Organizational learning at technical eux: Investigation of interdisciplinarity in a teaching course that includes chemistry

Master Thesis defense by Trine Nørgaard Christensen

Please notice that participation in the defence requires registration as well as a valid corona passport. Register by sending an email to Trine Nørgaard Christensen: tnc@hrs.dk 

Supervisors: Jesper Bruun and Jonas Tarp Jørgensen

Censor: Rie Troelsen (SDU)

Abstract:

Technical eux is an education based on a combination of higher technical programme (htx) and vocational education (eud). The eux programme contains subjects from upper secondary school e.g. chemistry and vocational subjects e.g. sensory and food quality for nutrition assistants.

An eux nutrition assistant student has 26% less teaching modules in Chemistry B than a htx student and both types of student is subject to the same curriculum as determined by the Ministry of Children and Education (UVM). When planning teaching in chemistry, the teacher must work with an interdisciplinary approach to combine chemistry with vocational subjects to ensure synergy. This synergy effect and competencies from the vocational subjects is meant to compensate for the
reduction in teaching time.

The interdisciplinary approach must be implemented by the individual eux team to fulfill the requirements from UVM, but there are a number of factors, which limit the probability for success. This study has investigated the possibilities and restrictions for chemistry as a subject to work interdisciplinarily with other subjects. The thesis aimed to investigate the interdisciplinarity between chemistry and other subjects in a series of teaching modules which was carried out within the theme of fermentation.

By conducting a series of qualitative interviews with the involved teachers, the purpose was to investigate how the teachers evaluated the realised interdisciplinarity and how to improve teaching in the future to strengthen interdisciplinary approaches.

The study reveals a number of restrictions: Teachers found it difficult to work interdisciplinarily, new teachers were assigned late in the process of planning, teachers experienced heavy workloads, teachers had limited knowledge about other subjects and eux in general, and an absence of a shared problem statement and mutual goal. The study suggests that many of the problems might be ameliorated by construction of a community of practice (Wenger, 2004) and time for organizational learning (Dixon, 1994) in the team. As a subject, fermentation has many possibilities for including chemistry in the teaching of vocational
subjects where curriculum like organic chemistry, redox chemistry and acid-base reactions can be included.

The study suggests that the subject English was integrated in a pluridisciplinary manner and should be included more in the future. Both English and Chemistry can actively be used in the practical vocational subjects and strengthen the relations between
subjects and teachers.