Abstract

This research has utilized world history courses (offered to freshmen) to assess learning outcomes in traditional history courses versus history courses which were mandatorily paired with other disciplines like marketing and management. While the content of each history course was the same, students consistently performed better on all modules in paired courses. For example when teaching the history of the Silk Road, paired courses: a) allowed students to apply marketing strategies and tools to historical context in non-standard assignments; b) produced far more complex results which departed from both Sino-centric and Euro-centric perspectives and engaged the diversity of cultures, ethnic groups, and material objects, c) had students demonstrate deeper contextual reading of primary and secondary sources. Though there were no significant differences in retention rates across all courses, the paired cross-disciplinary approach has had a positive affect on the learning outcomes in history courses. Thus, this paper will demonstrate the problem, research tools, methods, outcomes, and findings as well as practical considerations and suggestions for predicting – and thus improving - learning outcomes in non-paired and paired history courses.