The paper presents a scoping review of research that has been conducted on integrated STEM programmes in Australian schools over a 10-year period (2012--2022). It aims to determine how integrated STEM is being practiced. A total of 17 papers were chosen for review. The review explored the major characteristics of research that has been conducted…

This qualitative study was conducted to understand the instructional strategies used by high school integrated STEM (iSTEM) teachers to apply real-world problem solving in their classrooms in the state of Indiana. The problem addressed by this study was the need to understand the instructional strategies employed by iSTEM teachers in their…

Advocacy of STEM curricular approaches is based on a concern to engage students in authentic disciplinary and interdisciplinary practices in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines, and the need to promote participation in STEM pathways. The "STEM Academy" professional learning program was developed to…

Student democratic participation in schools is often limited to involvement in school councils with associated dangers of tokenism and speaking for others. There is limited space for students to have a voice in what is learned due to mandated state curricula and scepticism about student capacity, even though consultation with students about…

The rise of online arts education content delivery has created challenges for arts educators in Initial Teacher Preparation (ITP). Consequently, educators in various arts disciplines across Australia have been regularly meeting online to share, explore and experiment with ITP arts learning practices with the aim of establishing authentic learning…

Mathematics is foundational to integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Problem solving is central to integrated STEM and to the individual disciplines as evidenced by the practice standards of each discipline (e.g., Standards for Mathematical Practice, Science and Engineering Practices, and Technology and…

Empathy, an unsung, yet critical element of learning, can be strategically interlaced with literacy instruction and engineering design to create a rich and authentic learning experience for students. Integrated STEM education rests on the promise of engaging students and providing deep understandings through the intentional practice of delivering…

Integrating content-area and literacy instruction in primary-grade classrooms creates authentic and engaging opportunities for students to build background knowledge and literacy skills. Furthermore, when students engage in meaningful dialogue about content-area topics they can discuss complex ideas and use content-specific vocabulary. These…

Background: Few 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…

Integration of STEAM disciplines in preschool education is considered to be difficult for children to work as engineers and perform robotics applications. Therefore, preschool STEAM activities are needed. The study aims to convey how to implement the preschool STEAM activity named "We design our school for our visually impaired friend"…

In this article I explore a challenge identified by teachers involved in a recent research project on curriculum integration. Teachers described this challenge as how to balance the need to "cover" "The New Zealand Curriculum" with the need to support student agency. I describe how teachers saw this challenge, and the different…

This study explores the integration of Design Thinking into the Key Stage 3 Design and Technology (D&T) curriculum at a school in North-West England, focusing on fostering 21st-Century Skills alongside subject-specific knowledge. The research draws on a multiple case study approach derived from the 'Solving Genuine Problems for Authentic Users…

Objectives: Computer Science (CS) education has become increasingly prevalent in elementary schools because of multiple rationales, such as the importance of computational literacy and the growing demand for CS-related workforce preparation. As elementary CS standards continue to be adopted by many states, more examples and voices from the field…

Emergency remote and hybrid instructional approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges to science teachers, including how to incorporate authentic, hands-on, and collaborative learning experiences via Zoom™ instruction. Through a school-university partnership, a first-year middle school science teacher, an assistant professor,…

Across the United States, there are many elementary aged students whose parents or themselves are from Mexico, Guatemala, and Central America having Mayan heritage. In alignment with instructional concepts that build a positive classroom culture encouraging higher level learning for all students, the authors designed and implemented a curriculum…