A Model of Math Infusion in Middle School STEM Curriculum

Authors: David Burghardt, Deborah Hecht, Bert Flugman, Michael Hacker

The five-year Mathematics across the Middle School MST Curriculum - the Mathematics Science Technology Partnership (MSTP) Project, is targeted toward improving teaching and learning in middle school mathematics in New York. A key activity of the project has been the development of a multidisciplinary instructional model for infusing mathematics into science and technology at the middle school level.  The math infusion model was developed through an iterative process that involved examination of existing models and literature, consultation with teachers and higher education faculty, reviews by experts, and field based work in which math infusion approaches were discussed, tried-out and evaluated by teachers and students.  The model was developed through the integration of the following components: 1) curriculum revision and alignment; 2) use of a "curriculum template" that guides teachers in selecting content, pedagogy and assessments for math-infusion; 3) collaborative professional development activities for school-based and higher education faculty (A/B Workshops); and 4) an impact study of the efficacy of the math infusion model.

In each of the 10 low mathematics achieving districts in New York State, we engaged math, science and technology teachers, STEM University Faculty members and the school administrator in collaborative STEM learning communities.  They examined and aligned the current math and science curriculum, introduced exemplary evidence based math materials, and participated in the "A/B workshop model" of professional development.  The district based "A/B workshops," provided science and technology teachers with an opportunity to work with the mathematics teachers and university faculty in a structured way, as they designed, implemented, reviewed and revised math infused science and technology lessons.  During the A workshop, teachers used the MSTP developed curriculum template to guide development of 2 to 3 day math infused lessons.  Feedback and assistance was provided by other middle school science, math, and technology teachers from their district as well as a university faculty member of the team.  The goal was to build more explicit and inquiry-based mathematics into the existing science curriculum that was, in most instances, also inquiry-based.  In addition to the lessons, teachers developed pre and post student assessments during the A workshop, along with a scoring rubric to assess student learning of lesson objectives. During the next two weeks, teachers implemented the lessons with their class during the regular school day.  After teaching the lessons, the collaborative learning communities reconvened for the B workshop, during which time the teachers examined samples of student work, discussed pedagogical issues, and revised their lessons based on their own experiences and input from their colleagues and higher-education faculty members. 

In addition to development of the professional development model (A/B workshops), the MSTP Project has undertaken a proof of concept study of the feasibility of and student outcomes when math infused lessons are taught within science and technology middle school classrooms using reform based math.  This proof of concept work explored math infusion from the perspective of teachers, students and administrators.  Building upon teacher experiences during the A/B workshops, the science and technology teachers developed longer (20 days) math infused lessons.   All teachers were from high needs districts in New York State and many classes included special education students.