Volume 98 Number 6, October 1998

Table of Contents

Abstracts

Table of Contents

Abstracts

• How History and Philosophy in the US Science Education Standards Could Have Promoted Multidisciplinary Teaching

Michael R. Matthews, University of New South Wales

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        Based on the forthcoming book, Time for Science Education (Matthews, in press), this article notes that the US National Science Education Standards advocate liberal, contextual, or cultural goals for science education, including the expectation that students will understand a certain amount of the historical and cultural significance of science. After mentioning something of the rich role played by the pendulum in the foundation of modern science, in solving the longitude problem, in establishing a universal length standard, and in allowing the creation of an accurate timekeeper, as well as the pendulum clockís function in philosophy and theology, the article draws attention to the scant treatment given the pendulum in the Standards. Opportunities are thus lost for realizing the Standardsí laudable goals for US science education. Finally, it is claimed that realizing these cultural goals for science education requires more routine incorporation of the history and philosophy of science into preservice and in-service courses for science teachers.

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• The Integration of Science, Mathematics, and Technology in a Discipline-Based Culture

Grady Venville, John Wallace, Léonie J. Rennie and John Malone
Curtin University of Technology


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        The culture of the middle years of schooling in Western Australia, as in many parts of the world, is predominantly discipline based. This paper focuses on exceptions to this norm by describing examples of integrated teaching of science, mathematics, and technology in seventh- to ninth-grade classrooms. Several different forms of integration were found in the 16 Western Australian schools examined in this study, including thematic approaches, cross-curricular approaches, technology-based projects, and local community projects. Interviews with teachers in these schools raised several implementation issues, including the process of getting started, implications for teachers and students, implications for schedule structure, and implications for departmental structure. All the forms of integration observed in this study were through secondary means, in which the discrete subject discipline boundaries were being maintained. The deep culture of subject disciplines, underwritten by curriculum documents organized in terms of subjects, means that there may be few incentives for teachers to teach and students to learn in an integrated manner.

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• Rhetoric, Reality, and Possibilities: Interdisciplinary Teaching and Secondary Mathematics

Sonia Woodbury, University of Utah


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        The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has proposed a broad core mathematics curriculum for all high school students. One emphasis in that core is on "mathematical connections" both among mathematical topics and between mathematics and other disciplines of study. It is suggested that mathematics should become a more integrated part of all studentsí high school education. In this article, working definitions for the terms curriculum, interdisciplinary, and integrated and a model of three categories of curriculum design based on the work of Harold Alberty are developed. This article then examines how a "connected" mathematics core curriculum might be situated within the different categories of curriculum organization. Examples from research on interdisciplinary education in high schools are presented. Issues arising from this study suggest the need for a greater emphasis on building and using models of curriculum integration both to frame and to give impetus to the work being done by teachers and administrators.

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• Development of Theme-based, Interdisciplinary, Integrated Curriculum: A Theoretical Model

Robert A. Lonning, Thomas C. DeFranco, and Thomas P. Weinland, University of Connecticut


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        Interest in interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum development continues to increase. However, teachers who have been given primary responsibility for developing these materials are often working with little guidance. A model for developing theme-based, interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum is presented in this article. The model includes two phases, a theme creation phase and an activity refinement phase. Validity criteria from the interdisciplinary curriculum literature are used to assess the power of potential themes. An integration continuum model is used to facilitate refinement of activities included in the theme-based instruction. The curriculum development model is used to clarify the meaning of the terms theme-based, interdisciplinary, and integrated. The model is intended to be used by curriculum developers to facilitate the creation of powerful interdisciplinary lessons.

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• Design and Implementation of a Framework for Defining Integrated Mathematics and Science Education

Mary Ann Huntley, The National Center for Improving Science Education


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        Integrated mathematics and science teaching and learning is a widely advocated yet largely unexplored phenomenon. This study involves an examination of middle school integrated mathematics and science education from two perspectivesótheory and practice. The theoretical component of this research addresses the ill-defined nature of the phrase integrated mathematics and science education. A conceptual framework in the form of a Mathematics/Science Continuum is presented to lend clarity and precision to this phrase. The theoretical framework is then used to guide analysis of tasks students are engaged in during instructional practice in middle school classrooms, where the goal of instruction is full integration of mathematics and science. Barriers to integrating mathematics and science in the school curriculum are also presented.

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• Searching for the Center on the Mathematics-Science Continuum

Kay I. Roebuck and Melissa A. Warden, Ball State University


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        The history of mathematics and science integration in American schools can be illustrated through the use of a continuum which runs from math for mathís sake at one end to science for scienceís sake at the other. True integration occurs at the center point. While published examples of integration focusing on process skills are common, those featuring  integration of content are less often found. Two such lessons, developed around radioactive decay and efficiency in nature, are presented as examples of science and mathematics concepts taught in concert. Changes in preservice and in-service teacher training must occur if the potential for this type of integration is to be realized.

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• Elementary Science and Language Arts: Should We Blur the Boundaries?

Valarie L. Dickinson and Terrell A. Young, Washington State University


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        Elementary school goals for instruction focus on developing literate readers and writers. It has been recommended that language arts strategies can help elementary teachers more effectively teach science. The terms "integrated, interdisciplinary, and thematic instruction" are defined and examples are given for using each in an elementary classroom. Definitions are provided comparing language arts and scientific literacy. Use of thematic instruction with an interdisciplinary focus is recommended to help meet both language arts and science goals and objectives as they relate to the National Science Education Standards and the National English Language Arts Standards. Recommendations are made for helping teachers effectively use language arts strategies to help develop science literacy, and science to provide purpose for reading and writing activities within thematic, interdisciplinary instruction often found in elementary schools.

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• Blended Science: The Rewards and Challenges of Integrating the Science Disciplines for Instruction

William F. McComas and HsingChi A. Wang, University of Southern California


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        This paper provides an overview of blended science instruction, a term used to represent instructional plans by which the science disciplines are connected to each other and occasionally to other school subjects.  The central rationales for such instruction, the historical development of blended instructional plans, and a review of the current proponents and forms of such instruction are provided.  The primary varieties of blended instruction, including integrated, unified, and coordinated science, are compared and contrasted.  Special attention is given to the major recommendations in support of blended science coming from philosophical, psychological, pedagogical, and pragmatic domains.  The conclusions  section includes some of the challenges facing those who plan an integrated teaching focus.

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