Evaluating the Degree of STEM Curriculum Incorporation in the Elementary Classroom

The purpose of this study was to look at the evaluation aspect of the STEM integration pedagogy that the ASSIST research team has developed through the University of Iowa and a Title IIA Teacher Quality grant. Through this, they have created a training program and an instructional approach based on the four disciplines of science; Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. This thesis focuses on the evaluation of the assessment tools in regards to a real-world example. Through this research, a new evaluation tool was developed to understand the degree of STEM integration that was being produced by the teachers through this new ASSIST methodology. This resulted in a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data as it would be available to use as a comparison method towards the different units and lesson plans as the research continues. These results showed that the evaluation tool is useful in regards to comparing the lesson plans against the overall unit plan, and there are many ways for teachers to implicate it. The tool is a simplistic version of the original assessment tools that the ASSIST research team uses, and allows for there to be more feedback for the teachers as they reflect about their newly integrated method of teaching. The new evaluation tool provides a concrete way for there to be a comparison between the lessons and the units throughout the study, and eventually will be used by teachers and principals themselves.