a writer, artist, educator, and a doctoral candidate in interdisciplinary studies at Teachers College, Columbia University.

References

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention (4th ed.). New York: HarperCollins.

Dreifus, C. (2008, January 8). In professor’s model, diversity = productivity: A conversation with Scott E. Page. The New York Times. Available at www.nytimes.com/ 2008/01/08/science/08conv.html.

Gardner, H. (1993). Creating minds: An anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. New York: Basic Books.

Ghiselin, B. (Ed.). (1952). The creative process: Reflections on invention in the arts and sciences. New York: Mentor.

Judson, O. (2009, November 3). License to wonder. The New York Times. Available at http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/license-to-wonder.

Klein, J.T. (1990). Interdisciplinarity: History, theory, and practice. Detroit, MI:Wayne State University Press.

Lehrer, J. (2009, December 21). Accept defeat: The neuroscience of screwing up. Wired. Available at www. wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_accept_defeat/all/1.

Oskin, B. (2009, July 18). Bringing it all together. New Scientist, p. 48-49.

Repko, A.F. (2008). Interdisciplinary research: Process and theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Robertson, D.R. (2005, Spring). Generative paradox in learner-centered college teaching. Innovative Higher Education, 28(3), 181-194.

Robinson, K. (2001). Out of our minds: Learning to be creative. Oxford England: Capstone Publishing.

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