Texas Mathematics Teacher Fall/Winter 2021 - 7

What Makes the " M " in STEM?
Concepts give context and meaning to the skills by
developing a deeper understanding. For example, the
skill of finding the slope of a line may be using the " rise
over run " formula. The concept however develops the
understanding of the meaning of the slope of a line
and what it represents. To develop a concept in the
curriculum, the concept had to be used in multiple
situations and use skills to support understanding. If
the activity in the curriculum explicitly explained a
mathematical skill and included guided practice, this
was considered developing the skill. If the skill was not
explained and students were expected to already know
when and how to use it, this was considered applying the
skill.
Findings
While high school mathematics was addressed in the
curriculum analyzed for this study, less than 25% of
the activities included high school mathematics topics.
Algebra I and Geometry had the most connections;
Algebra II and Precalculus were only addressed a
total of six times. Many of the Algebra I and Geometry
connections were to the same standard or topic. For
Algebra I, the most connections were to standards about
linear functions. For Geometry, standards involving
volume and surface area of three-dimensional figures
had the most connections. While these two high school
courses had the most connections, the engineering
curriculum addressed less than half of the total standards
in these courses. Overall, it was found that there were
more connections to middle school TEKS than high school
TEKS in this curriculum. Similar to the high school results,
many of the middle school connections were to the same
standard or topic. Unit conversion and data analysis had
the most connections for middle school.
Looking beyond the total number of topics addressed,
the activities were analyzed for whether the high school
mathematics component was the primary or secondary
focus of the activity. Based on the activities that included
high school mathematics, 56% of the activities included
high school mathematics as the primary focus and 44%
as the secondary focus. Looking further at how the high
school mathematics was incorporated in the curriculum,
the high school mathematics concepts developed were
in Algebra I and Geometry. For Algebra I, these concepts
included linear functions and slope. The Geometry
concepts developed in this curriculum were area of
polygons and composite figures and surface area and
volume of three-dimensional figures. Following the
previous results, Algebra I and Geometry had the greatest
number of skills developed or applied in the curriculum.
There were more skills developed in the curriculum than
applied for both of these courses. Each aspect in this
study provided insight into the mathematics included
in the STEM curriculum analyzed in this study. When
analyzing a curriculum, it is important to look beyond the
total amount of mathematics included.
Considerations When Analyzing a STEM Curriculum for Mathematics
Discussion
Results from this study suggest important aspects to
consider when looking into using a STEM curriculum.
There is a need to look beyond the total amount of
mathematics that is included. It is important to examine
certain aspects to ensure the content will develop
and support students' mathematical knowledge and
understanding. These aspects include:
* The amount of mathematics included
* The grade-level of mathematics included
* Frequency of mathematics topics
* Primary versus secondary focus of the mathematics
* Developing and applying mathematical concepts
versus skills
The Amount of Mathematics Included
The first aspect to consider when analyzing a STEM
curriculum is the amount of mathematics content included
in the lessons and activities. Some STEM curricula focus
on the design and technology pieces of engineering,
which may not include much mathematics. Identifying the
amount of mathematics in the curriculum is simply done
by identifying the number of lessons or activities that
include mathematics at any level. Because four disciplines
are being integrated, there may not be mathematics in
every lesson or activity. If the goal is to deepen students'
mathematical understanding, there should be a significant
amount of mathematics in the curriculum. While this is
important information to know about the curriculum,
the amount of lessons that include mathematics is only
a surface understanding of what mathematical content
is included. It is important to move beyond the surface
to understand the level of mathematics included in the
curriculum.
The Grade-Level of Mathematics Included
Not only should one consider the amount of mathematics
included in a STEM curriculum, but one should consider
the grade-level of the included mathematics as well. To do
this, one can compare the mathematics topics included in
the curriculum to the state standards for each grade level
or course. Once the mathematics topic is identified, it can
be mapped to the standard(s) it addresses. For middle
and high schools, this allows for comparing the amount
of middle school mathematics topics to the amount of
high school topics included. For high school, the number
of topics in each course can be compared to see which
course or courses have the most focus in the curriculum.
For example, does the curriculum cover more Algebra I,
Geometry, Algebra II, or Precalculus topics?
In this study, it was found that there were more
connections to middle school mathematics than high
school mathematics. A majority of the middle school
connections were related to unit conversion and data
analysis. This aligned with the concerns in research
that the mathematics included in STEM curricula is not
always grade-level appropriate (Walker, 2017). For the
connections to high school mathematics topics, a majority
were aligned to Algebra I and Geometry standards.
Stohlmann (2018) noted measurement, data analysis,
geometry, and linear and quadratic equations were the
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Texas Mathematics Teacher Fall/Winter 2021

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