Interdisciplinarity Creativity and Learning

A Volume in The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast:Monograph Series in Mathematics EducationSeries Editor Bharath Sriraman The University of MontanaInterdisciplinarity is increasingly viewed as a necessary ingredient in the training of future oriented 21st century disciplinesthat rely on both analytic and synthetic abilities across disciplines. Nearly every curricular document or vision statement ofschools and universities include a call for promoting creativity in students. Yet the construct of creativity and giftednessacross disciplines remains elusive in the sense that the prototypical examples of such work come from eminent scientistsartists and mathematicians and little if any work has been conducted with non-eminent individuals. This monograph is anattempt to fill this gap by putting forth the view that interdisciplinarity and creativity are related constructs and that thecultivation of domain general creativity is possible. Mathematics has historically been anchored to numerous disciplineslike theology natural philosophy culture and art allowing for a flexibility of thought that is difficult to cultivate in otherdisciplines. In this monograph the numerous chapters from Australia U.S.A. Canada Cyprus Denmark and Japanprovide a compelling illustration of the intricate connection of mathematics with literature paradoxes history technologyand modeling thus serving as a conduit for interdisciplinarity creativity and learning to occur.