From Skeletons to Bridges & Other STEM Enrichment Exercises for High School Biology

The national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education Initiative favors a curriculum shift from the compartmentalization of math and science classes into discrete subject areas to an integrated, multidisciplinary experience. Many states are currently implementing programs in high schools that provide greater integration of math, sciences, and technology. Program evaluation results indicate that students participating in multidisciplinary team projects of this type exhibit significantly higher levels of motivation and develop greater cognitive skills than students in the traditional, compartmentalized curriculum (Ross & Hogaboam-Gray, 1988; Venville et al., 2000).