Abstract
BackgroundFew tools or rubrics exist to assess the quality of integrated STEM curricula, and existing tools focus on checklists of characteristics of integrated STEM. While such instruments provide important information about the presence and quality of certain curricular components, they do not assess the level and nature of integration of the curriculum as a whole. Thus, this study explores the development of a process focused to understand the nature of integration within a STEM curriculum unit.FindingsA conceptual flow graphic (CFG) was constructed for 50 integrated STEM curriculum units. Patterns in the nature of the interdisciplinary connections were used to categorize and understand the nature of integration and curricular coherence within each unit. The units formed four broad types of integrated STEM curricula: (i) coherent science unit with loosely connected engineering design challenge (EDC), (ii) engineering design-focused unit with limited connections to science content, (iii) engineering design unit with science content as context, and (iv) integrated and coherent STEM units. All physical science units were in the integrated and coherent category with strong conceptual integration between the main science concepts and the EDC. Curricula based in the Earth and life sciences generally lacked conceptual integration between the science content and the EDC and relied on the engineering design process to provide a coherent storyline for the unit.ConclusionsOur study shows that engineering practices can serve as a contextual integrator within a STEM unit. The utilization of an EDC also provides the potential for conceptual integration because engineering is grounded in the application of science and mathematics. Integrated STEM curricula that purposefully include science and mathematics concepts necessary to develop solutions to the EDC engage students in authentic engineering experiences and provide conceptual integration between the disciplines. However, the alignment of grade-level science standards with the EDC can be problematic, particularly in life science and Earth science. The CFG process provides a tool for determining the nature of integration between science and mathematics content and an EDC. These connections can be conceptual and/or contextual, as both forms of integration are appropriate depending on the instructional goals.
Highlights
Few tools or rubrics exist to assess the quality of integrated STEM curricula, and existing tools focus on checklists of characteristics of integrated STEM
Within the USA, Rising Above the Gathering Storm (National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2007) advocated for a federal effort to prepare more students for STEM careers. Such calls were in response to the argument that the continued prosperity and progress in the global marketplace depended on the education community’s ability to prepare the future generation of STEM professionals (National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine, 2007; Toulmin & Groome, 2007). These calls culminated in the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) and the Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) that put forth new national standards in which engineering, technology, and mathematical thinking were purposefully and explicitly integrated into K-12 science education, which has resulted in the rise of integrated STEM education
A broad set of definitions of STEM exist within the field (Bybee, 2013), which has led to a multitude of new STEM and engineering curricula of varied quality and degrees of alignment to research-based characteristics of integrated STEM education (Bybee, 2013; Moore, Stohlmann, Wang, Tank, & Roehrig, 2014; National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council, 2009)
Summary
Few tools or rubrics exist to assess the quality of integrated STEM curricula, and existing tools focus on checklists of characteristics of integrated STEM. Federally funded curriculum development efforts related to the National Science Education Standards (NSES; National Research Council, 1996) were problematic, as alignment to NSES was interpreted broadly and curriculum writing approaches varied widely (DeBoer, 2014) These concerns extend to the NGSS (NGSS Lead States, 2013), which includes performance expectations that describe what students should understand and how they should apply a particular practice within content-driven contexts (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Few tools or rubrics exist to assess the quality of written integrated STEM curricula, and existing tools such as the STEM Integration Curriculum Assessment (STEM-ICA; Guzey, Moore, & Harwell, 2016; Walker, Guzey, Moore, & Sorge, 2018) focus on the presence of the individual disciplines and checklists of characteristics of integrated STEM education While instruments such as the STEM-ICA provide important information about the presence and quality of certain curricular components, they do not assess the level and nature of integration of the curriculum as a whole. This paper explores the development of a curriculum assessment process focused on the nature of integration within a STEM curriculum unit
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