Integrated Programmes in Education: Development and Current Status

Introduction

The human life in this twenty-first century is very complex and multidimensional. The dawn of twenty-first century has experienced a wider change in many spheres of human civilization, that is, economic, political, religious, social, technical and many more. The sphere of education is not an exception to it. To meet the changing demands of the students and many other stakeholders of education, the education systems of different nations of the world are in the process of continuous paradigm shifts in their curriculum, methods of instruction, management, evaluation process and other related components. Integrated programmes in education may be considered as a kind of crop of these paradigm shifts.

Integrated programmes have many advantages over traditional fragmented programmes of education. Interdisciplinary or integrated curriculum is very much student-centred, improves higher-level thinking skills and problem solving and improves retention (King & Wiseman, 2001; Smith & Karr-Kidwell, 2000). Research indicates that using an interdisciplinary or integrated curriculum provides opportunities for more relevant, less fragmented and more stimulating experiences for learners (Furner & Kumar, 2007). Students experiencing integrated approaches perform better than the students in traditional classrooms in terms of academic success (Barr et al., 2015; Yoon et al., 2014). Integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education can motivate students to pursue careers in STEM fields and may improve their interest and performance in mathematics and science. Effective STEM education is vital for the future success of students (Stohlmann et al., 2012). van Laren (2011) mentioned that pre-service teachers recognized the importance of integrated models of teacher education to make pre-service teachers HIV aware, HIV competent and HIV safe in relation to their professional development.

In the context of facilitating integration model of education, the National Education Policy (2020) states:

The key overall thrust of curriculum and pedagogy reform across all stages will be to move the education system towards real understanding and towards learning how to learn—and away from the culture of rote learning as is largely present today. The aim of education will not only be cognitive development, but also building character and creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with the key 21st century skills. Ultimately, knowledge is a deep-seated treasure and education helps in its manifestation as the perfection which is already within an individual. All aspects of curriculum and pedagogy will be reoriented and revamped to attain these critical goals. Specific sets of skills and values across domains will be identified for integration and incorporation at each stage of learning, from pre-school to higher education. Curriculum frameworks and transaction mechanisms will be developed for ensuring that these skills and values are imbibed through engaging processes of teaching and learning. (p. 12)

Integrated programmes allow the learners to pursue a holistic learning without the restrictions imposed by subject and/or level of learning boundaries. Therefore, these programmes help the individuals to be equipped with the skills to cope up with the changing life style of twenty-first century, as mentioned in the National Education Policy (2020). The main purpose of integrated programmes is to bridge the gap between knowledge provided in class room situations and applicability of the knowledge in real-life situations. The purpose for moving towards an integrated course design stems from the relationship between the classroom and the increasingly complex world of today. Trends towards global interconnectedness, the increase in pace and complexity and the rapid expansion of knowledge have brought with them mounting concerns over classroom relevancy and the lack of connections between education and real-world issues. Integrated course design provides a solid response to these challenges by facilitating the application of knowledge, encouraging multiple disciplinary perspectives, enhancing relationships between in-class content and out-of-class realities, encouraging depth and breadth in understanding complex issues and enhancing student engagement through experiential and active learning (Chetan, 2016). If we analyse the education systems of many developed nations of the world, we can see how integrated programmes are prioritized in the education systems of those nations. Integrated programmes are gaining popularity day by day in India also.

Integrated Programmes: A Conceptual Analysis

To lead a successful life, one has to acquire different skills that cut across the disciplines rather than concentrating on a single discipline. Moreover, the learners of twenty-first century have to acquire a large number of skills in different fields of knowledge in an integrated way within less period of time. From these backgrounds, the concept of integrated programmes in education has emerged and is gaining popularity day by day. A large number of universities across the globe are offering different integrated programmes in humanities, sciences, commerce, medical sciences, engineering, management, technical education, etc. at present.

In a layman’s view, an integrated programme means addition of a programme or some programmes to an existing programme of learning of a learner to enhance his/her integrated skills in the areas of his/her learning of the programmes as well as to provide him/her an integrated degree or a diploma in the areas of the learning of the programmes in a defined duration of time; for example, in India, if a student wants to complete his/her Bachelor of Science (BSc) programme as well as Bachelor of Legislative Law (LLB) programme separately, he/she has to spend 6 years, that is, 3 years for BSc plus 3 years for LLB, but, he/she can complete those two programmes simultaneously in an integrated mode within 5 years through BSc-LLB integrated programme. Not only time and money are saved, but the learners get varied taste of the courses through integrated programmes also; for example, how a student of science can get benefit from different other programmes through integrated mode of education may be observed from Figure 1.

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Figure 1.

Source: The authors.

It is a common notion that students of science mostly prefer or are allowed to pursue engineering or technical subjects only, but from Figure 1, it can clearly be inferred that there are ample opportunities to opt for law, education, business administration, library sciences, etc. for students of science stream. This could happen well only due to the introduction of integrated programmes. Integrated programmes help to add different programmes meaningfully in a single thread.

The term ‘integrate’ is derived from the Latin word integrare which means to ‘renew’ or ‘make whole’. The Oxford American Dictionary (2001) defines integrate as follows: ‘to join as to form a larger, more comprehensive entity’ and ‘to blend, harmonize, synthesize, arrange, incorporate, unify, coordinate and orchestrate’. Integrated programme in education generally means a curriculum that is jointly designed by two or more higher education institutions (HEIs)—sometimes from different countries or disciplines—and is regulated by a specific set of guidelines (Chetan, 2016). The students of integrated programmes have to undertake a defined period of study in each institution or discipline in terms of duration and content. After qualifying relevant examinations, at the end of the programmes, students are awarded a single qualification. The certificate of qualification is jointly signed by the academic authorities of both the institutions and/or disciplines. Students get confused among three terms, that is, integrated programmes, joint degrees (JDs) and dual degrees, very often. Generally, an integrated programme helps to earn JDs or dual degrees at a time, but all the JDs or dual degrees are not the outcome of integrated programme. In many cases, all these three terms are used interchangeably. Integrated programmes differ from traditional fragmented programmes in many ways. An integrated programme allows a learner to get two or more degrees together by attaining a single programme. The distinct differences between traditional fragmented curriculum (fragmented programmes) and modern integrated curriculum (integrated programmes) may be understood easily from Figure 2.

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Figure 2.

Source: The authors.

Integrated programmes may be categorized under two broad types, that is, integration of programmes of different disciplines and integration of programmes (of different levels) of same discipline. In integration of programmes of different disciplines, two or more departments teach concurrently and merge their educational identities; for example, when a learner is admitted to a BSc-BEd integrated programme, he/she pursues two bachelor degree programmes simultaneously, that is, BSc and BEd. Here, both BSc programme and BEd programme belong to two distinct disciplines or departments. In integration of programmes of the same discipline, we generally find that one lower level degree and a higher level degree in the same discipline are taught to the learner in an integrated manner, for example, a 5-year MSc/ PhD (Master of Science/Doctor of Philosophy) programme offered by various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in India, where the first 2 years of the programme are for MSc degree and the remaining 3 years for PhD degree in the concerned subject. Both types of integrated programmes are found across educational institutions of the world including the country India. However, the instances of integration of a discipline in one level (e.g., undergraduate [UG] level) and another discipline in another level (e.g., postgraduate [PG] level) are found, but, very less. The BA/MSci (Master of Natural Sciences) programme of University of Cambridge may be an example in this regard. The concepts of integration of programmes of different disciplines and integration of programmes (of different levels) of the same discipline may be understood easily from Figure 3.

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Figure 3.

Source: The authors.

The World Scenario of Development and Current Status of Integrated Programmes

The idea of combining two or more disciplines is not new. It can be viewed as one of the elements of progressive education—a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century. The pioneers of progressive education such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Dewey emphasized the integration of curriculum and integration of entrepreneurship into education. Tyler (1949) saw integration as the horizontal connections necessary for a coherent curriculum, and Bloom (1958) advocated for inquiry-oriented, integrated curriculum that ‘open(ed) up possibilities’, understanding and relevance (Mathison & Freeman, 1998). In the course of time, by the 1960s, most of the nations across the globe used to believe knowledge as complex and interconnected systems. To cope up with the changing nature of knowledge and to meet the challenges of changing needs of the learners, most of the nations emphasized on integrated programme by the 1970s.

The benefits of integration can be seen internationally; the countries that top the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scales all have policy provisions for integration (Drake & Savage, 2016). The top ranked countries in PISA like Quebec and Canada have the features of integrated curriculum in their education system. Korea offers an integrated curriculum at many junctures in its recent revised policy (Minister of Education, Science and Technology Korea, 2009). Finland, one of the top ranked countries in the world on Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) measures has shifted to a project-based learning approach that is interdisciplinary in nature (Halinen, 2016).

Presently in international context, integrated programmes are in the priority list of the most of the universities including the top most universities. According to Academic Ranking of World Universities (2019), the top 10 universities of the world are listed in Table 1.

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Table 1.

Top 10 World Universities—2019.

Sl. No.	Name of the University	World Rank	Country
1.	Harvard University	1	USA
2.	Sanford University	2	USA
3.	University of Cambridge	3	UK
4.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	4	USA
5.	University of California, Berkeley	5	USA
6.	Princeton University	6	USA
7.	University of Oxford	7	UK
8.	Columbia University	8	USA
9.	California Institute of Technology	9	USA
10.	University of Chicago	10	USA

Source: Compiled from Shanghai Ranking (2019).

All the above top 10 universities of the world offer JDs or dual degrees or integrated programmes/courses in most of the streams, that is, arts, science, medical science, technology, management, teacher education, etc. at graduate, PG or doctoral levels at present. The top most university possessing first rank in the list, that is, Harvard University, offers a number of JD programmes in various streams. Some of the popular JD programmes of the university are MD/PhD (Doctor of Medicine/Doctor of Philosophy), JD/Phil (Joint Degree programme in Law and PhD in Arts and Sciences) and MS/MBA (Master of Science in Engineering School/ Biotechnology and Master of Business Administration). Stanford University provides a number of JD or dual degree programmes integrated with MBA. The most demanding programmes of Stanford University are MA Education/MBA, MS Computer Science/MBA, MS Electrical Engineering/MBA and MD/MBA, etc. All Under Graduate (UG) courses of 3 years duration at the University of Cambridge offers a single degree called Bachelor of Arts (BA); for example, BA in Natural Sciences, BA in Law, BA in History and BA in Medical Science, etc. Some of the science subjects offer integrated Master’s programme by adding just a year, that is, fourth year to a BA degree. They are BA/MEng (Master of Engineering), BA/MMath (Master of Mathematics), BA/MSci (Master of Natural Sciences), etc. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers a number of science and engineering integrated/interdisciplinary programmes at master’s and doctoral levels. The broad subject areas where interdisciplinary programmes are offered are computational science and engineering, computational and systems biology, health science and technology, leaders for global operations (with School of Management), chain management programme, social and engineering system (a doctoral programme) and system design and management, etc. University of California (UC), Berkeley offers a great opportunity to the students to pursue dual degrees from two universities, that is, either UC, Berkeley with Sciences Po University of France or UC, Berkeley with University of Hong Kong (UHK). Out of 4-year degree course, students have to spend first 2 years in any of the campuses of either the University of Science Po or University of Hong Kong and final 2 years in the UC, Berkeley. After successful completion of the programme, students receive a Bachelor degree in Social Science from University of Science Po or UHK and Bachelor of Arts in the Major from UC, Berkeley. These graduates are guaranteed admission in master’s programmes. Princeton University’s Graduate school offers four JD programmes, namely interdisciplinary humanities, social policy, neurosciences and material sciences. These programmes allow the students to earn a PhD within the recognized discipline. University of Oxford offers 5-year MSc/PhD combined multidisciplinary programmes in social science, information communication and social science, neuroscience and social data science, etc. Master of Science in Bioethics and Master of Public Health is a demanding dual degree programme jointly provided by Columbia University with Mailman School of Public Health. Some other dual degree master’s programmes are offered by Columbia University with Columbia School of Journalism, Columbia School of Social Work, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservations, etc. Columbia University also offers dual and joint UG BA degree programmes with Science Po University, Trinity College Dublin, City University of Hong Kong and Tel Aviv University, etc. California Institute of Technology offers interdisciplinary dual degrees in applied physics, computer science, astrobiology, electrical engineering, environmental science, bioengineering, mechanical engineering, geology and computation and neural systems. The institution provides at least 26 UG programmes, 8 PG programmes and 15 doctoral programmes, many out of those are interdisciplinary dual degree programmes. University of Chicago offers 5-year joint bachelor’s/ master’s programme (BA/MA) in computational social sciences, education and teaching certification, humanities, Middle Eastern studies, public policy studies, social service administration, etc. and 4-year BA/MA programmes in biological chemistry, computer science, International Relations, mathematics, social sciences, statistics, digital studies of language, culture and history, etc. Like these universities, many other universities of the world at present are providing integrated or dual degrees or JD programmes.

The Indian Scenario of Development and Current Status of Integrated Programmes

In the Indian context, the idea of integrated curriculum or integrated programmes is found in the reports of University Education Commission (1948–1949) and Secondary Education Commission (1952–1953) in one way or other. In the context of improving the quality of teacher education, the Education Commission (1964–1966) clearly stated that an alternative way to link the study of subjects with professional preparation at the level of secondary teachers is to provide concurrent and integrated courses in general and professional education, on the pattern of teacher education in the USA. Courses of this type have been introduced in a few selected subjects in the Kurukshetra University in Punjab, in the Regional Colleges of Education and in one Rural Institute (p. 121). The National Commission on Teachers (1983–1985) recommended 5-year integrated teacher education courses and internship. While stating the designing of courses and introducing vocational courses, Programme of Action (1992) of National Policy on Education (1986) recommended the development of integrated honours courses in vocational subjects rather than optional vocational courses which do not enhance job prospects sufficiently. The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2009) recommended that current models of teacher education at all levels of school education be gradually replaced by models of teacher education that integrate general education with professional development along with an intensive internship with schools. The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2009) further recommended that a 4-year integrated programme of Elementary Teacher Education would be undertaken via Institute of Advanced Studies in Education (IASE) and District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) in selected state and central universities. It also recommended to review the existing BEd programme to facilitate the choice between a 4-year integrated model after higher secondary education or a 2-year model after graduation. The Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education, popularly known as Yashpal Committee Report (2009) rightly remarked ‘In sum, there is need to expose students, especially at the undergraduate level, to various disciplines like humanities, social sciences, aesthetics etc., in an integrated manner. There should be irrespective of the disciplines they would like to specialize in subsequently’ (p. 21). The committee also recommended that higher education had to be treated as an integrated whole. The National Education Policy (2020) has given more importance on multidisciplinary institutions which will provide integrated programmes. The policy states that by 2040, all HEIs shall aim to become multidisciplinary institutions and shall aim to have larger student enrolments preferably in the thousands, for optimal use of infrastructure and resources, and for the creation of vibrant multidisciplinary communities. Since this process will take time, all HEIs will first plan to become multidisciplinary by 2030 and then gradually increase student strength to the desired levels (p. 35). The policy further states, ‘The overall higher education sector will aim to be an integrated higher education system, including professional and vocational education’ (p. 36). From the recommendations of different committees and commissions in the field of education in India, a significant inclination towards integrated programmes in education sector in India has been noticed.

Regional Colleges of Education (later renamed as Regional Institutes of Education [RIEs] in 1994) under National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has played the leading role in starting integrated teacher education programmes in India since 1963. Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, Rajasthan, can be considered the trendsetter of integrated programmes in India, by introducing 5-year integrated MSc and MA programmes in 1971 (Khandavilli, 2008). Then other education institutions gradually began to introduce integrated programmes bearing in mind the rising demands of the students for integrated programmes. The rising demand of the students for integrated programmes may be clearly observed from Table 2 (graphical representation in Figure 4).

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Table 2.

Growth of Enrolment of Students in Integrated Programmes in India.

Years	Total Number of Students Enrolled in Higher Education	Total Number of Students Enrolled in Integrated Programmes
2014–2015	34,241,673	141,870
2015–2016	34,584,781	155,422
2016–2017	35,705,905	173,957
2017–2018	36,642,378	195,777
2018–2019	37,399,388	241,126
Compound annual growth rate (CAGR)	1.8	11.2

Source: Compiled from the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE, 2018–2019).

It is observed from Table 2 that enrolment in higher education has increased over the years, but, the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is 1.8 in case of total enrolment of students in higher education during last 5 years, whereas, the CAGR is 11.2 in case of integrated programmes. Therefore, it is a clear indication that students in higher education in India are showing more interest towards integrated programmes.

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Figure 4.

Source: Compiled from the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE, 2018–2019).

Many universities and education institutions in India are offering integrated programmes in various streams. The integrated programmes offered in some of the prominent fields/streams/areas of education by different institutions of India are presented under the following heads:

Conclusion

Integrated programmes are the latest fashion in programme designing and implementation in education, and these programmes have better implication for achieving multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary skills. However, integrated programmes in India are not much popularized till now. Now, the time has come to prioritize integrated programmes in the field of education. Making any education system vibrant is not a single man’s job; rather, all the stakeholders of the education system must shoulder the responsibilities for making the system vibrant. To popularize the integrated programmes, the following measures may be taken at governmental level:

Clear guidelines need to be framed for the institutions offering different kinds of integrated programmes.

The educational institutions offering integrated programmes should also shoulder different responsibilities to make integrated education programmes vibrant and leading in the ways as follows:

The administration of the institutions should emphasize to develop infrastructural facilities to run integrated programmes at par with global standards.