In the context of global educational reform, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, as an interdisciplinary educational model, has become increasingly central to foundational pedagogical reforms. However, research on the impact and development of STEM teachers' interdisciplinary teaching abilities is relatively limited. This…

For contemporary teaching, teachers need good knowledge of pedagogy, content, subject methodology and assessment. Although subject didactics have become an independent research area with interdisciplinary dimensions, few studies focus on the teaching of subject didactics. With the aim of developing a theoretical model for the systematic treatment…

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education has become an international focus of science education curricular reforms. However, few K-12 teachers have the background to authentically teach STEM in an integrated way. This is especially true of elementary teachers, who are often less confident or prepared to teach STEM disciplines…

In order to create professional development experiences, curriculum materials, and policies that support elementary school teachers to embed computational thinking (CT) in their teaching, researchers and teacher educators must understand ways teachers see CT as connecting to their classroom practices. We interviewed 12 elementary school teachers,…

We offer insights for using design-based research (DBR) as a model for constructing professional development that supports curriculum and instructional knowledge regarding science and literacy integration. We spotlight experiences in the DBR process from data collected from a sample of four elementary teachers. Findings from interviews, focus…

Systematic studies on the effectiveness of in-service teacher professional development (PD) are important for science education research and practice. Previous studies have mostly focused on certain outcomes of PD, for example, the effectiveness of PD for improving teachers' knowledge or students' learning outcomes. This study, however, explores…

This paper describes a case study of how a middle school literacy coach and a science teacher attempted to improve disciplinary literacy teaching in a sixth-grade science class. The collaborative inquiry exposed the disciplinary knowledge gap of the literacy coach (a former language arts teacher) and the science teacher's limited knowledge of…

This paper investigates Lebanese grade 7 biology teachers' mathematical knowledge and skills, by exploring how they explain a visual representation in an activity depending on the mathematical concept "Function". Twenty Lebanese in-service biology teachers participated in the study, and were interviewed about their explanation for the…

Despite historical national efforts to improve elementary science education, science instruction continues to be marginalized, varying by state. This study was designed to address the ongoing challenge of educating elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) to teach science. Elementary PSTs are one of the science education community's major links…

Through an ethnographic study of one suburban elementary school, the delivery of services to English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities was investigated. The data analysis revealed that often disability-related and English as a Second Language (ESL) services were in contention, as scheduling, teacher expertise, school culture, and ESL…

There is an abundance of research in support of interdisciplinary approaches to teaching Environmental Education (EE). Research has also supported the use of a holistic and systemic approach to the teaching and learning of environmental content. Curriculum planning in South Africa has followed a cross curricular approach to teaching Environmental…

"Approaches and Strategies in Next Generation Science Learning" examines the challenges involved in the development of modern curriculum models, teaching strategies, and assessments in science education in order to prepare future students in the 21st century economies. This comprehensive collection of research brings together science educators,…

Preservice elementary teachers need to be given the experiences of integrating mathematics with other subjects. They need to go into the classroom with the understanding that mathematics is not an isolated topic. This article describes a paper airplane activity that was presented in a class of preservice elementary education teachers to show how…

The author presents a content integration that focuses on social studies and science knowledge and skills. The idea of using folk crafts to help elementary students learn social studies extends from John Dewey's laboratory school to the twenty-first century. Meaningful content is applied to skills, such as blacksmithing, found in the community,…

This issue of the Center's "Systems Newsletter" will be the last one published under the aegis of Dr. JoyceVanTassel-Baska, the Center's founder and current Executive Director. As of this August Dr. VanTassel-Baska will officially retire from the College of William and Mary and the Center. She will still be an integral part of the Center…