This paper focuses on a transdisciplinary research project in a historically underrepresented public school in Toronto, Canada. At the intersection of elementary science, technology, and arts-based curriculum, the project employs the feminist new materialist practice of "diffraction" (Barad, 2007) in an after-school robotics club.…

Multimodal studies posit that meaning is not only communicated through spoken and written words, but also through other modes such as images, gesture, gaze, proximity etc. The widespread availability of high-quality, miniaturised audio and video recording and storing technology has made multimodal data collection cheap and easy. However, the…

This paper explores the influence of the concept of interdisciplinarity on the work of educational technologists and others involved in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) research. There is a growing recognition of the need for interdisciplinarity in solving complex research problems in many areas of science. Technology-enhanced learning is a…

Recent research has shown that experiencing trauma in childhood may have a significant effect on school performance, particularly in the occupational performance areas of education, social participation, and play. This article highlights how occupational therapists working in the public schools can play a unique supportive role for these children…

Approximately 1 billion metric tons of food are lost each year due to mycotoxins (FAO 2013), secondary metabolites produced by fungi (Marin et al. 2013) that contaminate crops (Placinta, D'Mello, and MacDonald 1999) and threaten the health of domestic animals and humans (Sobrova et al. 2010). The fungus "Fusarium graminearum" produces…

The recent movement to include art and design in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has made Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) an increasingly common acronym in the education lexicon. The STEAM movement builds on existing models of interdisciplinary curriculum, but what makes the union…

It would be safe to say that nearly every student enrolled in college knows someone who has been impacted by cancer. After all, cancer killed nearly 8.2 million people worldwide in 2012 (International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2014). Using this fact as the impetus for change, we decided to make cancer the focus of a…

In 2009, The Common Core Standards shifted the English language arts focus from narrative to expository text, arguing that most texts read in college and workforce training programs are informational. By the time students are in twelfth grade, they are expected to read informational text 70% of the time. This can be challenging for English…

This case study explores how a problem-based learning (PBL), graduate education course could be organized in ways that utilize the current knowledge of how people learn within diverse, real world community settings. Students were asked to identify an educational enterprise and a social problem within a culturally diverse, high-need community.…

Industrial design education is focused on teaching a combination of various interdisciplinary competencies. One of these projected learning outcomes is to be able to design mechanisms in order to fulfil certain mechanical constraints in products. Studies show that theoretical knowledge supported by practice helps to teach industrial design…

Student participation in municipal disaster drills can enhance geographic skill sets as well as build community resilience to local hazards. In these drills, students often assume the role of victims to help test local emergency response services. Teaching in an interdisciplinary department, we incorporate these field-based learning opportunities…

Ongoing changes in mental and personal characteristics of the modern child initiate the updating of means and forms of education. And they, in their turn, update methodological techniques and approaches to the use of methods during the math class. The source of updating methodological techniques may be the principles used when solving scientific…

This essay addresses theories, research, and practices of promoting arts and social justice across the curriculum toward collaboration between schools and their surrounding communities. As secondary students grapple with challenging issues, they can extend their learning experience in meaningful ways with creative expressions in the visual,…

Increasing numbers of children in Texas communities and across the U.S. are immigrants. One way to support students in exploring the history and contemporary topic of immigration through literacy is with inquiry, a teaching method that centers around students' questions, incorporates informational and narrative texts, and creates opportunities for…

A modified essay is an open-ended question about clinical presentations, with the goal to test application of basic science principles to novel scenarios. Due to high reliability and validity, multiple-choice question (MCQ) examinations are more commonly used. We have employed a combination of MCQ and modified essay examinations in medical school.…