Students in grades 3-5 are undergoing significant cognitive growth and beginning to understand what fairness and equity mean in a diverse and interconnected world. "Modern Math Tasks to Provoke Transformational Thinking" presents carefully crafted tasks that nurture multi-disciplinary literacies, including ecological and cultural…

Fractions are foundational for success in algebra and STEM, but they are notoriously difficult for students. In past work, two separate branches of research from psychology and math education have studied fractions knowledge using different, isolated approaches. In this dissertation, I synthesize research from both fields about proportional…

The study aimed to investigate the effect of an interdisciplinary STEM course on children's attitudes of learning and engineering design skills. A total of 449 elementary school children in China were recruited from three different grade levels (i.e., second, fourth and sixth grade) to participate in this study. All participants attended a weekly…

Background: In recent years, computer science education has emerged as a necessary part of school curricula for students of all ages. With such momentum in this direction, it is essential that program designers, educators, and researchers ensure that computer science education is designed to be inclusive, effective, and engaging for all students.…

Providing challenging curriculum in a literacy classroom of students whose reading abilities range widely can be a challenge. Integrating interdisciplinary book selections into a self-selected reading program, however, provides students with challenge by engaging them with big ideas. This article describes methods of integrating advanced…

STEM experiences that capture students' curiosity have a unique role in inspiring awe in science, enculturing science engagement, and recruiting students to pursue STEM careers. Here, we present a unique interdisciplinary STEM experience for elementary school students that teaches them to write computer code to test primate intelligence at a zoo…

Recent changes in educational policy have placed 21st-century skills at the forefront of arts education, presenting arts educators with an opportunity to reassess instructional practices. Popular music pedagogies are approaches to learning and practicing popular music that may be useful for addressing 21st-century skills and knowledge in arts…

In this article the authors provide an overview of the Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Science project conducted in Grades 1 to 6 in four Australian schools. The project teachers implemented an enquiry-based pedagogical model through 12 interrelated topics. This paper details how a range of mathematics and science concepts can be effectively…

This study explores how two elementary teachers (first and fifth grades) integrated social studies content and skills throughout their school day. More specifically, we describe and explain their social studies instruction in terms of integration as it reflects fractured, healthy, and stealthy integration (Hinde, 2015). As researchers, we spent…

Africa is the cradle of civilization, yet its rich history and culture is undertaught--especially in elementary P-5 classrooms. In this article, we share Adinkra symbols from West Africa which can be used for interdisciplinary instruction and classroom management. We offer Adinkra symbols as an organizing theme for teaching in the spirit of not…

Students in grades 3-6 need to use increasingly sophisticated comprehension skills and strategies as they read and build knowledge across disciplinary content areas. Grounded in research, this book presents effective practices for integrating literacy instruction with literature, science, and social studies. Chapters address text selection,…

This paper presents findings from a two-year qualitative study examining integration of computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) into elementary mathematics instruction. Integrated units were developed by elementary teachers and CS/CT coaches with support from university faculty with expertise in CS/CT and elementary mathematics.…

Teachers have the daunting task of preparing students for a future that they cannot predict. In an age of information where students have the world quite literally at their fingertips, and with the ever-growing momentum of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), it is not enough that students experience STEM subjects…

One of the guiding principles highlighted in "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012) states that "children are born investigators," claiming that students construct their own understanding of the natural world even before they learn about it in formal learning settings. Even if students lack a thorough…

Against a backdrop of advocacy for interdisciplinary STEM curricula, this paper explores the design principles underpinning a three-year longitudinal research project that develops and evaluates interdisciplinary mathematics and science learning sequences involving multiple teachers and student cohorts across the primary school years. The research…