"Self-determined learning, also called heutagogy, is an educational phenomenon that is sweeping the world. From Brazil to Germany, England to Australia, the US to the Czech Republic, traditional teaching-centered approaches are being replaced by an approach that focuses on learning: what do you want to learn? How will you learn it? Who are your leading guides? How will your learning success be measured? This book shares stories of pioneers in self-determined learning. These pioneers describe how they have dealt with the challenges and provide practical guidance and lessons learned for those ready to undertake the journey toward self-determined learning.

This curriculum guide is designed to help learners develop critical thinking skills from engaging in interdisciplinary activities while in the natural environment. The lessons are divided by grade level. You will find lessons for students to develop skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) as well as in Social Studies, Language Arts, Writing and Art. These learning experiences will help students gain awareness of their environment, enabling them to see the world in a more holistic way.

In this book, a group of educators examine the reputed merits of the interdisciplinary curriculum movement that has gained wisespread popularity in recent years. They explore the complex texture of what actually happens in the classroom when theory meets reality. Some topics addressed are: how teachers with diverse backgrounds come together to plan curricula; what happens to school culture when an interdisciplinary effort is spearheaded by administrators; and what transpires when new curricula are put into practice either at the local school level or across major urban districts.

Offers a contemporary of our understanding and practice of interdisciplinary higher education. This book considers a range of theoretical perspectives on interdisciplinarity: the nature of disciplines, complexity, leadership, group working, and academic development.

Student-scientist-teacher interactions provide students with several advantages. They provide opportunities to interact with experts and professionals in the field, give students a chance at meeting a role model that may impact students' career choices, and increase awareness of available career options combined with an understanding of how their skills and interests affect their career decisions. Additionally, it enhances attitudes and interest toward STEM professions for students and grants opportunities to connect with scientists as human beings and see them as "real people," replacing stereotypical perceptions of scientists. Moreover, there are many advantages for the teacher or informal educator when these partnerships are established. For these reasons and more, numerous studies are often conducted involving the partnerships of students, scientists, and teachers. Enhancing Learning Opportunities Through Student, Scientist, and Teacher Partnerships organizes a collection of research on student-scientist-teacher partnerships and presents the models, benefits, implementation, and learning outcomes of these interactions. This book presents a variety of different scientist-student-teacher partnerships with research data to support different learning outcomes in settings like schools, after-school programs, museums, science centers, zoos, aquariums, children's museums, space centers, nature centers, and more. This book is ideal for in-service and preservice teachers, administrators, teacher educators, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in research on beneficial student-scientist-teacher partnerships/models in formal and informal settings.

If you've ever thought that standards-based teaching and required content prevent you from integrating subject areas, then here's a book that will change the way you think and alert you to exciting new possibilities in your approach to teaching. Learn how to identify the connections in your standards that provide the basis for interdisciplinary units. Explore all types of integrated curriculum and how they bridge content standards to authentic, relevant learning experiences. And understand how to create interdisciplinary units that provide data-based evidence of student learning. A planning template and detailed examples of successful integrated curriculums are included to help you implement integrated curriculum in practice. Discover how you can make learning more exciting for students--and rewarding for you.

Demystifies curriculum integration describing a variety of curriculum integration options ranging from concurrent teaching of related subjects to fusion of curriculum focus to residential study focusing on daily living, from two-week units to year-long courses.

This book is about interdisciplinary approaches to art education. The concept of interdisciplinary learning is one that should be scrutinized closely and research and practical applications are needed to inform the field about best practices. This book contains both theoretical concepts and practical suggestions for curriculum construction and assessment for interdisciplinary education that incorporate the visual arts as good and worthwhile, while at the same time, proposing ways in which art can be integrated holistically with other subjects. In addition, there are a variety of research methodologies found in the different chapters and a range of subjects, such as science, social studies, anthropology, and the performing arts, for which interdisciplinary concepts have been applied effectively and appear to be coherent, complete, and appropriate.

The National Science Foundation funded a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry. DBER combines knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content. It describes the discipline-specific difficulties learners face and the specialized intellectual and instructional resources that can facilitate student understanding. Discipline-Based Education Research is based on a 30-month study built on two workshops held in 2008 to explore evidence on promising practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This book asks questions that are essential to advancing DBER and broadening its impact on undergraduate science teaching and learning. The book provides empirical research on undergraduate teaching and learning in the sciences, explores the extent to which this research currently influences undergraduate instruction, and identifies the intellectual and material resources required to further develop DBER. Discipline-Based Education Research provides guidance for future DBER research. In addition, the findings and recommendations of this report may invite, if not assist, post-secondary institutions to increase interest and research activity in DBER and improve its quality and usefulness across all natural science disciples, as well as guide instruction and assessment across natural science courses to improve student learning. The book brings greater focus to issues of student attrition in the natural sciences that are related to the quality of instruction. Discipline-Based Education Research will be of interest to educators, policy makers, researchers, scholars, decision makers in universities, government agencies, curriculum developers, research sponsors, and education advocacy groups.