Interdisciplinary Collaboration: A Pharmacy and Academic Literacy Initiative

Abstract

In this reflective piece, we share an evidence-based five-year interdisciplinary collaborative effort in enculturalising final year pharmacy student researchers into their disciplinary community and related subcommunities. The coherence between content knowledge and academic literacy is facilitated through making explicit inter-connectedness of materials, tasks and activities; rubrics that discern areas of focus to be assessed by content and academic literacy instructors; and meaningful and instructive feedback supporting student growth. We recognise that this shift towards embedding is a major departure from conventional curriculum design where the teaching of academic literacy is done in isolation from disciplinary content. Nonetheless, despite the challenges, we have found a harmony that illustrates student-centredness in learning, assessment, and curriculum design.