Hui Ting CHNG1*, Ryan Ray Yen LEE1, and Maiya MURPHY2
1Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science (FOS)
2Department of English, Linguistics and Theatre Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)
Chng, H. T., Lee, R. R. Y., & Murphy, M. (2023). An evaluation of the baseline trait polymathy of undergraduates from the NUS College of Humanities and Sciences [Paper presentation]. In Higher Education Campus Conference (HECC) 2023, 7 December, National University of Singapore. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecc2023proceedings/an-evaluation-of-the-baseline-trait-polymathy-of-undergraduates-from-the-nus-college-of-humanities-and-sciences/
SUB-THEME
Interdisciplinarity and Education
KEYWORDS
Polymath, interdisciplinary
CATEGORY
Paper Presentation
ABSTRACT
In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world where problems are multifaceted, complex, and intertwined, interdisciplinary approaches are increasingly recognised as necessary to solve these challenges (Araki & Cotellessa, 2020). History has shown us that many innovations were developed by polymaths, individuals who rejected disciplinary boundaries, learnt deeply about diverse subjects, and could transit seamlessly among disciplines (Araki & Cotellessa, 2020, Burke, 2020, Root-Bernstein, 2003).
Recognising the importance of interdisciplinarity, recently NUS formed the College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS), where students from the Faculty of Science (FOS) and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) learn several core courses including interdisciplinary courses together so that they will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to thrive in this fast-changing world. However, some questions remain to be answered: Do students value interdisciplinarity or polymathy? How interested are they to engage in disciplines other than their own major(s)?
As there is still a lack of consensus on the definition and conceptual domains of polymathy, Araki and Cotellessa (2020) proposed to adapt the 4Ps framework from creativity research to study polymathy. The framework can be used to analyse polymathy in four perspectives: person, process, product, and press. The “person” perspective relates to an individual’s abilities, traits, and fluctuating state characteristics. In terms of trait, Araki (2015, 2018) found that polymaths exhibited both disciplinary depth and breadth, along with the ability to integrate across disciplines. However, at present, there are no psychometric tools available to evaluate an individual’s trait polymathy as past works mainly used biological analyses or hermeneutic-phenomenological methods (Araki, 2018).
This study thus aims to evaluate the baseline trait polymathy of undergraduates from NUS CHS based on the constructs described by Araki and Cotellessa (2020). A self-developed survey comprising Likert-scale questions for students to rate their disposition towards and the extent of value they give towards the pursuit of depth, breadth, and integration of diverse disciplines will be used. In August of Academic Year (AY) 2023/24, students from NUS CHS will be invited to participate and respond to the survey. Data analysis will be conducted during Recess Week and data will be available to be presented at HECC 2023.
As research about polymathy is still in its infancy, our study will be the first to evaluate baseline trait polymathy using a self-developed survey. It will inform us on NUS CHS’ undergraduates’ disposition and valuation towards interdisciplinarity, which would aid educators in designing effective interdisciplinary courses.
REFERENCES
Araki, M. E. (2015). Polymathic leadership: Theoretical foundation and construct development [Master’s thesis, Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro]. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3166622
Araki, M. E. (2018). Polymathy: a new outlook. J. Genius Eminence, 3, 66–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.18536//jge.2018.04.3.1.06
Araki, M. E., & Cotellessa, A. J. (2020). Creative polymathy and the COVID-19 crisis. Frontiers in Psychology, (2020), 3580. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.601508
Burke, P. (2020). The polymath: A cultural history from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag. Yale University Press. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv15pjzh6
Root-Bernstein, R. S. (2003). The art of innovation: Polymaths and the universality of the creative process. In L. V. Shavinina (Ed.), International Handbook of Innovation (pp. 267-78). Elsevier.
