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Unified Science Teaching

Unified Science Teaching. Integrated versus Interdisciplinary? Is there a meaningful difference? An instructional or curricular problem? How is unified teaching done? Why is unified teaching done?. Definition of Terms. Interdisciplinary Curriculum (‘70s-‘80s approach)

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Unified Science Teaching

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  1. Unified Science Teaching • Integrated versus Interdisciplinary? • Is there a meaningful difference? • An instructional or curricular problem? • How is unified teaching done? • Why is unified teaching done?

  2. Definition of Terms • Interdisciplinary Curriculum (‘70s-‘80s approach) • consisting of things or parts (like vegetable soup) • disciplines remain distinct and clear (using multiple teachers) • Science/Technology/Society structure typical (frequently failed because students lacked adequate STS knowledge) • Integrated Curriculum (approach of the 1990s) • combined or undivided whole (like tomato soup) • no clear distinction within math and the sciences • organized around realworld problems • Thematic or Topical Curriculum (often physics) • discipline-based curriculum • uses selected themes or topics as organizers

  3. Why Use Unified Science Teaching Approaches? • To engage more students in science. • science seen as uninteresting as students do not see science as a career possibility • science seen as dull as it lacks personal and/or social context • To prepare students to use science • engages students in science • aids in transfer and retention • To help students develop skills sythesizing information, viewing problems holistically, and looking at interrelated dimensions of a problem. • To help deal with artifical fragmentation of the disciplines by the school schedule.

  4. Concept-based Physics Curricula • Active Physics (sports, health & medicine, home, predicting the future, transportation, communications & information) • Principles of Technology (force, work, rate, resistance, energy, power, force transformers)

  5. Object-based Physics Curricula • Physics of Technology Series (AIP/AAPT): • the bicycle • the camera • the pressure cooker • the Geiger counter • the multimeter • the incandescent bulb • the photosensor • Amusement Park Physics • The Technology of the Automobile (indep.)

  6. Designing a Unified Unit • Consider first the metacurricular design. • What is worth knowing? • What do students need to know? • What is the real curriculum? • Steps of curriculum design: • select an organizing center • brainstorm associations • establish guiding questions to limit scope and organize sequence • select activities for implementation • Follow with instructional development.

  7. Example of an Integrated Lesson: Physics/Biology/Chemistry • Organizing Topic -- Vision • Object - The Eye • Elements: • biology of the physical system • physics of the optical components • chemistry of light-nerve reactions • Steps: • dissect eye cubes and identify parts • explain workings of cornea, lens, iris, and retina • discuss the chemical workings of the eye • work with eye lab models

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