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MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULA.   Term Paper ID:29435 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Review of studies on interdisciplinary units. How units are implemented. Effectiveness of an integrated curriculum. Sharing the same teachers for different course subjects. Basic elements of interdisciplinary units. Elements of successful implementation strategies. Positive benefits. Factors that obstruct successful implementation. Suggests need for internal locus of control. Paper Introduction: Introduction The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on interdisciplinary units as used in the middle school emphasizing those studies that have examined the benefits of interdisciplinary units and how they are implemented. Based on the reviewed research, a testable hypothesis about interdisciplinary units as used in middle school is proposed. Review of the Literature Definition Davis (1999) reports that: Research on the best practices at the middle school level suggests that early adolescent students need an educational environment that is unlike elementary or high school. Young people between the ages of 10 and 14 are experiencing rapid Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The paper thenwent on to examine the existing knowledge base on interdisciplinary unitsin middle schools. Theintegrated curriculum presented to students consisted of helping them tosee the relationship between education and career. High school factors thatinfluence students to remain in school. Do you really know what you're getting into withinterdisciplinary instruction. Brown, J., Goldston, S. Testable Hypothesis The existing literature on locus of control for success in studentsindicate that it can be a strong contributor to student performance(Mandel, Dean & Marcus (1996). Interdisciplinary unit onastronomy: Grade 8. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Factors such as personal definition of integrated curriculum,knowledge of early adolescent development, and pedagogy were identified asintrinsic factors that influenced the design of integrated units,instructional methods, and instructional roles in the classroom.Furthermore, extrinsic factors such as curriculum standards, schoolstructures and support from team members and the administration had adirect impact on what and how teachers teach. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. Review of the LiteratureDefinition Davis (1999) reports that: Research on the best practices at the middle school level suggests that early adolescent students need an educational environment that is unlike elementary or high school. (199 ). Subjects in the study were 459 studentsattending four school districts in the Midwest. In this regard, she notes thatdevelopmental theory and research suggest that the middle years are thetime children move from the stage of concrete to formal operations. Students are said to deepen their sense of belonging; improve theirability to think critically; improve their communication skills; develop asense of responsibility, and to learn the kind of skills necessary toachieve common goals. (1996). 1885. The difficulty many middle school students experience in masteringabstract grammar concepts may not be as much a reflection of aptitude as ofcognitive maturity. Given the foregoing, it seems reasonable to state that anytestable hypothesis formulated about the relationship between academicperformance and locus of control for middle students exposed to aninterdisciplinary unit should be formulated as a null thesis. (1994). Journal of Educational Research,85, 69-8 . 1885) According to Lounsbury (1992) since the 196 s, one way of providingmiddle school children with the kind of curricula and instruction that theyneed is through interdisciplinary eduction. She feels that,generally, the core team should consist of teachers of mathematics,science, social studies, and English/reading/language arts---no matter whatthe particular subjects they school wishes to integrate. Middle schools and foreign languages: A view for thefuture. Davis, C.L. These include: allowing: teachers todevelop a more complete understanding of students as individuals and animproved ability to solve learning problems before they reach the crisisstage. These include: personality incompatibilitiesamong teachers, problems designing instruction that challenges the smarteststudents in class and also motivates low achievers. While several factors were examined in relation to what makes theimplementation of interdisciplinary units effective, one factor that wasnot looked at in any of the existing research literature is what has cometo be known as students "locus of control." Ainley, Foreman and Sheret(1991) define locus of control as the extent to which a person attributeshis or her life circumstances and events to internal agents (e.g., hope,effort, purpose, patience, determination, etc.) or to external agents(fate, powerful others, luck, etc.). & Marcus, S.I. Document available:www.lisd.net/intra/midcurr/curridea/acmsintd.htm. Here, teachers make connections when two or more disciplinescoincide. Could do it better: Whychildren underachieve and what to do about it. Connecting the curriculum throughinterdisciplinary instruction. How newconcepts are acquired will be influenced by maturational development. Developing positive attitudes toward school in amiddle school dropout prevention program using interdisciplinary units.(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. (1996). It isrecommended that they also be allowed more sheltered opportunities such assmall group or student-teacher interaction. For example, Spanish teachers may teach certain cultureobjectives when social studies teachers are working on a unit on LatinAmerica. In other words, these units have been examinedfor their effects on dropout prevention. Clair, B. She further notes that group workoften allows students to move about the room and should be used as part ofthe general instructional strategy. (2 ). & Sheret, M. It was noted that teachers attempt to show studentsthe relationships between the two disciplines and to have them work oncommon goals using a common set of rules and expectations. Met (1996) listedseveral of these in her discussion of how to implement an interdisciplinaryunit with respect to ESL students. In order to meet these needs, middle school curriculum must provide opportunities for students to broaden their knowledge base, explore areas of interest, and acquire a sense of self as they seek to understand their place within the larger society. Based on the reviewed research, a testable hypothesisabout interdisciplinary units as used in middle school is proposed. & North, J. Norris (199 ) investigated whether the interdisciplinary unit coulddevelop more positive attitudes in a sample of at-risk students attendingmiddle school in Florida. Middle School Journal, 25(4), 32-34.----------------------- 13 There are some problems with implementing interdisciplinary unitseffectively. It is noted that teachers may agree to teach their individual yetcomplementary units at the same time, or they may plan jointly to ensuremutual reinforcement and enrichment. NY: Wiley. The first of these is the thematicunit in which all teachers on the team organize the content and skills oftheir discipline around a predetermined theme. Clair (1995) examined for its impact onstudents' problem-solving ability. Norris, V.P. Schroth notes thatcooperative team planning is a complex challenge with marked differencesthan what instructors are used to, namely simple information-sharing.Summary and Conclusions In this paper, interdisciplinary units were defined as two or moreteachers simultaneously teaching at least two course subjects using anintegrated curriculum. In another study of the effects of interdisciplinary units on middleschool children, Hough and St. ED 328 811). Because there hasnot been any exploration of this factor in relation to the level ofperformance middle school students achieve in their interdisciplinaryclasses, it is here concluded that the existing knowledge base wouldbenefit from such an investigation which would shed light on an additionalfactor that may be important in the success levels attained by middleschool students exposed to interdisciplinary units. It was concluded thatextrinsic factors were often so powerful that no matter how strong ateacher's professional beliefs about teaching and learning, extrinsicfactors determined the direction of these programs. ED 362 262). In this regard, Lounsbury (1992) reports that schools find itdifficult to restructure content-separated curriculum into a moreinterdisciplinary, or integrated, one. However, Met notes thatsometimes team-wide thematic units have caused concern for teachers who seecertain themes as incongruent with the objectives of their discipline.However, she reports that usually creative teachers can find a resolutionto this problem. Norris (199 ) statedthat evaluative data indicated that students had more positive attitudestoward education in general and toward their school in particular followingexposure to the program. The result is that they feel empowered for participation inschool and tend to have higher levels of academic performance, higherlevels of overall achievement, and to generally get more out of theirclasses than other students. Most of the study body consisted of poor black students. The use of hands-on materials and manipulatives is said by Met tosatisfy the maturational need for movement and address the needs ofkinesthetic and tactile learners and is, therefore, recommended by Met(1996) as another implementation strategy that increases the chance of aninterdisciplinary unit being successful. However, all studentsexpressed interest and excitement in the unit and teachers were verypleased with the process.Implementation What are the important elements associated with properly andsuccessfully implementing an interdisciplinary unit? The project administrator obtained material; arranged initial andculminating experiences for each unit; evaluated each unit; led a teacherworkshop; and supervised and maintained the project. The effects of integratedcurricula on young adolescent problem-solving. The basic elements of interdisciplinary units, according to Lounsbury(1992) include having teachers show relationships between subjects sostudents can have a fuller understanding of them, e.g., the relationshipbetween mathematics, science and reading. In this strategy, teachers from two or more disciplineswill focus on teaching students pre-agreed upon learning strategies orthinking skills as part of the content in each of the integrateddisciplines. (1992). DissertationAbstracts International, 6 (6-A), p. Hough, D.L. The use of interdisciplinary units in middle school is associatedwith many positive benefits including: better and more knowledgeablerelationships between students and teachers; improvement of studentsproblem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills; a deepeningsense of belongingness; improved ability of teachers to spot potentialproblems students are having learning the material; an improved ability forstudents to work collaboratively; the development of more positiveattitudes toward school and education; and an improvements in students'sense of personal responsibility. Mandel, H.P., Dean, L. (p. Finally, Met (1996) feels that the implementation ofinterdisciplinary units must make them developmentally appropriate inrelation to students' cognitive growth. These teams, Metfeels, must meet daily to plan and deliver instruction to meet therequirements of the curriculum. Schroth, G. Met, M. Thus, thefollowing null hypothesis is proposed for testing: Null Hypothesis - The academic performance levels of middle schoolstudents with an internal locus of control for success will not besignificantly different than the academic performance levels of middleschool students that do not have an internal locus of control for successwhere "academic performance" is measured by students' overall GPA for theinterdisciplinary unit. The third recommended implementation strategy is to focus on thinkingskills development. Young people between the ages of 1 and 14 are experiencing rapid changes in their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. In this regard, Lounsburydefines an "interdisciplinary unit" as a class of students who share thesame teachers for different course subjects using an integrated curriculum.For example, Brown, Goldston and North (2 ) have developed aninterdisciplinary unit for eighth grade students in which theysimultaneously learn math and astronomy. Introduction The purpose of this paper is to review the literature oninterdisciplinary units as used in the middle school emphasizing thosestudies that have examined the benefits of interdisciplinary units and howthey are implemented. It is also noted by Met (1996) that if schools wish to have asuccessful interdisciplinary unit, instruction must be student-sensitivewhich is to say that it should not violate those developmental areas thatstudents feel embarrassed or emotionally tentative about. Thus, Met (1996) states that these students willbenefit more from concrete experiences, such as vocabulary presentedthrough direct experiences, manipulation of real objects, and pictures, allset in a meaningful context. Research in Middle LevelEducation Quarterly, 19(1), 1-25. Met's (1996) second recommendation is the curricular connectionstrategy. (1995). Schroth (1994) has also delineated anumber of difficulties that must be overcome in developing and implementinginterdisciplinary units. They must also understand the developmentalneeds of middle students. 2. The professional beliefs and the conditions thatsupport integrated curriculum in a New England middle school. ED 392 246). Lounsbury, J.H. The authors reported that when they compared pre- and posttest data,they found that students identified as formal operational thinkers madesignificant gains in their problem-solving ability, whereas gains ofconcrete thinkers were present but less strong. However, there have been no studies thathave specifically examined the effects of locus of control for success onthe academic achievement of middle school children exposed tointerdisciplinary units. For example, Metreports that instructional tasks should never consist of activities thatrequire students to generate physical descriptions or comparisons; this isbecause middle school students often feel awkward about their appearance.Further, Met (1996) states that teachers must understand that students canbe reluctant to stand before the class for individual presentations. The authors further note that internal locus of control has beenrepeatedly found to be crucial to student performance and achievement atall school levels across a wide variety of curricula and curricular designsand interventions. (1991). To this end, fourinterdisciplinary units which centered around the importance of education,decision making skills, critical thinking skills and career awareness weredeveloped. There are several factors that optimize or obstruct the successfulimplementation of interdisciplinary units including: the degree to whichteachers accept the philosophy underlying the interdisciplinary approach;the number of teachers involved in the instruction of any interdisciplinaryunit; the nature of the disciplines which the core team ofinterdisciplinary teachers are knowledgeable in; the frequency with whichteacher team planning occurs; possible incongruencies between the twodisciplines; the extent to which the teaching team focuses on improvingstudents' thinking skills; the degree to which teachers are sensitive tocertain psychoemotional and psychosocial difficulties associated with earlyadolescence as a maturational period; diversity in teacher's instructionalstrengths; diversity in instructional roles; the level of students'cognitive maturity. What this means is that the existing knowledgebase does not provide a firm foundation for the formulation of directionalhypothesis. Met (1996) also feels that interdisciplinary units work best whenthere is a great an integration as possible such as having a team or teamsof four or five teachers who serve 1 -2 students. Davis (1999) attempted to examine conditions that supported thesuccessful implementation of interdisciplinary units. Columbus, OH: National Middle SchoolAssociation. First, she states that instructors musthave a sound understanding and acceptance of the philosophy ofinterdisciplinary teaching. In addition,maintaining balance in the team during planning activities appeared tofavor optimal integration of curricula. References Ainley, J. Met (1996) also recommends certain strategies for use in integratinginstruction in different disciplines. & St. Implementationappeared to work best when: teachers' strength's were different and therewas a good deal of diversity in instructional roles. Specifically, Ainley, Foreman and Sheret (1991) statethat, in general, it has been found that some students have an internallocus of control for success which means that they tend to attribute schoolsuccesses to personal internal qualities and school failures to externalqualities. This review revealed several findings which can besummarized as follows: 1. (1999). According to Lounsbury (1992), these units areassociated with several effects. The foregoing findings lead to the question of whether having aninternal locus of control for success may affect the degree to which middlestudents learn and perform in interdisciplinary units. Foreman, J. Further, these units attempt towork on common goals using a common set of rules and expectations.Effects How successful is the interdisciplinary unit in terms of assistingstudents' efforts to learn. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.