Teaching Early and Elementary STEM

Reviewed by Ingrid Carter, Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 10/20/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The textbook addresses many critical areas within science/STEM education including an overview of STEM and the Next Generation Science Standards, a discussion of the purpose of science and STEM education, a section on Habits of Mind, and a discussion of common barriers to implementing inquiry-based instruction. There is a chapter for each of the domains of the Disciplinary Core Ideas of the NGSS. The textbook contains a Table of Contents and Appendices. The Appendices include an Unpacking Standards Guide and well-known, credible resources. The authors included Unit Reflection Questions and photos of investigations being conducted by young learners and educators. Some areas of interest may be missing (see "Relevance" section).

Content Accuracy rating: 5

No errors were found, and the authors addressed content with elementary science methods that are well-known and vetted. The authors cited many of their sources and acknowledge works that are seminal in the field.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The textbook takes a traditional approach to science/STEM education, and could include additional innovative approaches. For example, the authors could include information about sensemaking, talk moves, and student discourse within the field. These additions would be easy to include based on the format provided by the authors—either as additional units or embedded within the current content.

Clarity rating: 5

Written in prose that is accessible and clear.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in that it is grounded in NGSS language, as well as common traditions such as the 5E learning cycle. The lesson plan examples provided follow the 5E model, making ti easy to follow and providing consistency across the text.

Modularity rating: 5

The text consists of 9 units, the authors or a user could add more units for a semester-long (15-week) methods course; in particular, elements of attending to all learners and focusing on the assets of culturally and linguistically diverse students. The authors do reference themselves a bit, but they are reference any other scholars in the field.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text is well organized; however, I would recommend chapters on the SEPs and the CCCs, and then including the chapters of the domains of the DCIs. This would put the dimensions of NGSS together before delving into lesson planning. Also, the lesson plans can address the SEPs and CCCs more explicitly.

Interface rating: 5

The interface is user-friendly and includes hyperlinks to many of the sources cited.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors within the text were detected.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text contains a section on equity and STEM, and on cultural and linguistic diversity. This could be threaded throughout the next more, and could be more explicitly embedded in the lesson examples. The text is not culturally insensitive. The text could add indigenous ways of knowing, elevating diverse voices and highlighted the assets of multilingual students. Photos in the text could include more diversity.

Reviewed by Kevin Voogt, Assistant Professor, Grace College on 6/9/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

I found the book to be a bit abbreviated on STEM in general and had a main focus on the 5E model and STEM integration. Hence, the title might better be "Early and Elementary STEM: The 5E model for STEM Integration" or something of that nature to give a more accurate picture of the content. It also missed out on a unit covering examples of STEM integration in non-STEM fields (an idea they mentioned but didn't elaborate on). Lastly, there was no index/glossary that I saw.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

There is a definitive bias toward the 5E model and STEM integration, with a stronger lean toward science. The content, however, is research-based and exhibits well what is considered "best practice" for STEM integration. They connect well to Standards at both national and state (TN) levels.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is Tennessee-specific in terms of standards, but should it be updated to make it more accessible nation-wide, the changes would be relatively simple and straightforward. On the whole, they do a nice job connecting to prominent educational ideas (e.g., Habits of Mind, Growth Mindset, Inquiry-based instruction).

Clarity rating: 4

I found the book an easy read that would be accessible to college students. Many ideas had links to resources to further-explain academic ideas, which increased accessibility. There were a few times where the reflection questions lacked clarity or depth (e.g., Unit 1 RQ1, Unit 2 RQ1) and would likely necessitate providing more information or clarity for students.

Consistency rating: 5

The authors were very consistent with the organization of the Units and connections throughout the text. Hyperlinks were provided throughout to bring you back (or forward) to certain ideas within the text, and the themes of the 5 Es and inquiry-based instruction were consistent.

Modularity rating: 4

The Units (chapters) flow naturally from one another, but if you were to assign one Unit, hyperlinks to previously-mentioned ideas were provided to allow each Unit to stand alone fairly well. Text was short on the whole, so no large blocks of text. One issue was that links to other areas of the text took you there and there was no easy way back without scrolling back to the page you were on, which was slightly inconvenient. Perhaps a pop-up of the ideas from prior chapters rather than a relocation to that part of the book would make this easier for the reader.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Organized well on the whole. I appreciated the links from the table of contents to each Unit/section to make navigation easier.

Interface rating: 4

Some hyperlinks went to sources that needed a subscription to read (e.g., New York Times) or were broken/inaccessible (e.g., 2nd link on opening page of Unit 9).

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Only a few grammatical/spelling errors (e.g., Typo page 34 in opening sentence of "Summary" for Example Project 2

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

They do a nice job of connecting STEM to equity. That said, there were times in early chapters that seemed more explicitly politically or culturally motivated, which could lead to some feeling left out of the text. I found nothing offensive, but there was a lack of variety in terms of exploring different sides of certain ideas.

Comments

On the whole this is a great book for exploring the 5 Es as a model for STEM integration. Its length would work well as a supplement to a course or as a text for an abbreviated course or course that combines STEM into one methods course (e.g., in a transition to teaching program), but not as a stand-alone text for a course. It seems better fit in a Science Methods course than other areas of STEM on the whole. I liked the numerous examples in Units 5-9, but found a lack of depth in discussing best practices for teaching each of the content areas (is the 5E model the only/best way?), and hence find the title misleading, as mentioned before. But as a book exploring 5 Es, STEM integration, and inquiry-based instruction - it's a solid option.

Reviewed by Mandy Olsen, Instructor, Western Oregon University on 2/28/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This text provides a comprehensive description of the integrated STEM model and is a useful initial tool for implantation of STEM in elementary classrooms.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Content seems accurate, connects to NGSS science standards and related research and current theory.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Connect to STEM and equity, recognition of white dominant perspectives in science and acknowledgment of the need to make space for diverse voices including culturally responsive teaching methods, a focus on equity, and strengths vs. deficit-based approaches to learning. An emphasis on integration and authentic representations of the real world. One drawback is an emphasis on Tennessee standards making it less relevant in other parts of the country though some similarities likely exist.

Clarity rating: 4

Clear and concise materials and resources. Terminology is described using understandable context, at times very academic and less accessible.

Consistency rating: 5

Terminology appears consistent throughout the text. The 5 Es are used throughout the text to connect science methods to units of study (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate).

Modularity rating: 4

Chapters begin with relevant research and background knowledge for STEM then shifts to potential units of study. Chapters are divided into unit, each with a different topic related to STEM.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Chapters were organized in a logical fashion and each chapter itself was organized by subtopic. Relatively easy to navigate, a suggestion for future additions would be quick links from the Table of Contents to its corresponding page.

Interface rating: 5

Links, images and charts are all accessible and easy to read.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No noticeable grammatical errors noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I appreciated the connection to STEM and equity and the acknowledgement of the need for diverse perspectives. Images of white students and teachers was still overwhelmingly present.