knew what I wanted I declared a major in
accounting the semester before and had
plenty of room to add more to my
schedule I scrolled through the list of
Myers and settled on it of course we
have a state-of-the-art Technology
Center and this could be a hands-on
approach to learn a new skill during
college I decided to minor in wood
technology as you can imagine I
immediately began fielding questions
accounting in what would technology is
that like carpentry what are you going
to do with that the truth is I had
absolutely no idea I knew I wanted to
study accounting because it’s the
language of business I was motivated to
learn the transactional makeup of the
world
I saw woodworking as an insight into the
physical makeup of the world at
Pittsburg State University we paved
flat-rate tuition so I was able to take
additional classes with no additional
cost this opened an entirely new world
to me I started understanding that some
tables were made of solid wood some were
made of a laminate on top of the cheaper
anterior core I started getting under
people’s coffee tables to see how they
were put together
even those TEDx sign on our stage is
made of wood Kelson Clausen while my
classmates made the whole display on his
own before I started staying woodworking
I would have assumed that woodworkers
were just old men and garages or high
school shop teachers contrary to my
assumptions there were businesses of all
sizes in this industry if you look
around the Bicknell Center and
performing halls here you’ll see curved
ceilings you’ll see handrails acoustic
walls you’ll see wall panels outside and
the rest of the center all of these are
thanks to a wood technology company
these companies do projects such as
casinos high schools corporate
headquarters they’ll do hospitals they
can do yachts and things I never
imagined and you note all these
companies need accountants
having an accountant with custom
manufacturing background is incredibly
rare and after even with minor
experience pursuing an education with
technology opened my job pool immensely
my jump came a few years earlier for as
long as I can remember I have loved well
absolutely everything I knew that I
loved to write so first came a major in
technical writing but I also knew that I
love creativity innovation and
technology so then came a major in
graphics and imaging technology and then
a minor in innovation engineering after
that when people begin asking me how I
was planning to use these degrees the
answer always seemed to create more
questions you’re studying all that and
you want to go to law school that answer
seemed to baffle almost everyone except
for law school admissions officers who
loved my diverse educational background
because of Pittsburg State University’s
flat rate tuition
I was able to take classes in every area
that interested me philosophy Spanish
music science art and more with each new
discipline the world around me became a
little easier to understand I learned a
lot of new skills but more importantly I
learned something far more better than
marketability I learned how to connect
with people of diverse backgrounds and
be a better overall problem solver Hank
and I had very different perspectives
coming to college and no one views it
quite the same for many people colleges
seemed as a time where you can narrow
your perspectives or narrow your
interests however sometimes if you feel
like you have very many options but once
you decide on a pathway it can feel like
your options have become instantly
narrowed before you come to college you
have a more hopeful perspective I can’t
wait to go to college I’m gonna learn
the secrets of the universe going
adventures every day and then make
millions
once you’re there have or your
perspective starts to change how many
times have you heard a college students
say I’m a super ultra mega senior I have
learned nothing jobs are a mythical
construct the debt is crippling and how
many times have you heard a professor or
other equally smug adults say just wait
until you get into the real world and
see what real work is like but isn’t
that the point isn’t college supposed to
prepare you for the world world yet so
many times it feels like we struggle to
utilize the college experience to its
fullest that’s why we’re here to tell
you about the enormous
benefits of interdisciplinary study now
this doesn’t necessarily mean you need
to pick up eight additional degrees and
simply the idea of branching out beyond
your field into another field and
combining the two these are seen in
connections such as music and
engineering art and biology
manufacturing and accounting the gaps
between these fields are not so far
apart as you might think
when you take off your blinders and look
beyond the straight and narrow path that
you’ve set ahead for yourself you’ll be
amazed at the hundreds of roads that
lead to the same destination in your
sights
whether you’re a member of the community
in the workforce a stay-at-home parent a
professor or student or just want you to
become a more well-rounded person
interdisciplinary studies will help you
become a better problem-solver an
overall better member of your community
what’s more one of the coolest
properties of learning a new discipline
is already wired in you we are all
gifted with the superpower the reticular
activating system the RAS is a web of
nerve cells and connections in the brain
stem that sifts through the information
the large amount of input that you get
every day it deems what it’s what is
important based on what you give it and
it brings that information to your
attention
once Hank begins studying Woodworking
his brain tuned him into that and opened
up an entire new world in front of in
the form of ideas that were in front of
him all along once your brain extends
into that new realm it will never go
back to its original form of stifled
thinking and now up general objects like
chairs tables and desks were suddenly
objects of study and fodder for business
opportunity take for example this image
many of you have seen it before
but for those of you haven’t what do you
see was the person next to you see it
represents both a duck and a rabbit when
you see it the first time your mind
latches on to one perspective and limits
your thinking once you’re able to see
both perspectives of it however your
brain is able to toggle between the two
images and it broadens your ability to
problem-solve this is a huge benefit of
interdisciplinary study an example of
this is dr. Temple Grandin one of the
Grace influencers on animal welfare at
the livestock industry has ever seen
Grandin imitated cow’s behavior to study
them she would follow them through
stockyards mimicking their motions she
observed their movements and discovered
that when cows were guide in a circular
motion it was in line with
natural instincts this helped them to
not see ahead and panic this is
something her counterparts never would
have noticed the way that she market her
ideas though was through her drawings
you see dr. Grandin does not think in
terms of verbal language she is very
open about her diagnosis on the autistic
spectrum and thinks instead of terms of
pictures her drawings conveyed ideas
that words simply couldn’t without her
background in art her ideas would have
been nearly impossible to explain and
would have lost their impact and without
this combination of field art
biology animal science manufacturing
these concepts would have never seen
life and this is where educators are
missing a massive opportunity for
impactful engagement of students how
many classes have you sat in with
droning lectures PowerPoint slides and
page after page of notes this method
works well for some students but what
about autistic minds like Grandin’s that
think instead in terms of pictures what
about the pattern based minds the
abstract thinkers a strictly verbal
based teaching method excludes a huge
portion of students with diverse and
brilliant minds that could greatly
benefit from teaching that incorporates
all different styles
Teesha Marchak a fellow TEDx speaker
used her talk to discuss the myth of
learning styles compared to engaging
students we’ve all heard of learning
styles you’ve heard a visual auditory
and kinesthetic but Marcy casts the
question what if you’re a visual learner
but you need to learn what a bird sounds
like this may question learning styles
to simply be preferences similarly in
the book make it stick the signs of
successful learning Peter Brown Henry
wrote agar and mark McDaniel look at
common teaching methods and studying
styles and look at them as ineffective
compared to less glamorous methods such
as testing yourself or adding other
areas of interest into your practice for
a long-term retention when engaged is
when people learn when there’s meaning
behind what they are studying what if
you understood several areas would it
help you learn better if you had meaning
behind what you’re learning would you
retain it longer when engaging yourself
by connecting multiple fields with your
own you are able to apply your primary
skills to real-life situations an
excellent example of this is imagining
if you’re a fisherman or a hunter
fisherman or hunter as one of those you
understand anatomy and physiology you
understand casting aiming and maintain
your equipment but you also understand
chemistry weather it’s not just blips on
a radar why because it has meaning
temperature the moon phases sunrise
sunset time of year snow wind velocity
these all affect the success of an
outing fishermen learn these things by
reading seeing hearing and doing but is
the meaning of their craft fishing and
hunting that retains this information
over time this year I signed up for a
camping class it was a non required
elective but I knew I’d enjoy it and I
do but not only for the reasons I was
expecting I expected a class like
camping to be a fun way to break the
monotony of my traditional classes maybe
relieve some stress and learn some
hands-on skill building but has been so
much more dr. Gorman my camping
professor has incorporated fun and
memorable activities into our class to
teach people how to build trust
communicate and collaborate and have fun
with the people around you one day dr.
Gorman came in picked up a series of
colored balls set him in front of us and
after a quick demonstration said go
juggle now students that first struggled
with this who had never done it before
and noticing this dr. Gorman approach
them try toss him one ball from one hand
to the other now toss the ball and as it
hits its peak throw the other one great
now I’ve learned how to juggle several
years before so it’s pretty easy for me
to get started I was going through the
motions when dr. Gorman said great but
can you do any other patterns other
patterns you’re going underhand try
going overhand and with that caveat the
challenge was back on I was instantly
reengaged and trying to learn this new
method think of the balls as different
fields of study and think of the
juggling itself is the way that we
process information some people may have
a grasp on one field others may have a
grasp on two fields but not be able to
make connections between them still
others may have connect connections
between their multiple fields and
understand them all in one way but have
never considered processing that
information differently dr. Groman
forced me to look at something I thought
I understood in an entirely different
light this is similar to
interdisciplinary study it builds
connections strengthens the mind and can
be adjusted to meet students where they
are combining disciplines as a
reflection of the real world life is not
segmented into different boxes for
different fields it is broad and
colorful and varies widely in subject
matter and
methodology it’s a reflection of the
world around us and diverse thinking
attracts diverse crowds when exposing
ourselves to ideological diversity we
are able to see the different ways of
problem-solving and how many
methodologies can be useful this helps
to break down preconceived notions and
create an overall more inclusive
environment and when students see the
different ways their classmates are
thinking it helps them see that there is
no right way of doing something this
goes far beyond pure academia in 1984
Elisha Hugh Goldratt wrote the goal it’s
different from most business books and
that’s a novel and it’s a great example
of an author combining disciplines the
story goes through the life of a
struggling plant manager in America the
person who about the positive change of
his plant is not some expert American
manufacturing consultant is an Israeli
physicist who started with a simple
hypothesis his scientific approach was
able to help him see into the false
paradigms American manufacturers had the
largest of which was not focusing on the
plant’s goal making money the story uses
a meaningful story and unlikely
characters to engage manufacturers in
America and help them to learn effective
mental models no matter what your
perspective or position is pursuing
interdisciplinary studies will benefit
you tremendously and help you become
more useful to the community around you
what will you discover well your
understanding of waste management in
Chinese culture Bua solves future
recycling surpluses well your child’s
understanding of comedy and psychology
be what stops bullying in their school
well your organization’s grow because of
your understanding of animal populations
your organization’s strengths and
personal finance well the person on your
legal teams understanding of emojis be
what cracks their legal case no matter
how outlandish the combination of fields
might seem don’t stop pursuing them you
never know when your connections will
pay dividends or come in handy thank you
thank you [Applause]