Development of an integrated learning framework for STEM learning

As part of an NSF Math Science Partnership project targeting mathematics and science learning, our project is delivering a set of courses to high school mathematics and science teachers that integrates relevant mathematics, science, and engineering concepts and practice. These courses will promote conceptual competence in core content and key process behaviors in scientific inquiry, mathematical problem solving, and engineering design. A distinctive element of this effort is a commitment to design a coherent approach consistent with existing scholarship in the fields of STEM education. An early result of this effort has been the recognition by the project's mathematics, science, and engineering faculty researchers of the need for an overarching learning framework that elucidates the commonalities, the distinctions, and the relationships between the learning and practice of mathematics, science and engineering. The starting point for development of this STEM learning framework is research on learning frameworks already developed by psychologists and by math, science, and engineering educators. Preliminary work developing this framework has shown that although the process behaviors of mathematical problem solving, scientific method, and engineering design can be described using roughly similar overall frameworks, many elements of the frameworks do not map directly onto one another. We propose that clearly elaborating such similarities and differences in the process behavior frameworks for mathematics, science and engineering may illuminate difficulties in the integration of instruction for these fields. Further, we predict that by systematically engaging teachers in activities relating the nature of mathematics, science, and engineering practice over a long-term professional development experience, we will observe improvements in their ability to offer coherent mathematics and science programs in their schools leading to improved student preparation for STEM undergraduate programs.