There is great interest in interdisciplinary curriculum materials that span different grade levels, courses, and disciplines. The DIMACS Center at Rutgers University has been developing materials in the form of one-week modules for high school students at the interface of mathematics and biology for over five years now and is continuing to do so. The reception to these materials has been enormously positive by both mathematics teachers and biology teachers across the country from small rural schools to large urban schools and everything in between. These materials have been particularly effective at broadening participation of diverse audiences. A second interdisciplinary materials development project for high school students is finishing its second year. This project, The Value of Computational Thinking Across Grade Levels, focuses on computational thinking in a number of different disciplines, such as social studies, mathematics, environmental science, and computer science, among many others. These one-week materials are being field tested nationwide in diverse high schools. Challenges abound when it comes to development of interdisciplinary materials, not the least of which is getting authors with background in each of the disciplines, and authors who understand the pedagogy needed to teach these materials, who can write teachable materials. The difficult development of high school interdisciplinary curriculum materials is compounded by the need to indicate grade level, possible courses­—for example AP or other various levels, as well as various disciplines, and usability by teachers not trained in all of the disciplines that make up the content of the materials.

Participants in the session are provided with modules and pieces of modules from both the BioMath project and the Computational Thinking project, as well as snippets from the evaluations of usage in schools. Questions surrounding the instructional materials are provided to help evoke discussion and provide feedback to the developers and other developers who might be participants to help understand possible solutions to the issues named above as well as others.

Work is progressing to develop the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). With private funding from the Carnegie Corporation and support from National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Research Council (NRC) and Achieve, Inc., have embarked on a two-step cooperative process to develop the NGSS. The first step was to develop a conceptual framework that is grounded in current research on science and science learning and identifies the science all K–12 students should know. The NRC released the Framework for K–12 Science Education in July of 2011. The next step is the development of the actual standards, a process led by Achieve involving science experts, science teachers, states, and other science education partners. This two-step process takes a broader and more cooperative approach to the development of science standards. The NGSS are due for completion in early 2013.

Since the last SIG meeting, a great deal has happened relating to technology in the classroom.  Most notably, the availability and promotion of e-textbooks at the K-12 grade levels have begun to dominate the e-learning landscape. An increased use of a variety of other digital tools designed to enhance learning such as educational games, banks of virtual simulations, and digital assessment features are being developed by major publishers and groups like Apple. A brief overview of the current state of educational technology will be presented.

Because of this new climate and the challenges that face us in this environment as developers of inquiry-based curriculum, a return to the original question about what curriculum should look like in the digital environment and how inquiry figures into its design seems warranted. Individuals will briefly describe their experiences and challenges in redesigning print material for the digital environment and in developing instructional materials as digital products from inception. 

It may also be that this is a critical point to consider why inquiry materials have made so little impact in classrooms in the last decades and whether the move to digital could be pivotal in making a bigger impact.  The SIG meeting will provide us the opportunity to share what we have been doing and what we have learned and to consider whether the move to digital instructional materials provides a greater opportunity to impact how science is taught.