http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23friedman.html?_r=1
This editorial speaks to the need to bring people from a number of disciplines to the table when we work to solve problems. I really appreciate the call for multiple perspectives. It seems as though we have learned so much about how small parts of the universe operate, and this is extremely important, however, it takes a new perspective to use what various people have learned and synthesize these bits of knowledge into a cohesive whole.

I will never be a brilliant researcher - I don't have the clarity of mind to compose new questions, or devise new techniques. I am, however, very good at relating what I learn here, or study there, to what I read elsewhere. I need to hone this skill, and practice relating what I teach to a larger whole, so that my students can benefit from a more global perspective.

I would like to move my classroom from a place where students learn Biology, Chemistry, or Math to a place where we learn to use the tools we learned in one class to solve problems in another class, and then to problems in the outside world. I'll be focusing my capstone action research on this sort of transfer, and on the metacognition required to do so. It takes conscious effort to think about how one can solve a new type of problem using tools which one already has. I don't really think that I am the best guide as to how to accomplish this, but I will try to be the best I can.

I haven't formally articulated this before, but as I look back on my years of teaching, I can see that I have been working towards this goal for a quite a while. My plan is to use the MSSE capstone experience to help me be more aware of how I teach so that my students will be more likely to make connections within and between disciplines.