Impressions of a Middle Grades STEM Integration Program

Educators share lessons learned from the implementation of a middle grades STEM curriculum model. Our ever-changing, increasingly global society faces many problems that are multidisciplinary, and solving them requires the integration and application of multiple science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts and skills. Yet, science and mathematics, too often, are taught as isolated subjects in school, and too few students choose to pursue studies in STEM disciplines (Chen & Weko, 2009; Farmer, 2009; Laird, Alt, & Wu, 2009; Lips & McNeill, 2009; Moore, 2007; National Science Board [NSB], 2007). Moreover, there is alarming evidence that U.S. students are receiving insufficient academic preparation in STEM education (Farmer, 2009; Laird, Alt, & Wu, 2009; Lips & McNeill, 2009; NSB, 2007; Starkman, 2007). National test scores suggest that many students in the United States finish the middle grades underprepared in STEM subjects. For example, on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science test, 41% of eighth graders scored below basic level (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2006), and 29% of eighth graders scored below basic on the 2007 NAEP mathematics test (NCES, 2007). The National Science Board's (NSB) national action plan for STEM echoes these concerns: The United States possesses the most innovative, technologically capable economy in the world, and yet its science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education system is failing to ensure that all American students receive the skills and knowledge required for success in the 21st century workforce." (NSB, 2007, p. 1) What can be done to help increase the number of adequately prepared students entering STEM fields? Recent efforts have focused on developing highquality STEM education, such as the National Science Foundation's Mathematics Science Technology Partnership (MSTP) project or widening and strengthening the STEM pathways from primary through postsecondary education (Chen & Weko, 2009; National Academy of Science, 2007). One way to increase student interest, engagement, and achievement in STEM disciplines may be through a more realistic, integrated approach to learning. Interdisciplinary or integrated education is "a holistic approach that links the disciplines so that the learning becomes connected, focused, meaningful, and relevant to learners" (Smith & Karr-Kidwell, 2000, p. 22). Integrated STEM education can thus be understood as interdisciplinary education that seeks to combine science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in one course. While integrated curriculum is not a new idea, integrated STEM curriculum is relatively new, and there is a need for research to improve and describe the impact of integrated STEM education curricula. This article describes the experiences of one Minnesota middle school that implemented a yearlong integrated STEM program with the cooperation of graduate student fellows from a local university. The authors, two of whom were among the graduate students involved in the project, describe their impressions of the program, share some lessons they and their schoolbased partners learned along the way, and offer some implications and recommendations for other schools considering STEM programs. Integrated curriculum and STEM Integrated curriculum has long been recommended at the middle level (National Middle School Association, 2010), as such an approach "provides opportunities for more relevant, less fragmented, and more stimulating experiences for learners" (Furner & Kumar, 2007, p. 186). However, a common and explicit understanding of integration continues to be a significant obstacle to effective implementation (Berlin & White, 1995; Frykholm & Glasson, 2005; Stinson, Harkness, Meyer, & Stallworth, 2009). For example, many terms in the literature refer to integration, such as cross-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and fused (e. …