Examining Instructional Practices of Elementary Science Teachers for Mathematics and Literacy Integration

School Science and Mathematics, Dec 2003 by Douville, Patricia, Pugalee, David K, Wallace, Josephine D

Integration of content in core disciplines is viewed as an important curricular component in promoting scientific literacy. This study characterized the current practices of a group of elementary teachers relative to their development of interdisciplinary links between science, mathematics, and literacy. A qualitative analysis of survey data showed that there were substantial differences in the use of a well-developed process for integrating instruction. Teachers also lacked a conceptual connection to integration, showed contradictions in the importance placed on handson experiences, used measurement as the primary interdisciplinary connection between mathematics and science, and did not use instructional strategies designed specifically for nonfiction/ expository text. The findings underscore the need for professional development that assists teachers in changing their conceptual perspectives to integration while also building pedagogical knowledge related to integration of science, mathematics, and literacy.

Science should be an integral part of the elementary curriculum; yet, science is often de-emphasized in order to give students more time for the development of mathematics and language arts skills. Part of the reason for this de-emphasis is the focus on high stakes testing that instructionally prioritizes these subjects (Jones et al., 1999). Teachers need opportunities to develop skills that support standards-based science instruction while implementing state and national standards that emphasize mathematics and literacy. One key to addressing these concerns is the development of interdisciplinary links between science, mathematics, and literacy. This study will provide a characterization of a cadre of elementary teachers' current practices in integrating mathematics and literacy into science instruction. Identification of current skills is essential to enhancing those skills and building capacity for support of science instruction.

Background

Building cross-curricular connections is vital in the development of scientific literacy. The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) emphasized the importance of connecting a study of science to other school subjects. These standards asserted that student achievement in science and in other school subjects is enhanced by coordination between the science program and other programs (p. 214). Such coordination includes attention to the language arts program, emphasizing oral and written communication skills, as well as the development of skills in reading and comprehending both narrative and expository text. This emphasis on a coordinated literacy program provides students with experiences and activities that help them read, write, speak, listen, view, and visually represent (International Reading Association, 1996). Coordination of the science program with mathematics allows students to apply and practice the necessary mathematical skills and concepts before and during their use in science. Such coordination reinforces the ideas of investigation and experimentation emphasized in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) standards.

Although definitions of integration vary greatly, most contemporary investigations of curriculum design reflect the notion that integration is best conceptualized as a continuum along which curricular connections increase (Drake, 1998). Jacobs (1989) used the metaphor of an artist's pallet to describe the integration options available to teachers. Depending upon the instructional environment, tasks, and obj ectives, teachers can select integration options from the pallet of choices representing the best design fit for their students and themselves. For the purposes of the study, integration will be defined broadly as providing instruction that cuts across subject matter lines, bringing together various curricular aspects into a meaningful association that focuses on broad areas of study (Shoemaker, 1989).

Support for integrating disciplines across the curriculum is found in benefits both to teachers and students. Teachers develop professionally as they construct curricular connections and investigate novel instructional strategies that provide appropriate fits with integrated instruction. Because instruction is not relegated to skills taught in isolation from the rest of the curriculum, students benefit from integrated curriculum that makes meaningful use of academic skills and materials in real-world learning activities. The potential for meeting the individual differences of students is also enhanced within an integrated curriculum. When students are able to use literacy skills to learn about science and mathematics, opportunities are provided for the development of multiple intelligences (Drake, 1998; Wood, 1997). Nuthall (1999) contended that, when concepts are elaborated through the interdisciplinary links reflected in integrated instruction, information is recalled more easily for subsequent problem-solving tasks. He asserted that these interdisciplinary links result in a learning process that is dynamic because it actually "feeds on itself (p. 336). Finally, the activation and extension of conceptual understanding within an integrated curriculum fosters the type of learning engagement that stimulates students' motivation for learning (Guthrie, Anderson, Alao, & Rinehart, 1996).