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Analysing the Nature of Ministry Guidelines for Developing Interdisciplinary Science Courses (Grades 11–12) in Ontario (Canada)

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Abstract

Scientific problems of the twenty-first century involve complex research questions that require an interdisciplinary approach. Educational research suggests that overall student achievement is greater in an interdisciplinary science curriculum than in a discipline-specific science curriculum. Regardless, the secondary school science curriculum in Ontario remains discipline-specific. The Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) released an ‘Interdisciplinary Studies’ curriculum in 2002; however, it appears to be sparsely implemented across Ontario. The objective of this study is to investigate what guidelines are provided by the OME to help Ontario secondary school science teachers (grades 11–12) design and implement interdisciplinary science courses. A document analysis methodology is used to gather data from selected OME curriculum documents. The results of this study found that interdisciplinary science courses are based on multiple models of interdisciplinarity; however, the guidelines provided for developing interdisciplinary curriculum, assessment, and teaching methods do not explicitly indicate which type of interdisciplinary model is applied, nor do the documents explicitly consider the degree of integration of concepts and skills from across disciplines/subject areas. Primarily, the results of this study may inform Ontario Ministry science curriculum writers, teachers and educators interested in interdisciplinary science curriculum elsewhere, about what aspects of the selected curriculum documents provide practical information for developing interdisciplinary science courses and components of the curriculum that may warrant potential revisions or additions during future curriculum drafting.

Résumé

Les problèmes scientifiques du XXIe siècle soulèvent des questions de recherche complexes qui nécessitent une approche interdisciplinaire. Les recherches en pédagogie indiquent que le rendement général des élèves est meilleur dans un programme de sciences interdisciplinaire que dans un programme de sciences spécifique à chaque discipline. Pourtant, le curriculum scientifique dans les écoles ontariennes reste centré sur des programmes à une seule discipline. Le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario (MEO) a publié en 2002 un programme d’études intitulé « Études interdisciplinaires », mais celui-ci semble avoir été peu appliqué dans toute la province. L’objectif de cette étude est d’examiner les lignes directrices fournies par le MEO pour aider les enseignants de sciences au secondaire en Ontario (11e et 12e année) à créer et à proposer des cours de sciences interdisciplinaires. Une méthodologie d'analyse de documents est utilisée pour recueillir des données tirées d’une série de documents choisis provenant des programmes d'études du MEO. Les résultats de cette étude montrent que les cours de sciences interdisciplinaires sont basés sur plusieurs modèles d'interdisciplinarité; cependant, les directives fournies pour l'élaboration de programmes, de modèles d’évaluation et de méthodes d'enseignement interdisciplinaires n'indiquent pas explicitement le type de modèle interdisciplinaire appliqué, et les documents ne prennent pas explicitement en compte le degré d'intégration des concepts et des compétences provenant des différentes disciplines. Essentiellement, les résultats de cette étude peuvent renseigner les enseignants et les concepteurs des programmes de sciences de l’Ontario, de même que les éducateurs qui s’intéressent aux programmes interdisciplinaires en sciences appliqués ailleurs dans le monde, d’une part sur les aspects particuliers des documents analysés qui sont susceptibles de fournir des informations pratiques pour la création de cours de sciences interdisciplinaires, et d’autre part sur les éléments du curriculum qui pourraient justifier d'éventuelles révisions ou des ajouts lors de l’élaboration de futurs programmes.

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Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to S. Kovalchuk (OISE) for providing helpful and constructive feedback on a previous draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by a 2018–2019 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).

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Author notes

  1. Jessica M. Slomka

    Present address: Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, 252 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON, M5S 1V6, Canada

    Jessica M. Slomka

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  1. Jessica M. Slomka
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Correspondence to Jessica M. Slomka.

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Appendices

Appendix 1. Document analysis protocol

Sub-question 1: What is considered an ‘interdisciplinary’ science course in the Ontario secondary school curriculum?

  • According to the Ontario Ministry of Education, what is the definition of ‘interdisciplinary’?

  • What is the purpose of an interdisciplinary science course?

  • What is and is not considered an interdisciplinary science course?

  • What student skills and knowledge are included in an interdisciplinary science course and how are they developed within the course?

Sub-question 2: What Ministry guidelines are available for developing interdisciplinary courses?

  • Where (if at all) does the Ontario Ministry of Education include interdisciplinary science courses in the curriculum?

  • What components of course design are included or absent in the guidelines/frameworks provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education?

Sub-question 3: How do the existing Ministry guidelines for developing interdisciplinary science courses compare with interdisciplinary curriculum frameworks that are considered ‘best practices’ (i.e. commonly referred to) in the academic literature?

  • What are considered the ‘best practices’ interdisciplinary frameworks for interdisciplinary science courses in the academic literature?

Appendix 2. Document descriptions

Table 3 Description of the selected documents
Full size table

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Slomka, J.M. Analysing the Nature of Ministry Guidelines for Developing Interdisciplinary Science Courses (Grades 11–12) in Ontario (Canada). Can. J. Sci. Math. Techn. Educ. 19, 367–386 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42330-019-00062-w

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