Unplugging Education: Removing barriers to engaging with new disciplines

Academic disciplines have fundamentals that are usually taught as a pre-requisite before students can fully engage with the discipline; for example, a first computer science course typically begins with programming, and music typically begins with learning notation and simple pieces. However, such a focus on the fundamentals can create a perception that the fundamentals define the discipline, and may dissuade students from progressing. In this paper we explore approaches from disparate disciplines that leapfrog these initial barriers, and provide students with an engaging experience of the discipline, which in turn can motivate them to learn the fundamentals. We draw out commonalities in such approaches, and consider how they apply universally across disciplines.