The study aimed to develop a cross-disciplinary integrative STEM (i-STEM) robotics curriculum by the thematic integration approaches of webbed and threaded models, and to understand high school students' cognitions, attitudes, and interests in robotics STEM after the instruction. The concurrent mixed methods including quantitative experimental…

This study investigates how a teacher study group collectively examined problems in their current English curriculum and redesigned the curriculum into theme-based lessons for various grades. Comprised of seven elementary school teachers and a teacher educator, the teacher study group met bi-weekly for three hours for a total of eight meetings.…

Math Journey, a creative, mathematical trip centered around a theme, can be integrated into a school's existing science and social studies curriculum. A teacher would only need a copy of their school's curriculum to design his or her Math Journey. In this article, the author discusses several strategies on how to integrate Math Journey into…

Reviews and suggests three professional resources for integrating biography and poetry into the curriculum as interesting literary genres at any grade level. (MG)

Profiles curriculum reform efforts at a Spanish Harlem school participating in a diverse, 150-member Basic School Network inspired by Ernest L. Boyer's work. Curriculum is constructed around eight commonalities: the life cycle, use of symbols, group membership, sense of time and space, aesthetic responsiveness, connections to nature, production…

Describes an integrated-thematic curriculum for gifted students in the context of assumptions about learning and characteristics of gifted learners. Specific strategies and steps in curriculum development are explained and applied to a year-long focus on the theme of "evidence" in a multiaged primary classroom with curriculum units on dinosaurs,…

Discusses development of an integrated curricular approach that combines several related units from separate curricular areas and uses theme cycles instead of text books. Uses illustration to describe the process of developing engaging and productive theme cycles and related learning experiences. Summarizes characteristics of an integrated…

The 21st-century integrated curriculum will be based not on themes, but on broad, unchanging concepts. The concept-based curriculum will require teaching of necessary language arts and other skills as needed for in-depth concept study. This approach offers common learning for all students by broadening specific objectives of many subject areas.…

This booklet describes a school district's evolution from a neatly compartmentalized language arts curriculum to a curriculum integrated around broad topics and themes of study. Sections of the booklet discuss the mounting tensions in the school district's language arts program; committee work that formed the foundation for change; the 5 target…

Reform efforts have renewed attention to science and mathematics integration and brought to the surface varied definitions of "integrated,""interdisciplinary," and "thematic." In an attempt to clarify the meaning of integration, eight manuscripts are presented that clearly indicate that the inconsistent use of language continues to exist and has…

Presents a model for developing theme-based, interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum. Model includes a theme-creation phase and an activity-refinement phase. The integrated continuum model is intended to be used by curriculum developers to facilitate the creation of powerful interdisciplinary lessons. (Author/SJR)

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)…

A practicum intervention designed to enable primary grade teachers to integrate the components of the curriculum by using a thematic approach was implemented and evaluated. Teacher inservice training in developing a theme unit was provided, along with a list of professional references on curriculum integration. Additionally, teachers (n=18) were…

Mendocino College (California) is participating in the national Change in Liberal Education Project, which attempts to design comprehensive liberal arts curricula around a single unifying topic. The program at Mendocino focuses on the World Food Crisis, an area of study which is well-suited to the agricultural character of the local community. In…

Briefly reviews the development of core curricula and interdisciplinary teaming in junior high/middle schools from the mid-1950s to the present. A recent study of 15,000 Maine eighth graders shows that schools using the middle-school, interdisciplinary approach outscored their junior high school peers enrolled in single-discipline subjects by 58…