1. Alex Agnew
INTS2310
What is Integrative Studies?
Definition:
Integrative studies provides for a common body of knowledge, recognizing
various disciplinary perspectives as well as learning how to synthesize and evaluate
those perspectives, thus empowering people to address meaningful and complex
issues in new and unique ways. (Hughes, Munoz, & Tanner, 2015) I think this
definition does a good job of explaining what integrative studies are. Synthesis is
defined as the combination of ideas to form a theory or system. This is exactly what
integrative learners do. I believe an important term needed to explain integrative
studies is epistemology. “Epistemology is simply this, a way of knowing. It is a
branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of
human knowledge.” (Tanner pg.37) Interdisciplinarians must have a taste for
epistemology. Interdisciplinarians use epistemology to examine and study different
independent disciplines. They ask questions that are in the way of solving complex
problems. They gain a better understanding of each discipline, and how they relate
to the problem at hand. They then take their new prospective in what they have
learned about each discipline and find “common ground.” This is where integration
occurs and where answers, and often a new way of looking at topics, come into play.
The book uses an example of three different boxes that each represents a different
discipline. Each box is independent, and separate from one another. Integrative
2. studies allows us to engage in epistemological pluralism, which means that through
finding the differences between the three boxes, you’re able to find different
prospective. “So we need to unpack the disciplinary box, consider its epistemology,
culture, behavior, methods, and relationships.” This is beneficial to us as it opens up
our mind and lets us see problems from a different prospective.
Education:
My three areas of concentration are: General business, Human research
development, and organizational leadership. I believe these fields will prepare me to
work, and deal with, a business environment inside of a bank. My first concentration
of general business contributes to what I expect to take from my degree by teaching
me the ropes of business. It has taught me the different divisions of business and
how they intertwine. I think, working in a bank, its important to understand how a
business works. My concentration of general business has taught me many
important things pertaining business such as: accounting, marketing, information
systems, how to communicate professionally, and the laws that are in place within a
business environment. My second concentration is Human resource development. I
feel this concentration provides me with the skill of working with people. This is a
valuable skill to have. I’m learning through this concentration that people are
different from one another. I’m learning how to better understand people, and how
to best cope with their personality. This is important for working in a bank. Every
day at my job as a teller, I see anywhere from 50 to 200 different people every day.
Each of these customers requires a different method of accommodating their needs.
3. Through human resource development, I am learning how to understand people
and how to work with them efficiently based on their culture, values, and
personalities. My third concentration is organizational leadership. This
concentration helps prepare me to succeed within the actual environment of a
business. I plan on learning through this concentration, how to perform my job
function to the best of my abilities. I’m going to learn how to work well and
efficiently with my co-workers. Studying operational concepts through leadership
will help me become a good employee. Through studying these three concentrations
of general business, human resource development, and organizational leadership. I
believe I can piece these three disciplines together to make me a well-prepared
employee. I feel that once I have completed my study, I will be capable of operating
in a day-to-day business setting, dealing with customer demands, and work
efficiently with fellow employees.
Complex Problem:
The problem that I am interested in solving in this portion of the paper is,
how to succeed in fantasy football. This may seem like an irrelevant topic of
conversation, however, like many other topics of study, it involves knowledge of
multiple perspectives in order to succeed. Without a base of knowledge and
understanding, you’re just picking a group of players and hoping that they produce.
The truth is that there are several factors you must be knowledgeable about in order
to succeed in fantasy football. Once you have broken down these three perspectives
and how they apply to the problem at hand, you statistically have a much better
4. chance to be successful in fantasy football. The three perspectives that I will go over
in solving this complex problem are the fields of: investment, managerial functions,
and of course sports sciences. Together these perspectives work together in creating
a statistically successful fantasy football team. The first prospective of study is the
field of investment. This field deals primarily with stocks, but you can take these
concepts and apply them to fantasy football. A few of these concepts include
valuation, and the risk return tradeoff. The concept of valuation is important in a
way that it puts a ranking of all the possible players so they you may know when
you’re getting a “good deal” per say. The second concept of risks return trade off is
also valuable. Players often get injured. An injury prone player is perceived as less
valuable because of the likeliness of being hurt and missing games. However taking
a chance on these players may pay off in a scenario that they stay healthy because
you are able to attain the player at a lowered cost than if they were not injured
prone while still receiving the benefits of a skillful player. The second perception of
study is managerial functions. You may relate a good understanding of managerial
functions to success in fantasy football. Through study in managerial function you
learn how people coincide with each other. You can relate it to fantasy football by
determining how players coincide with one another as well as how they work with
the schemes of a particular team. Finding the players who work best with their
teammates and their particular teams scheme proves to be beneficial. Lastly, and
most importantly, being knowledgeable of sports science will help you succeed.
Understanding schemes that each team uses. Understanding which schemes
particular players perform well against. Understanding which players will dominate
5. other player based on experience, awareness, speed, and skill set. All of these are
crucial in being able to put together a statistically successful team. Once you have
looks at all of these disciplines from complex problem of putting together a
successful team. They coincide together to give you a statistical advantage.
Connection:
For the last three years of my schooling, I have been convinced that I was
going to graduate from the Rawls College of Business. Up until this Fall, I was listed
as a Finance major. After all my time in the program, I realized that a finance degree
might not be the best option for the career path that I plan on taking. I am currently
employed at People’s Bank as a teller. I plan on getting experience in the field of
banking. Once I have got the experience I need, and attain my degree, I plan on
moving up in the ranks of peoples bank, working in either the credit or loan
department. After studying to graduate as a Finance major, I began to think “Are
these things I’m learning going to best prepare me for my career?” I concluded that
researching tax auditing and the capital asset pricing model wasn’t how I could best
learn to work in a bank. I needed to learn how to operate in the day-to-day business
setting of a bank. I needed to learn how to deal with customers, their culture, and
demands that they bring into a business. I need to learn how to deal with fellow
employees and the human nature that makes it difficult to coincide with others
efficiently, on a day-to-day basis. This is the reason that I chose the path of
University studies. I feel that my three concentrations of general business, human
resource development, and organizational leadership will benefit me in my future
6. professional career. Through understanding of my three disciplines, I hope to have
a vast knowledge of how to operate efficiently inside of a bank, and be better
prepared for my career after school.
