Content area

Abstract

The siloed nature of education has likely caused some high school students to not recognize the interdisciplinary nature of mathematics, leading them to misunderstand its relationship to other subject areas. A misunderstanding of mathematical interdisciplinarity can cause issues when these students approach interdisciplinary problems later in life. The purpose of this study was to observe, investigate, and analyze the ways in which students understand mathematical interdisciplinarity following a collaborative and interdisciplinary project. I implemented a descriptive qualitative action research approach to determine how a collaborative interdisciplinary project on NASA technology in a high school mathematics course affects students’ understandings of mathematical interdisciplinarity. Data collected from seven students through pre- and post-questionnaires, observations during the 13-day intervention, and student artifacts suggested that students’ broad understandings of mathematical interdisciplinarity were not affected by the NASA technology project, though multiple participants indicated their mathematically interdisciplinary understandings changed in the discipline of technology. However, both weak and strong conceptual changes existed within multiple codes of mathematical interdisciplinarity. Based on the findings and analysis, a primary recommendation for personal practice is to update the NASA technology project guidelines to better guide students towards mathematically interdisciplinary understandings and social constructivist behaviors to promote more conceptual change. Future research focusing on comprehensive mathematical interdisciplinarity in nontraditional mathematics courses is also needed.

Details

1010268
Title
The Effect of an Interdisciplinary Project on Students’ Understandings of Mathematical Interdisciplinarity: A Qualitative Action Research Study
Number of pages
320
Publication year
2025
Degree date
2025
School code
0202
Source
DAI-A 87/4(E), Dissertation Abstracts International
ISBN
9798297642935
Advisor
Committee member
Gess, Ashley; Miller, Bridget; D'Amico, Leigh
University/institution
University of South Carolina
Department
Educational Practice and Innovation
University location
United States -- South Carolina
Degree
Ed.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
31336361
ProQuest document ID
3262003992
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/effect-interdisciplinary-project-on-students/docview/3262003992/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Database
ProQuest One Academic