This study contextualized the use of the engineering design process by providing descriptions of how each element in a design process was integrated in an eleventh grade industry and engineering systems course. The guiding research question for this inquiry was: How do students engage in the engineering design process in a course where technology…

This report discusses some of the characteristics and benefits of an interdisciplinary curriculum, as well as practical considerations involving the introduction of such a curriculum in elementary and secondary schools. To successfully introduce an interdisciplinary curriculum, teachers and administrators need to: (1) integrate the curriculum; (2)…

This book addresses issues relevant to the development of a coherent curriculum. A "coherent" curriculum is one whose parts are unified and connected by a sense of the whole. Following the foreword by Arthur W. Steller and the prologue by James A. Beane, the introduction (1) by James A. Beane raises a number of questions related to the search for…

Discussed are the theoretical bases of a university social ecology program expressed in biology, sociology, and psychology. It emphasizes man as a biological organism interacting in a cultural-physical environment. Since the program is multidisciplinary and community-oriented the organization is by problem area such as man-environment interactions…

A unified science approach is incorporated in this K-6 curriculum mode. The program is organized into six major cycles. These include: (1) science, math, and technology cycle; (2) universe cycle; (3) life cycle; (4) water cycle; (5) plate tectonics cycle; and (6) rock cycle. An overview is provided of each cycle's major concepts. The topic…

Articles for developing an integrated secondary curriculum are presented in this book. The articles include: "Synthesis Versus Fragmentation: The Way Out of Curriculum Confusion," by Daniel Tanner; "The Interrelated Curriculum," by Steven S. Means; "Integrated Teaching and Learning in Essential Schools," by Richard Lear; "Interdisciplinary Teaming…

Examines educators' preoccupation with aims and objectives and the impact of product-oriented education on school and curriculum organization. Considers alternative view which defines education as a lifelong process of helping people make sense of the world in which they live. Lists nine characteristics of process-oriented curriculum. (LFL)

During the last two decades learning communities, which are felt to have benefits that extend beyond students to faculty and the institution, have expanded to include many different models. This digest reviews five major higher education learning community models currently in existence: (1) Linked courses, which link cohorts of students taking two…

In the increasingly complex and competitive global marketplace, many students seek to gain multiple skills and credentials that can aid them in their career goals. One such career strategy weds a general overarching comprehensive degree with a specific and targeted skill set. This paper provides a viable curriculum path for students who seek…

Argues that social studies is an academic discipline in its own right. Only through an interdisciplinary social science approach can students understand societies and social problems in their true complexity. Suggests creation of a true secondary social studies will require reform in secondary school curriculum and social studies teacher…

The Intercurricular Studies Division at Miami-Dade Community College offers a two-semester interdisciplinary, experiential approach to general education. This division is autonomous and maintains its own full-time faculty. Its major teaching unit is the module, an interdependent component of four instructors with experience in communications,…

The following article presents a proposal for the redesign of a traditional course in Differential Equations at Middle Georgia College. The redesign of the course involves a new approach to teaching traditional concepts: one where the understanding of the physical aspects of each problem takes precedence over the actual mechanics of solving the…

This collection of administrative, planning, and teaching materials focuses on an immersion approach to engaging learners in whole literacy. The collection's 6 sections are as follows: (1) Role of the Administrator (Mary Dill); (2) Role of the Reading Teacher (Carleen Payne); (3) Batteries and Bulbs (DonnaLynn Estes); (4) Bears (Lois Laase); (5)…

The Science/Technology/Society (STS) theme describes a contemporary trend in education which focuses on the teaching of issues such as air quality, nuclear power, land use, and water resources but justification for including STS in the high school core curriculum has a precedence based on historical connections among science, technology, and…

This brief descriptive guide is a pilot social studies- language arts course at Haviland High School, Haviland, Kansas. The two-hour course is team taught and seeks to combine the junior year of U.S. history and the junior year of English in an interdisciplinary class. The project began in 1990 with the school's designation as a pilot school for…