Skip to main content
DistrictCampusDirectory
CAMPUS

Making Connections: The Power of Integrated Unit Design


Posted Date: 05/11/2018

During the 2017-2018 school year, teachers across grades K-5 have focused heavily on building interdisciplinary units aligned to the new Missouri Learning Standards for Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts.  The purpose of an integrated curriculum is described as one that connects different areas of study by cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. Integration focuses on making connections for students, allowing them to engage in relevant, meaningful activities that can be connected to real life.

What Research Says about Content Integration

  • Experts propose that more can be taught and learned in less time and at higher levels of learning if we connect the disciplines (Jacobs, 1989; Drake and Reid, 2010).
  • Curriculum connections also eliminate duplication of teaching efforts while simultaneously providing opportunities for cooperative instructional planning for school faculty and staff.
  • Integrated studies lead to coherence in learning with the associated development of more elaborated concept development (Hartzler, 2000; Erickson, 2002).
  • Curriculum integration open venues for applying higher-order thinking within a context of performance and under the assumption that knowledge cannot be boxed into “subjects” (Hartzler, 2000).
  • Integration results in the teaching of depth versus breadth...and allows for the infusion of literacy and/or thinking skills, amongst other enhancements (Hartzler, 2000; Drake, 2007).
  • Deeper learning and improved problem-solving can be expected...where the application of knowledge to novel contexts is required (Jacobs, 1989, Wiggins and McTighe, 2005).
  • Interdisciplinary integration also enhances critical-thinking skills (Billig, 2010; Furco, 2010).
  •   Curriculum integration promotes student involvement in school and enhanced motivation for academic learning (Catterall, Dumais, and HampdenThompson, 2012).
  • Students engage in learning that focuses on higher-level problem-solving skills, content knowledge acquisition, and deeper understanding of connections across subject areas (Goldschmidt and Jung, 2010; Guthrie, Klauda, and Ho, 2013; Hughes, Bailey, and Karp, 2002; Mac Iver, 1990; Smithrim and Upitis, 2005; Upitis, 2011).

 

 

​​

District News Navigation

District Calendar

Today's Events

Contact Information


Rogersville , Missouri 65742
Map
Phone: 417-753-2891