Teaching design and product development at upper secondary school level in Sweden is a matter of interdisciplinary considerations. Education in product development, at this level, prepares students for further studies and career in engineering or industrial design. Knowledge of artefacts is an important element in the education. In coherence with…

New curricular orientations in the secondary schools of many Western countries invite teachers of STEM school subjects (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) to integrate these school subjects (Czerniak, 2008). In Quebec, such interdisciplinarity is not a mere recommendation, but an official component of the curriculum (a…

Purpose: At a time when secondary vocational education is implementing competence-based education (CBE) on a large scale, to adapt to the needs of students and of the labour market in a modern society, many vocational schools have recognised that interdisciplinary teacher teams are an important condition for this implementation. In order to…

A recent trend in developed countries' school curricula has been the transition from disciplinary to generic forms of knowledge, resulting in an emphasis on interdisciplinary organisation and more active forms of learning. Subject specialists are increasingly expected to demonstrate how their subject interconnects and equips pupils with key life…

The purpose of this investigation is to tell the story of how six states are developing Programs of Study (POS) as mandated by the Perkins IV federal legislation. The authors' effort focuses on how states' technical assistance systems evolved and what successes and challenges existed for states developing POS. There was no intent to compare one…

Presents an interview with Thomas McGovern, professor and cofounder of the interdisciplinary Department of Integrative Studies at Arizona State University West (Phoenix, Arizona). Focuses on McGovern's interest in curricular reform, his view related to any benefits for psychology from interacting with other disciplines, and the composition of…

Interview data exemplify students' attempts to integrate the concepts of electrochemistry with related knowledge that they had previously constructed or acquired in other classes. The implications for minimizing potential misconceptions center on the difficulties students experience when using more than one model for explaining scientific…

Reports results of a study that investigated whether the objectives of teaching computer science as an independent subject are met when computer science is integrated with school subjects. Components of a formal (independent) curriculum, identified through interviews with computer science experts, are compared with the operational (integrated)…

A case study of the implementation of a school's environmental education program revealed that planning ahead and teacher participation in decision making are imperative. The implementation of a sound environmental program requires that teachers understand the philosophical and pedagogical nature of environmental education to relate it to their…

This teacher guide and student community research guide unit are intended to help students learn to conduct research in their community and to communicate the results of that research to classmates and others. The unit, which can be used in conjunction with a video, helps students learn about community research, oral history, and folklore…

Students nearing high school graduation need more than the skills and information given them in the past 12 years; they also need to know "how" to learn. The Senior Seminar, which is a program offering a semester of interdisciplinary experiential learning, teaches students to become independent, self-directed learners by first presenting…

This book was prepared to enable schools to incorporate material on the Caribbean into existing curricula. Four aims guided the editors in their selection and presentation of materials: (1) to show Caribbean history and contemporary realities through the eyes of ordinary people, both real and fictional; (2) to promote critical thinking rather than…

This guide, which is based on the Foxfire project (see SO 009 021 for project description), is full of practical suggestions to help secondary school students put together a magazine using stories from their own communities. Contents include the following: choosing a name for the magazine; how to organize staff; story ideas to choose from; sample…

Describes teaching methods used to prepare students for conducting oral history interviews. Fishbowl interviews consist of a behavior-modeling exercise where the teacher interviews a guest in front of the class. Examines other instructional techniques such as role playing and paired interviewing. (MJP)

Maintains that the primary goal of social studies instruction is the development of civic competence. Describes a Vietnam War interview project incorporating oral history techniques. Includes a grading sheet, a project description sheet, a list of interview questions, and a sample interview. (CFR)