Development of theme-based, interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum: A theoretical model

School Science and Mathematics, Oct 1998 by Lonning, Robert A, DeFranco, Thomas C, Weinland, Thomas P

Interest in interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum development continues to increase. However, teachers who have been given primary responsibility for developing these materials are often working with little guidance. A model for developing theme-based, interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum is presented in this article. The model includes two phases, a theme creation phase and an activity refinement phase. Validity criteria from the interdisciplinary curriculum literature are used to assess the power of potential themes. An integration continuum model is used to facilitate refinement of activities included in the theme-based instruction. The curriculum development model is used to clarify the meaning of the terms theme-based, interdisciplinary, and integrated. The model is intended to be used by curriculum developers to facilitate the creation of powerful interdisciplinary lessons.

Over the past 10 years, reform efforts in mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts have redefined the K- 12 curriculum. National organizations and various reform documents (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics [NCTM],1989,1991,1995; National Research Council, [NRC],1989,1996; Rutherford & Ahlgren,1990) have called upon educators to reexamine teaching practice and the curriculum across the disciplines. One aspect of curriculum revision receiving particular attention is the role and nature of themebased, interdisciplinary, integrated (I) curriculum.

The purpose of teaching an II curriculum is clearit provides an opportunity for students to understand concepts in a larger context. Calls for integration of mathematics and science are not new. The earliest reference to integration in A Bibliography of Integrated Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning Literature (Berlin,1991) was published in 1905 in School Science and Mathematics. Since that time there have been numerous articles, curriculum projects, and symposia dedicated to promoting integration (Berlin, 1991). Although the idea of an IMI curriculum is not new, implementing it properly at the K-12 level remains problematic today. For example, curriculum writers and teachers are faced with the challenge of finding and/or developing II units appropriate to the curriculum. This task is made difficult by the confusing interpretations attributed to the terms theme-based, interdisciplinary, and integrated (Davison, Miller, & Methany, 1995) and a lack of models to help guide curriculum writers to develop such units.

For the past 5 years, the School of Education of the University of Connecticut has implemented a block of methods courses for elementary education majors that includes mathematics, science, social studies, and reading (Lonning and DeFranco, 1994). Four credits of this block (one credit of general methods and three credits of interdisciplinary methods) are team taught by education faculty members from mathematics, science, and social studies. A major focus for this block is the development of thematic I/I curriculum. Since there is no universal agreement on the meanings of the terms thematic, interdisciplinary, and integrated, it is necessary to explain how the terms are used in this article. The definitions for thematic and interdisciplinary are taken from the work of Jacobs (1989). The use of the term integrated has been explored in Lonning and DeFranco (1997). In the following section, these terms as they relate to the issues examined in this paper are discussed, and the ways in which the authors' thinking about them has evolved is briefly described.

Theme

A theme is a topic, concept, problem, or issue providing both a focus and organizing framework that guide the development and implementation of a cohesive, interrelated series of lessons or activities. In addition, well-conceived themes have the capability of providing "a metacognitive bonus-a `powerful idea,' a cross-cutting idea, a perspective on perspective taking-that may be of great value" (Ackerman, 1989, p. 29). Selection of appropriate themes seems to be the key to providing instruction that is potentially more meaningful when taught in an interdisciplinary fashion than when the concepts are taught separately. A major focus of this paper is an examination of theme selection. A model is described which illustrates the process the authors have used to create themes.

Interdisciplinary

Interdisciplinary refers to a knowledge view and curriculum approach that consciously applies methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience (Jacobs, 1989). As stated earlier, the authors have been involved in developing interdisciplinary curricula that includes mathematics, science, social studies, and reading as part of a preservice methods course for elementary education majors. Through this process, an increased understanding of the interrelationships between these disciplines has been gained, as well as a deeper understanding of individual disciplines.