How to take STEM from Activities to Interdisciplinary or PBL

In this workshop of “How to Take STEM from activities to Interdisciplinary and PBL instruction”, objectives are to provide the audience with the following: exemplars of interdisciplinary instruction; which will provide growth points for STEM instruction growth and development, the ability to decipher the difference between STEM activities, STEM PBL, and STEM Interdisciplinary instruction, and the ability to develop a PBL from the ground up using standards from multiple contents and interdisciplinary activities that can support a PBL. This presentation is designed to support K-5 teachers, K-5 administrators, district level leaders, and change agents in education. This workshop aligns with the desires of this conference because the focus is on progressing STEM instruction from activities to PBL’s and interdisciplinary instruction. In discussing PBL’s and interdisciplinary instruction, we will address the development of curriculum (utilizing state standards) to support both PBL’s and interdisciplinary instruction, student learning and outcomes, authentic learning, collaborating across disciplines, and community partnerships. We will also share our professional experiences with the participants including and not limited to our struggles and our victories. By participating in this workshop, it is our hope that all attendees will leave with a better understanding of how to move from just doing STEM activities to engaging students in PBL’s and Interdisciplinary instruction via STEM

Developing an Integrated High School Art Curriculum

This study discusses the benefits of interdisciplinary instruction in high schools. Interdisciplinary instruction is mainly seen at the primary level. There is also some interdisciplinary instruction in the core subjects at the high school level, but not within the visual arts. To fill this void I developed an integrated literacy curriculum unit for the high school visual arts classroom. This curriculum will follow current Common Core standards as well as ELA and visual arts standards

Effects of Interdisciplinary Instruction on Students\u27 Connection of Knowledge Across Learning Domains

This research examines the use of interdisciplinary instruction in the early education classroom and how it impacts students\u27 connection of knowledge across learning domains. This study looks specifically at a second-grade classroom in a midwestern state. The primary learning domains of social studies, science, mathematics, and language arts were focused on. The study is broken up into two phases: observation and implementation. Prior to the observation phase, a four-part interdisciplinary lesson plan on dinosaurs was created, including transition activities, vocabulary, state standards, and activities. After the creation of the lesson plans, the observation phase took place in which a typical day in the classroom was observed. Next, the implementation phase took place on a predetermined school day in March 2022. The teacher taught the predetermined lessons and the student’s participation, body language, and responses were recorded and observed. The study found that interdisciplinary instruction can significantly increase engagement in the classroom. The study also found that a cross-content lesson structure can prompt student connections between subjects and create a learning environment that mirrors the way humans encounter problems outside of the classroom. Although the study shows positive impacts on the field of education, there are limitations within interdisciplinary instruction, and more research must be done to determine the extent to which it increases students\u27 connection of knowledge

Implementing Instructional Reform at the Middle Grades: Case Studies of Seventeen California Schools

California has a thriving climate for middle grade reform, with most middle grade schools in the state attempting some change. In this study, we examined the reform implementation process in 17 schools where staff members had devoted considerable effort to 1 of 4 instructional reforms: heterogeneous grouping, cooperative learning, active learning, or interdisciplinary instruction. Although different combinations of external and internal pressures prompted schools to focus on a particular reform, at all schools the principal or a small cadre of teachers took responsibility for building a reform vision and for logistical activities of implementation. All 4 reforms relied heavily on teachers\u27 willingness to change daily instructional content or strategies, and teachers asserted strong ownership of changes, rejecting prepackaged guidelines and resources. Implementation problems varied according to the specific reform area, with heterogeneous grouping and interdisciplinary instruction posing the greatest challenges to staff members

Gifted education and the Middle School Reform Movement : finding the basis for collaboration through interdisciplinary instruction

This review reflected on literature from gifted education and the middle school movement. Its purpose was to look for common beliefs as a basis for collaboration on interdisciplinary curriculum/instruction. Sources of information include personal observations and experiences, university library materials, and ERIC and World Wide Web searches. A shared enthusiasm for interdisciplinary instruction and many of its benefits offers an encouraging sign for collaboration. Gifted education and the middle school movement share an understanding of the nature of interdisciplinary instruction and share the belief that students will benefit from higher achievement, increased connections, and strengthened learning concepts. However, caution is encouraged in being sure that definitions and objectives are agreed upon from the start. The author concluded that the primary barrier to effective collaboration is the conflict between the position of middle school advocates on total heterogeneous grouping and gifted education\u27s insistence on the importance of individualized differentiated curriculum. Exclusion of the following benefits sought by gifted \u27 education--challenge, student discovery of key concepts, and student ability to follow interests in depth--indicates that some stumbling blocks may impede effective collaboration

Experimental Design at the Intersection of Mathematics, Science, and Technology in Grades K-6

Interdisciplinary courses, highlighting as they do the area(s) the disciplines have in common, often give the misperception of a single body of knowledge and/or way of knowing. However, discipline based courses often leave the equally mistaken notion that the disciplines have nothing in common. The task of the methods courses described in this paper is to reach an appropriate balance so that our pre-service elementary (K-6) teachers have a realistic perception of the independence and interdependence of mathematics and science. At the College of William and Mary each cohort of pre-service elementary teachers enrolls in mathematics and science methods courses taught in consecutive hours. Both instructors emphasize the importance of the content pedagogy unique to their disciplines such as strategies for teaching problem solving, computation, algebraic thinking, and proportional reasoning in mathematics and strategies for teaching students how to investigate and understand the concepts of science. The instructors model interdisciplinary instruction by collaboratively teaching common content pedagogy such as the use of technology, data analysis, and interpretation. Students also identify real-life application of the mathematical principles they are learning that can be applied to science. The concept of simultaneously teaching appropriately selected math and science skills are stressed. Given this approach students are not left with the notion that mathematics is the handmaid of science nor the notion that it is the queen of the sciences. Rather, they view mathematics as a co-equal partner

Enhancing Interdisciplinary Instruction in General and Special Education: Thematic Units and Technology

This article discusses interdisciplinary thematic units in the context of special and general education curricula and focuses on ways technology can be used to enhance interdisciplinary thematic units. Examples of curriculum integration activities enhanced by technology are provided in the context of productivity tools, presentation and multimedia tools, contextual themed software, and Web-based activities.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

IMPACT: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning. Volume 5, Issue 1, Winter 2016

Impact: The Journal of the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning is a peer-reviewed, biannual online journal that publishes scholarly and creative non-fiction essays about the theory, practice and assessment of interdisciplinary education. Impact is produced by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning at the College of General Studies, Boston University (www.bu.edu/cgs/citl)

Effects of Science Vocabulary Exposure Prior to Instruction: Interdisciplinary Instruction in Science and Language

This study investigated the use of a prereading strategy that gave 6th grade students exposure to technical science vocabulary before science instruction. The prior exposure consisted of listening/speaking and graphophonemic manipulation of the science terms. The science instruction promoted student inquiry and problem solving in each of the three phases of the science unit on rocketry. These phases were model construction, informational material and hands-on experiments. A treatment-control group comparison was conducted. After each of the phases a posttest was given to both groups. Data were collected and compared for three posttests. The technical vocabulary awareness treatment group demonstrated no significant advantage in their science concept learning as a result of having receiving the prior vocabulary exposure. It was noteworthy that a majority of the students in both groups received average to superior + posttest scores indicating a good mastery of the science concepts