Abstract:

The integration of curriculum across disciplines is crucial for enhancing student learning and engagement while establishing relevance in traditional classrooms. Convergence education, which integrates knowledge from various fields to address real-world problems, offers a method to incorporate STEM into classrooms worldwide. However, there is a notable shortage of convergence education programs, resources, and conventional training methods.

To address this gap, the research team developed Culturally Relevant STEM (CReST), which includes learning supplements with supporting curricula and modular kits for hands-on experiences. The CReST curriculum emphasizes the application of nanotechnology in cultural heritage conservation, engaging teachers and students of chemistry, engineering, and world history in a culturally relevant context through a modular, experiential, transdisciplinary support curriculum. CReST enhances diversity, equity, and student interest by providing culturally relevant teaching and transdisciplinary learning experiences, exposing students to artifacts such as the Italian fresco, which link traditionally separate educational experiences in science, social studies, and engineering.

Over two academic school years, the CReST research team conducted a study in a mid-Atlantic US high school using a uniquely designed transdisciplinary and culturally relevant six-instructional-day intervention that leveraged a cultural artifact as an intersection across multiple disciplines (Chemistry, World History, Engineering).

The aim of this single case study was to examine the long-term effects on a high school chemistry teacher who participated in a transdisciplinary and culturally relevant STEM curriculum professional development program and its classroom implementation. To achieve this, an in-depth analysis was conducted on how the CReST intervention influenced the teacher's instructional practices over three academic school years. Utilizing Desimone’s Framework for Professional Development, this study highlights the chemistry teacher’s pedagogical transformation involving knowledge from multiple disciplines (Chemistry, World History, Engineering, and Technology) and her engagement in the CReST intervention. This research qualitatively focused on emerging themes from various interviews conducted at the conclusion of each academic school year (2022-2024).

The three main themes that emerged from the teacher’s longitudinal experience include:
1) Exposure and increased self-efficacy of transdisciplinary learning approaches;
2) Taking risks as an educator and utilizing specialists;
3) Transformation of her pedagogical practices to seek real-world applications for all her lessons.

The significant implication of this research is that it demonstrates how a transdisciplinary, culturally relevant curriculum can lead to instructional transformation, enhancing teacher engagement and empowerment in the STEM field and beyond. By employing a boundary-crossing object, such as an artifact (e.g., the Italian fresco), as an intersection point between multiple disciplines, educators and students can find relevance, explore cultural competence, and improve their academic performance.

Keywords:

Transdisciplinary, culturally relevant, STEM.