STEM Integration in K-12 Education Status, Prospects, and an Agenda for Research (2014) / Chapter Skim
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3 Integrated STEM Education Experiences: Reviewing the Research
3 Integrated STEM Education Experiences: Reviewing the Research
Pages 51-76
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From page 51... ...
. In this chapter we explore the evidence relevant to whether and how integrated approaches to STEM education support a range of outcomes within and across the disciplines.
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From page 52... ...
Although education research has made some progress in understanding how to help students construct coherent bases of disciplinary knowledge, domain-general learning principles provide limited guidance. Instead, how
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From page 53... ...
Without very careful attention to developing coherent knowledge structures, the danger is that one or more of the "integrated" disciplines will receive short shrift in its development. Integrating Mathematics and Science The most well-studied integrated STEM education pairing is that of mathematics and science (e.g., Berlin and Lee 2003, 2005; Czerniak et al.
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At the middle school level, two studies had outcomes for both science and mathematics. At the high school level, six studies had science outcomes and four mathe 2 Effect size (ES)
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At both the middle and high school levels the effect sizes for science were higher than those for mathematics, indicating that it may be difficult to enhance mathematics achievement by integrating the math into another disciplinary context. Similar results in an unpublished meta-analysis of math and science integration also suggest that there are fewer positive benefits of integration for mathematics outcomes compared to science outcomes (Hartzler 2000)
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. The results of these two studies provide additional evidence that enhancing math achievement through integration with other disciplines is difficult to do, and it is likely that students need additional support in place to see how specific mathematics concepts and skills are integrated with the engineering activities in order to exhibit substantial gains in mathematics achievement.
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From page 57... ...
Explaining how a device functions presents an opportunity for the exploration of appropriate scientific concepts, especially in the case of redesign. However, without instructional support nothing inherent in the design process will necessarily challenge students' ideas (Crismond 2001; Penner et al.
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. Analyses of the instructional moves made by the teachers and interactions between the teachers and students suggest that a key mechanism of integrated STEM education is cohesion of central concepts across the mathematics and science representations, engineering objects, design and construction activities, and social structures in the classroom.
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. This example highlights the importance of framing and instructional support in design activity for integrated STEM learning.
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Students in the two courses performed at similar levels in terms of technical skills, but those in the math-enhanced courses did better on measures of general math ability compared to students in the regular technical education courses. A study of efforts to "infuse" mathematics in a 20-day middle school engineering/technology (ETE)
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Each teacher involved in the infusion curriculum was compared with a teacher in a "business as usual" technology class. Students in both the infusion and comparison classrooms completed an assessment of mathematics concepts that were relevant to the bedroom design unit before and after instruction in the unit.
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Summary The studies reviewed indicate that the integration of STEM concepts in applied settings can yield increased conceptual learning in the disciplines but that there remain too many inconsistencies and gaps to effectively implement or assess integrated STEM programs. For example, the positive impact on learning appears to differ for science and mathematics -- it is less evident for mathematics outcomes.
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From page 63... ...
Moreover, there are few direct measures of integration as a construct or of outcomes that show how well students are able to make connections across disciplines. In the absence of standardized measures of integrated learning, researchers may use assessment instruments that are biased in favor of the particular intervention being studied, thus calling into question the validity of measures of STEM integration.
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. These complexities are illustrated in the case study of a middle school student, Chantelle, presented in Box 3-2.
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There is clear evidence that one reason for the change was her participation in a technology-rich science and engineering club grounded in project- and place-based approaches. She had joined the club because her friends were involved, and initially her participation mirrored that in the science classroom: She arrived on time and finished her work, but she talked only with her small peer group and appeared more interested in watching YouTube videos of singers and dancers than in the science at hand.
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The following school year, when her 7th-grade class studied energy transformations, Chantelle eagerly volunteered in class discussion. She became deeply engaged in her science class across a variety of lessons and was described by her teacher as someone he wishes he could "clone." Chantelle's story is illustrative of one of the more positive identity pathways Calabrese Barton and her collaborators have observed among middle school youth.
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. Evidence that Integrated STEM Supports Development of Interest and Identity In addition to the case study illustrated in Box 3-2, evaluations of and research on integrated STEM programs provide preliminary evidence that such programs support the development of interest, identity, and continuation in STEM.
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. Evaluation of another enrichment program for high school youth, integrating engineering with biology concepts in a health care context using lecture and hands-on activities, also revealed positive effects on interest.
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A commissioned paper on the topic reported that only three were conducted in the context of integrated STEM programs, and they were qualitative case studies. The first study examined identity development in the context of science clubs for low-income middle school youth to pursue projects of their own choosing (Rahm 2008)
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From page 70... ...
The findings from these three studies suggest that identity development may be supported by integrated experiences because such experiences support a range of ways of knowing, employ project- or problem-based approaches that allow youth to follow their interests, and can focus on problems relevant in local communities. Summary The findings about whether integrated STEM supports interest and continuation in STEM are mixed; there are promising indications, but the studies vary in quality.
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From page 71... ...
The research base is limited, however, in terms of the design of the studies, the populations of students involved in them, the outcome measures used, and the extent to which research examines the mechanisms underlying learning in integrated STEM contexts. In terms of learning and achievement, for integrated STEM education to be successful students need to be able to move back and forth between the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge and skill and their application to problems that call on competencies from multiple disciplines.
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2010. A study of math ematics infusion in middle school technology education classes.
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Expanding middle school science and math learning: Measuring the effect of multiple engineering projects. Paper presented at the P-12 Engineering and Design Education Research Summit, Seaside, OR.
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2008. Middle-school science through design based learning versus scripted inquiry: Better overall science concept learning and equity gap reduction.
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2008. Urban youths' hybrid identity projects in science practices at the margin: A look inside a school-museum-scientist partnership project and an afterschool science program.
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2010b. Effects of pre-college engineering studies on mathemat ics and science achievements for high school students.
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