Incorporating literacy instruction in science is a beneficial practice that uses interdisciplinary strategies to address connections between language arts and science. Interdisciplinary curricular approaches in education are common expectations for science teachers and there are increasingly more mandates for embedding literacy into science…

A desired outcome of education reform efforts is for undergraduates to effectively integrate knowledge across disciplines in order to evaluate and address real-world issues. Yet there are few assessments designed to measure if and how students think interdisciplinarily. Here, a sample of science faculty were surveyed to understand how they…

The world faces a number of complex challenges that are sometimes referred to as "wicked problems." Universities have been relatively poor at preparing graduates for such challenges, yet it will be the future professionals who need to tackle the problems. This essay looks at two related projects that have attempted to advance the skills…

The goal of this report is to provide a summary of the evaluation of Project Symbiosis which focused on enhancing the teaching of science principles in high school agriculture courses. The project initially involved 15 teams of science and agriculture teachers and was characterized by an extensive evaluation component consisting of six formal…

Examines the benefits of flexible scheduling and the initial steps used in exploring this approach. Discusses the problem of loss of instructional time and the use of an independent research period as a solution. Presents results from an external assessment, ACT score data, and CTBS scores. (DDR)

Describes assignments in abstract writing as well-suited way to integrate writing into curriculum of large introductory geology courses. When students write abstracts on either assigned outside readings or special sections in their textbooks, they develop a concise writing style and polish their writing skills and also increase their understanding…

This teacher's guide and accompanying videotape present the JASON Project. The guide features a workbook format using an interdisciplinary approach to include geography, climate, biology, history, geology, culture, and literature. The JASON Project targets grades 4-9 and involves real life science with the inquiry approach and multimedia…

This evaluation report investigates the effectiveness of the Unified Science and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) program during the academic year, 1973-74. USMES is a curricular program designed to develop the problem solving abilities of students attending grades one through eight. The goal of the program is the development of 32…

Author describes use of writing assignments to help ninth grade students learn earth science and increase their interest in it. Presents advice for both formal writing assignments (laboratory reports and library-research papers) and informal assignments (learning logs or journals and role writing). Frequent review and encouragement with lots of…

Among the goals of multicultural and social reconstructionist education are to improve academic achievement, increase appreciation for cultural differences, develop problem-solving skills, and encourage social action. This curriculum unit is concerned with the infusion of multicultural ideals into the elementary science curriculum. A total of 10…

The need to reinforce the skills of science teachers and supervisors and the need to increase student performance in the sciences have become critical national concerns. The importance of quality science education grows as science and technology continue to be major factors in our daily lives. New York City has recognized the need to enhance…

This instructional package suggests objectives, activities, and evaluation methods for use in an elementary school minicourse on energy. Objectives are to help students become aware of the present energy situation and to make more intelligent energy-related decisions in the future. Activities involve language arts, science, math, social studies,…