integrative health.

Amanda Huee-Ping WONG*, Swapna Haresh Teckwani, and Ivan Cherh Chiet LOW*

Department of Physiology
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSOM), NUS

*phswhpa@nus.edu.sg; phsilcc@nus.edu.sg

Wong, A., Teckwani, S. H., & Low, I. C. C. (2024). Enhancing interdisciplinary learning: The impact of Jigsaw-based pedagogy in integrative health education [Paper presentation]. In Higher Education Conference in Singapore (HECS) 2024, 3 December, National University of Singapore. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecs/hecs2024-ahpwong-et-al/

SUB-THEME

Others

KEYWORDS

Interdisciplinary learning, jigsaw method, collaborative learning, soft skills, integrative health.

INTRODUCTION

Addressing the multifaceted challenges in the modern workforce, including silo-thinking and integrating diverse disciplines (Smye & Frangi, 2021), requires educational strategies that emphasise interdisciplinary learning. A prime opportunity to implement innovative approaches is the course MIH1101 “What Impacts Health?”, part of the new Minor in Integrative Health Programme. This programme provides students from diverse backgrounds a foundation in integrating discipline-specific expertise to address various health-related challenges. The course employs a webbed curriculum framework with multidisciplinary, health-centric lectures and small-group tutorials that immerse students in real-world cases. This approach fosters a collaborative and conducive environment for open discussions to evaluate health determinants and conceptualise solutions. Effective group learning must navigate the complexities of collaboration and conflict management while fostering a balance of sharing and co-construction to integrate diverse perspectives (Decuyper et al., 2010). Therefore, the jigsaw method, known for fostering responsibility, collaboration, and teamwork skills (Shaaban, 2006), was introduced alongside conventional tutorials in this study. We compared the effectiveness of the jigsaw method with conventional tutorials in promoting interdisciplinary learning and collaboration, aiming to enhance understanding of complex health issues and to prepare them for contemporary healthcare challenges.

METHODS

This study employed a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the jigsaw compared to conventional tutorials in enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration and learning. In the jigsaw-based tutorial, students were initially grouped by discipline for the first task, then reshuffled into interdisciplinary groups for the second task. Conventional tutorials involved groups of similar-disciplined students for both tasks. Data was collected from a survey adapted from the Interdisciplinary Understanding Questionnaire (IUQ) (Schijf et al., 2023), assignment scoring based on the rubric developed according to the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 2014), and semi-structured interviews developed from the Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (McFadyen et al., 2007).

RESULTS

Quantitative analysis of questionnaire responses (n=16) revealed an improvement in students’ perceived achievement of learning outcomes for the jigsaw tutorial (4.06±0.86) compared to the conventional tutorial (4.02±0.86, p=0.018), with knowledge of interdisciplinarity significantly enhanced (p=0.003). The jigsaw tutorial also demonstrated slight improvements in the multidisciplinary (Figure 1) and interdisciplinary (Figure 2) learning domains, albeit not statistically significant, and was comparable in transdisciplinary learning (n=17-18).

Figure 1. Distribution curve comparing student assignment scores from conventional and jigsaw tutorials for the multidisciplinary learning domain.

Figure 2. Distribution curve comparing student assignment scores from conventional and jigsaw tutorials for the interdisciplinary learning domain.

The most frequent theme identified from the semi-structured interviews (n=10) with regards to strengths of the jigsaw tutorial was enhanced soft skills. This comprised the sub-themes of ‘confidence’, ‘communication’, ‘conflict management’ and ‘collaboration’. This was closely followed by hones analytical thinking skills, which comprised the sub-themes of ‘creativity’, ‘critical thinking’ and ‘problem-solving’. For themes related to negative experiences, the most frequent emerging theme for jigsaw was ‘lacking depth in content’ and ‘experienced discomfort during collaboration’, while for the conventional tutorial, it was ‘restrictive in creating new ideas’ (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Themes identified from the semi-structured interviews on the positive (black text) and negative (red text) experiences for the jigsaw and conventional tutorials respectively.

CONCLUSION

The jigsaw method demonstrated improvements in students’ perceived achievement of learning outcomes, particularly in interdisciplinarity, compared to conventional learning models. Thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews highlighted that the jigsaw method enhanced soft skills such as confidence, communication, conflict management, and collaboration. Despite some negative feedback regarding content depth and discomfort during collaboration, the overall positive impact underscores the potential of the jigsaw method as a valuable pedagogical tool, preparing students to navigate the complexities of their future collaborative endeavours.

REFERENCES

Biggs, J. B., & Collis, K. F. (2014). Evaluating the quality of learning: The SOLO taxonomy (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome). Academic Press.

Decuyper, S., Dochy, F., & Van den Bossche, P. (2010). Grasping the dynamic complexity of team learning: An integrative model for effective team learning in organisations. Educational Research Review, 5(2), 111-133. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.02.002

McFadyen, A. K., Maclaren, W. M., & Webster, V. S. (2007). The interdisciplinary education perception scale (IEPS): an alternative remodelled sub-scale structure and its reliability. J Interprof Care, 21(4), 433-443. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820701352531

Schijf, J. E., van der Werf, G. P. C., & Jansen, E. P. W. A. (2023). Measuring interdisciplinary understanding in higher education. European Journal of Higher Education, 13(4), 429-447. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2022.2058045

Shaaban, K. (2006). An initial study of the effects of cooperative learning on reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation to read. Reading Psychology, 27(5), 377-403. https://doi.org/10.1080/02702710600846613

Smye, S. W., & Frangi, A. F. (2021). Interdisciplinary research: shaping the healthcare of the future. Future Healthcare Journal, 8(2), e218-e223. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.7861/fhj.2021-0025