The purpose of this study was to uncover the factors that may influence K-3 inservice teachers’ implementation of integrated curriculum (IC). To provide a consistent research base, the broad definition of IC and Jacob’s model were adopted to clarify the controversial concept of IC. Survey data were collected from forty-two teachers from ten school districts in Ohio. Results showed that most teachers implemented IC on a regular basis; however, they preferred to use less integrated forms of the curriculum. In addition, the study revealed that though teachers overwhelmingly believed in the effectiveness of IC and their own knowledge and skills on IC, their agreement levels about other factors that might affect IC implementation varied. Teachers’ planning time and compatible working hours with their colleagues were identified as the significant predictors affecting teachers’ frequency of using IC. Community support, colleague support and teachers’ knowledge and skills of implementing IC were found to moderately influence the form of IC most frequently adopted by those K-3 teachers. Educational implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

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The Relationship between Attention Levels and Class Participation of First-Year Students in Classroom Teaching Departments.

Although interdisciplinary approaches to education are found throughout the West, interdisciplinarity is not everywhere conceived and implemented the same way. Adopting a socio-historical perspective, this article presents two conceptions of interdisciplinarity in primary and middle school education (though the conceptions are apparent at other levels, also), one Anglo-Saxon and American, based on the notion of curriculum, the other French and European, based on the notion of 1 This article and all of its French quotations have been translated by Joachim Lépine, university instructor and translator. Lenoir, Hasni, & Froelich 40 didactics. The Anglo-Saxon and American conception promotes a functional, pragmatic and utilitarian reading of interdisciplinarity that translates, in education, into a greater focus on pedagogical methods in order to promote learning processes and to address societal problems, questions, and phenomena related to the real world. The Francophone European conception for its part puts greater emphasis on the question of epistemology, on the theoretical question of the meaning of interrelationships between disciplines, and hence on the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge. To conclude, we will bring attention to the greater complementarity observed between these two approaches in education today, in the context of globalization, universalization (on economic, social, cultural, and political levels), and internationalization of exchanges. Indeed, these two approaches effectively combine the operational modes of interdisciplinary work (the “how”) with the aims pursued (the “why”) and the cognitive contents (the “what”).

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Curricular and Didactic Conceptions of Interdisciplinarity in the Field of Education: A Socio-Historical Perspective.

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Teachers' Perspectives: Factors That Impact Implementation of Integrated Curriculum in K-3 Classrooms.

This The study presented in this paper sought to offer a group of 21 preservice teachers with opportunities to learn about interdisciplinary mathematics pedagogy, plus the experience of implementing interdisciplinary mathematics pedagogy with real elementary students. The current study provided the participating preservice teachers’ with an opportunity to reflect upon the potential advantages, as well as challenges, involved in developing music into an educational resource for teaching engaging elementary mathematics lessons. Analysis of the 391 pieces of qualitative reflections that were collected from the participating preservice teachers during focus group discussions, individual interviews, and self-refection essays, revealed the participants’ general perceptions about the benefits and challenges of teaching mathematics through music activities.

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Learning to Teach Music-themed Mathematics: An Examination of Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs about Developing and Implementing Interdisciplinary Mathematics Pedagogy

STEM education is advocated as enhancing learning in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics through delivering meaningful learning experiences to students. Although the benefits of integrating STEM into school curricula appear to warrant implementation, observations are that many teachers and pre-service teachers are not adopting STEM education. Opportunities to address STEM education with pre-service teachers may be stymied by the pre-service teachers’ conceptualisations of how they use mathematics and how their students will use the mathematical concepts learnt in the classroom. This study examined links between pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their use of mathematics in their everyday lives and their beliefs regarding the relevance of classroom mathematics to students’ everyday lives. The participants (n=698) were first year Early Childhood and Primary pre-service teacher education students and they completed an instrument measuring their conceptualisations of mathematics. Pre-service teacher profiles were created based on the level of agreement indicated towards specific statements based on how mathematics was conceptualised from the data collected. Results suggest that pre-service teachers’ conceptualisations of mathematics relates to their attitudes towards their use of mathematics in their everyday lives, numeracy in everyday life, and classroom mathematics. The study proposes that pre-service teachers’ personal use of mathematics in decision making and the perception of the relevance of mathematics to children’s everyday lives are identification factors in STEM being integrated into their teaching practice. Discussion of this research centres on the potential implications for the development of STEM experiences in pre-service teacher education.

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Exploring STEM education through pre-service teacher conceptualisations of mathematics

In this qualitative research study, we sought to understand teachers' conceptions of integrated mathematics. The participants were teachers in the first year of implementation of a state-mandated, high school integrated mathematics curriculum. The primary data sources for this study included focus group and individual interviews. Through our analysis, we found that the teachers had varied conceptions of what the term integrated meant in reference to mathematics curricula. These varied conceptions led to the development of the Conceptions of Integrated Mathematics Curricula Framework describing the different conceptions of integrated mathematics held by the teachers. The four conceptions—integration by strands, integration by topics, interdisciplinary integration, and contextual integration—refer to the different ideas teachers connect as well as the time frame over which these connections are emphasized. The results indicate that even when teachers use the same integrated mathematics curriculum, they may have varying conceptions of which ideas they are supposed to connect and how these connections can be emphasized. These varied conceptions of integration among teachers may lead students to experience the same adopted curriculum in very different ways.

Teachers' Conceptions of Integrated Mathematics Curricula.

The state of Georgia has recognized the drastic need to recruit and produce highly qualified mathematics teachers. House Bill 280 attempts to address the shortage of fully certified secondary mathematics and science teachers by offering additional compensation to aide recruitment. While House Bill 280 may provide some methods for the recruitment of highly qualified mathematics teachers by providing additional compensation, the question of how to retain such highly qualified teachers is still left unanswered. Exploring the evolution of the teacher pay models as well as endeavors in alternative forms of compensation inform our discussion of House Bill 280. This understanding will provide a perspective in a critical evaluation of the bill and corresponding recommendations.

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Anne Marie Marshall

Papers

Teachers' Conceptions of Integrated Mathematics Curricula.

Georgia's Compensation Model: A Step in the Right Direction