ZDM Mathematics Education

DOI 10.1007/s11858-016-0821-9

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Preservice teachers’ knowledge of interdisciplinary pedagogy:

the case of elementary mathematics–science integrated lessons
Song A. An1

Accepted: 10 October 2016

© FIZ Karlsruhe 2016

Abstract The purpose of the study is to explore how ele- 1 Introduction

mentary preservice teachers’ mathematics–science inte-
grated teaching strategies changed as a result of participat- Mathematics and science integration has a long history in
ing in exemplary interdisciplinary activities with multiple modern education, and early publications can be traced
themes across school curricula. The participating elemen- back to the 1900s (Berlin and Lee 2005). Numerous studies
tary preservice teachers (n = 28) were recruited for this examining science and mathematics integrated instruction
study from the College of Education students enrolled at in the United States, at both the national and state curricu-
a medium-sized southwestern research university in the lum levels, have been conducted attempting to determine
United States. A qualitative methodology with pre-and- what precisely are the connections between the mathemat-
post data collection from open-ended surveys was used in ics and science learning objectives (e.g., AAAS 1998;
the current study to explore the development of preservice Cady and Rearden 2007; Frykholm and Glasson 2005;
teachers’ mathematics teaching strategies with connections NCTM 2000; NSTA 2003). Across the world, educational
to science themed activities before and after an 8-week researchers and curriculum theorists have also investi-
intervention. In general, the results from the pre-and-post gated methods, designs and classroom practices of sci-
surveys revealed that the preservice teachers’ interdisci- ence–mathematics integrated education. Examples include
plinary knowledge of using science-themed activities as studies performed in Australia, (e.g., Hudson et al. 2014;
instructional approaches for teaching mathematics had Venville et al. 2012), Canada (e.g., Samson 2014), Ireland
remarkable changes across all four science content areas (e.g., Treacy and O’Donoghue 2014), Korea (e.g., Kim
including physics, chemistry, biology, and environmental and Bolger, 2016), Germany (e.g., Blomhøj and Kjeldsen
and space science. This study provided additional empirical 2009), Singapore (Lam et al. 2013), Turkey (e.g., Saçkes
evidence on how contextualized mathematics educational et al. 2012). Collectively, these research studies have exam-
activities, in the current case using the association between ined different methods for creating associations between
science and mathematics, can be used as effective teacher mathematics and science to facilitate teaching mathemat-
education resources for developing teachers’ capacity for ics and science content across K-12. However, there are as
designing mathematics lessons. of yet no known replicable methods for assisting preser-
vice teachers to develop instruction that effectively high-
Keywords Teacher education · Mathematics education · lights the connections between mathematics and science.
Interdisciplinary curriculum · Mathematics–science The goal of the current study was to help fill this research
integration gap by examining how preservice teachers’ pedagogical
abilities at developing science-themed mathematics teach-
ing strategies improved after they undertook a less dif-
* Song A. An ficult task, namely participate and evaluate arts-themed
[email protected]
mathematics teaching strategies. The following research
1
The University of Texas at El Paso, Education Building 601, questions are addressed in the current study: (1) how did
500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX 79968, USA elementary preservice teachers’ interdisciplinary pedagogy

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 S. A. An

change as a result of participating in exemplary interdisci- beliefs or perceptions, and more studies are needed that
plinary mathematics activities? (2) How do such changes investigate the effects of such interdisciplinary experiences
differ in teachers’ interdisciplinary pedagogy for math- on preservice teachers’ interdisciplinary pedagogical con-
ematics related to specific science contexts? tent knowledge, specially their instructional design capaci-
A variety of ways of supporting integration of math- ties (Lam et al. 2013).
ematics and science with different models and principles
were offered by researchers via the music–math integration
model that was presented (e.g., Drake 1991; Davison et al. 2 Interdisciplinary pedagogical content
1995; Fogarty 1991; Kiray 2012). For example, in Drake’s knowledge: a theoretical perspective
framework (Drake 1991), the integration can be regarded in
three ways: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and trans- Their teachers’ pedagogical ability has been repeatedly
disciplinary models are included. In Fogarty’s framework identified as the essential factor for impacting students’
(Fogarty 1991), the integration can be classified into 10 learning outcomes and motivational levels (Baumert et al.
levels that may be characterized by fragmented, connected, 2010; Hattie 2009). Highly qualified teachers, especially
nested, sequenced, shared, webbed, threaded, integrated, mathematics teachers, are—by definition—those teach-
immersed, and networked models. Later on, Davison and ers that have substantial knowledge about varying teach-
his colleagues (1995) proposed another framework with ing approaches relevant to their subject areas. This general
five dimensions for analyzing science and mathematics knowledge base includes the following: classroom manage-
integration including (1) discipline specific integration, (2) ment, lesson design and implementation; understanding of
content integration, (3) process integration, (4) methodo- the mathematics content; and methods of effectively engag-
logical integration, and thematic integration. More recently, ing students to access these mathematical ideas. These
Kiray (2012) introduced a balanced model of mathemat- types of knowledge were theorized by Shulman (1987) as
ics and science integration for equal value of content and pedagogical knowledge (PK), content knowledge (CK)
standards, with five areas including content, skills, the and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) respectively.
teaching–learning process, affective characteristics, meas- PCK is a general skillset that collectively focuses on the
urement and assessment. Similar to the diversity of integra- overlap part between the PK and CK—specifically, how
tion models, mathematics and science educators also had individual topics of subject knowledge are systematized,
different options for effective ways of teaching mathemat- modified, and exemplified for classroom teaching. Several
ics and science through interdisciplinary strategies. For mathematics education researchers (e.g. Ball, Thames, and
example, Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde (1993) advocated Phelps 2008; Park and Oliver 2008) further specified two
that problem solving should be the key process in mathe- core dimensions in PCK, which differentiated teachers’
matics and science integrated instructions, and they further knowledge between (1) students’ subject-specific concep-
itemized multiple sections to be evaluated, including the tions together with misconceptions, and (2) subject-specific
use of hands-on activities, group collaborations, discussion, instructional strategies and representations.
estimations, technology, and so forth. Berlin and White While the concepts related to PCK have been exten-
(1994) offered another model for mathematics–science sively explored, discussed and revised by numerous
interdisciplinary teaching with six aspects for assessing the researchers (e.g. Ball et al. 2008; Borko and Putnam 1996;
quality of integrated lessons, including learning methods, Cochran et al. 1991; Mishra and Koehler 2006; Magnus-
comprehension approaches, thinking skills, knowledge of son et al. 1999) in the past three decades, especially in the
content, students’ dispositions, and teaching strategies. field of mathematics, there has been both empirical investi-
A general finding across this research is that there exist gation and theoretical development focused on improving
excessive challenges that are blocking teachers’ implemen- teachers’ PCK across disciplines such as mathematics and
tation of mathematics and science integrated methods, and science. The PCK based on interactions among multiple
most lessons were developed based on a superficial level of subjects is entitled interdisciplinary pedagogical content
integration that is lacking the conceptual rationale neces- knowledge (IPCK) in this study. By extending Shulman’s
sary for identifying and designing interdisciplinary topics (1986, 1987) model of PCK and Frykholm and Glasson
(Samson 2014). However, compared with the large number (2005)’s concept of pedagogical context knowledge, the
of studies focused on theory development, only a limited IPCK framework is specified as an explicit knowledge of
number of studies paid attention to the use of a mathemat- interdisciplinary pedagogy (see Fig. 1). As Fig. 1 shows,
ics and science integrated approach in teacher education the framework has three essential categories of knowledge:
(Sriraman and Knott 2009). Existing empirical literature on pedagogical knowledge (PK), content knowledge in sub-
integrated science–mathematics education in teacher edu- ject A (CK-A), and content knowledge in subject B (CK-
cation is mainly focused on assessing preservice teachers’ B). The current theoretical framework demonstrates that

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Preservice teachers’ knowledge of interdisciplinary pedagogy: the case of elementary…

developing preservice teachers’ interdisciplinary peda-

gogical content knowledge. The aggregate participants in
the larger research projects were 342 preservice teachers
from six cohorts who were enrolled in either the elemen-
tary generalist certificate program, the elementary bilin-
gual generalist certificate program, or the special education
certificate program, from spring 2013 to fall 2015. For the
current study, data were collected from 28 preservice teach-
Fig. 1  Graphic representation of interdisciplinary pedagogical con- ers who had enrolled in the fifth cohort. Specifically, data
tent knowledge (IPCK) were employed from participants who had registered in
one of three sessions of a senior level mathematics teach-
ing methods course. Among the participants, 26 out of
overlapping these three categories of knowledge will result 28 were female preservice teachers and 23 of them were
in the emergence of four additional types of knowledge, self-reported as Hispanic. All participants finished the cor-
namely pedagogical content knowledge in subject A and responding science teaching methods course before par-
subject B (PCK-A and PCK-B), interdisciplinary content ticipating in this study. In particular, they systematically
knowledge (ICK), and interdisciplinary pedagogical con- studied science content concepts associated with the appli-
tent knowledge (IPCK). cable Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and
In brief, interdisciplinary pedagogical content knowl- National Science Education Standards (NSES), as well as
edge (IPCK) is the specific capacity for teachers to accom- designing and implementing investigations for elementary
plish the following: (1) work with interdisciplinary consid- students using scientific inquiry.
erations that include an understanding of the representation
of concepts using themes across curriculum boundaries; (2) 3.2 Research design and intervention
apply pedagogical methods and interdisciplinary themed
activities in addressing content areas from multiple sub- A qualitative methodology with pre-and-post data col-
jects simultaneously; (3) identify knowledge connections lection from open-ended surveys was used in the current
within and between particular subjects, and develop lessons study to explore the development of preservice teachers’
based on such connections; and (4) employ knowledge of mathematics teaching strategies with connections to sci-
how interdisciplinary explorations can be developed as a ence themed activities before and after an 8-week interven-
part of an instructional process wherein students link exist- tion. The data collection and the intervention in the current
ing knowledge across curricula, while presenting that new study occurred during one regular semester over a period
knowledge through contexts from multiple subjects. Previ- of 13 weeks. Specifically, the pre-surveys were assigned
ous research has indicated that the development of teachers’ in week one and two and then an 8-week intervention was
understanding of teaching, content, curriculum, pedagogy, provided through weeks 3–11; finally the post-surveys
and students, especially in the subject of mathematics, are were assigned in weeks 12 and 13. The intervention pro-
all needed to transverse the subject area boundaries that cess is described in the following paragraphs, and the data
divide the individual disciplines, and this requires devel- collection procedure is specified in the next section.
opment of teachers’ interdisciplinary pedagogical content The intervention constituted of a series of eight sets
knowledge (An and Tillman 2014; An, Tillman, Shaheen, of exemplary interdisciplinary activities, primarily with
and Boren 2014; An, Tillman, and Paez 2015; An, Tillman, arts–mathematics connections (e.g. composition/music
Zhang, Robertson, and Tinajero 2016) (see Fig. 2). playing, choreography/dancing, and visual arts themed
mathematics pedagogy), which were selected from 509
lesson plans designed by preservice teachers in the pre-
3 Methodology vious three cohorts who participated in our preliminary
research of interdisciplinary lesson plan design and evalu-
3.1 Research setting and participants ation (see An and Tillman 2014; An et al. 2016; Tillman,
An, and Boren 2015). The rationale of offering mathemat-
The location of the current study was in a research univer- ics–arts integrated pedagogy as interventions for develop-
sity located within a bilingual border metropolitan area in ing preservice teachers’ mathematics–science integrated
the southwestern part of the United States. The university pedagogy is the commonalities among the ways that art-
has an enrollment of over 20,000 students, and more than ists, mathematicians, and scientists alike use analysis and
three quarter of the student body are Hispanic. The current synthesis to create elegant solutions to complex challenges.
study was part of a larger research project focused upon The creative process connecting mathematics–arts and

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 S. A. An

Fig. 2  Sample pedagogical links between science and mathematics topics proposed by participants during the discussion

mathematics–science both involve a combination of anal- between analysis and synthesis is the concept of design,
ysis—such as asking how something works, often using where mathematical reasoning is often an important key in
scientific or behavioral theories in the explanation—and finding optimal solutions. This study examines the poten-
synthesis—such as asking what form we should give to tial for an integrated mathematics–arts teaching approach
something in order to serve a particular purpose. Sitting as a bridge to enable preservice teachers’ pedagogy transfer

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Preservice teachers’ knowledge of interdisciplinary pedagogy: the case of elementary…

from the arts to non-arts content (such as science) by devel- questions survey was for preservice teacher participants to
oping their interdisciplinary teaching expertise within an specify their use of science activities as a pedagogical strat-
easier domain, namely arts–mathematics, before transi- egy for facilitating students’ understanding of mathematical
tioning to a more difficult domain, namely science–math- concepts, as well as their perceptions about the pedagogical
ematics, in order to provide essential scaffolding. For space connections between music and mathematics. Specifically,
limitation reasons, the examples of arts-themed activities the survey was designed with four sections, each with four
will not be detailed in this paper (interested readers can individual tasks, during which the participants designed
find detailed examples in the articles cited above) so that science activities that employed mathematics pedagogy.
the science-themed activities can be highlighted. The four science content areas included were: (a) physics,
Although arts–mathematics links were presented (in (b) chemistry, (c) biology, and (d) environmental and space
6 out of 8 intervention sessions) as the major exemplary science. Due to space limitation, the environmental and
interdisciplinary pedagogy for preserivice teachers to space science part was excluded in the current report, and
understand strategies of using cross-disciplinary materials these data will be reported in future articles.
to develop mathematics exploration activities, two sessions To minimize the testing fatigue from intensive writing,
were offered with the emphasis on science themed math- both the pre-survey and post-survey were assigned in two
ematics pedagogy in the intervention. For example, in one parts, and were completed during regular class meeting
of the sessions emphasizing science themed mathematics times. Two questions in each survey asked students about
pedagogy, three video lessons taught by astronauts in the (1) what are connections between elementary mathematics
space shuttle during their missions orbiting earth in outer and a specific content area in science, and (2) their plans
space were presented. Among the three lessons, one les- to design and implement a mathematics lesson with sci-
son was taught by Chinese astronauts and two lessons were ence contextualized activities in their future classroom.
taught by American astronauts. The astronaut-teachers Each survey was scheduled about 30 min for participants to
covered over forty topics in science, and a series of experi- complete, and the average number of written words among
ments were conducted in the microgravity environment of all participants on the pre-survey was 252, and on the post-
outer space (see An et al. 2016, for details about the les- survey was 407. The pre-survey part I and part II were pro-
son topics and structures). The leading teachers in both vided in week one and week two respectively, and the same
countries were female astronauts—the Chinese lesson was two-part surveys were provided in week 12 and week 13
taught by Yaping Wang in the space shuttle Shenzhou dur- respectively as the post-survey. In survey part I, participants
ing the mission Shenzhou 10, and the American lesson was were requested to provide their instructional strategies and
taught by Barbara Morgan in the space shuttle Endeavour beliefs about pedagogical connections between mathemat-
during the mission STS-118. After watching the video les- ics and physics, as well as mathematics and chemistry. The
sons, the participants had group discussions about possible content areas that were the focus in part II of the survey
pedagogical links between mathematics and science themes were mathematics and biology, as well as mathematics and
covers by the three space lessons. Participants proposed environmental and space science.
that the science content in these three lessons could be Grounded theory (Corbin and Strauss 2008) was
used as resources to develop mathematics lessons with top- employed to identify and compare preservice teachers’
ics including algebra (e.g., ratio, proportion, function and strategies and methods used to integrate mathematics peda-
pattern), number and operation (e.g., percentage), measure- gogy with science themed activities between pre-surveys
ment (e.g., time, volume, distance, temperate, angle and and post-surveys. In general, all the collected participants’
area), data analysis and probability (e.g., permutation, fre- responses were coded and examined with a two-tiered pro-
quency, and normal distribution) and geometry (e.g., loca- cess: (1) a macro-dimension analysis focused on mathemat-
tion and transformation). ics and science content interactions, and (2) a micro-dimen-
sion analysis focused on specific mathematics and science
3.3 Instrument, data collection and analysis learning processes within concrete scenarios. Specifically,
written responses between pre-survey and post-survey
A pretest–posttest data collection design was utilized to were compared instance to instance while developing ten-
assess the effects of the intervention on participants’ sci- tative categories by identifying similar and dissimilar sci-
ence contextualized mathematics teaching strategies. ence themed mathematics teaching approaches offered by
Open-ended surveys assessing science themed mathematics the preservice teachers. Once the tentative category was
teaching strategies were developed based on a previously saturated, all the other written responses were coded along
validated instrument (see An et al. 2015) for assessing pre- the same categories. Next, the second round of category
service teachers’ interdisciplinary pedagogical knowledge development was carried out in order to refine tentative cat-
in teaching mathematics. The purpose of this open-ended egories based upon emergent grouping themes. To reduce

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bias in coding, the qualitative data were analyzed by three such as time, temperature, weights, dimensions of physi-
different researchers, who each iteratively coded the data cal items, and liquids within science contexts. In contrast,
independently. With an inter-rater agreement rate of 88 %, in the post-surveys a majority of the approaches that the
any conflicts during the coding results were resolved col- preservice teachers proposed were based on more sophis-
lectively through face to face negotiations among the three ticated science activities that involved inquiry learning pro-
researchers. cesses across all four science content areas (see Tables 1,
2, 3).
Specifically, in terms of contextualizing science activi-
4 Results ties within physics, in the pretest 26 (93 %) participants
proposed seven different plans for teaching mathematics;
In general, the results from the pre-surveys and post-sur- in the posttest, eight more new music themed strategies
veys revealed that the preservice teachers’ interdisciplinary were identified and all 28 (100 %) participants proposed at
knowledge of using science-themed activities as instruc- least one way to teach one of the mathematics concepts by
tional approaches for teaching mathematics had remarkable connecting it with physics. In terms of the content area of
changes across all three science content areas examined chemistry, in the pretest, 19 (68 %) participants proposed
(including physics, chemistry, and biology). Compared five different strategies to teach mathematics; in the post-
with the pre-survey responses, preservice teachers in the test seven more new chemistry themed strategies were
post-surveys proposed a noteworthy number of interdis- identified and 27 (96 %) participants proposed at least one
ciplinary pedagogical approaches based on sophisticated way to teach one of the mathematics concepts by connect-
mathematics–science connections. In general, preservice ing it with chemistry. In terms of the content area of biol-
teacher participants proposed in the pre-surveys a total of ogy, in the pretest, 17 (61 %) participants proposed four
19 different methods for using science activities in math- different strategies to teach mathematics; in the posttest 11
ematics lessons, and the number of methods increased to more new biology themed strategies were identified and 25
55 in the post-surveys. Among the three content areas in (89 %) participants proposed at least one way to teach one
science, biology was the one that had the most changes in of the mathematics concepts connected with biology. As
regard to developing mathematics pedagogy, and physics illustrative cases, the instructional design of science themed
was the one that impacted the least amount of change. mathematics lessons by three preservice teachers, James,
In addition to the identified differences in number of Jessica, and Alexandra (names have been changed to pseu-
teaching methods, another key difference between the pre- donyms), are presented as examples of the four individual
surveys and post-surveys was the sophistication level of science content areas that were explored, as well as the dif-
teaching methods. While assessing the level of teaching ferences between the instructional designs that the partici-
methods, special attention was paid to whether the inter- pants proposed in the pre-surveys and the post-surveys. The
disciplinary pedagogy between science and mathematics cases were selected according to the rationale that these
went beyond being a cover-story with merely background participants: (1) made noteworthy changes, and (2) dem-
purposes, but instead: (a) provided problem-based/inquiry- onstrated typical ability among the participants regarding
based activities for students to construct knowledge, (b) their instructional designs between the pre-survey and the
represented mathematics concepts with multiple forms post-survey.
including visually, with words, with symbols, and with
numbers, as well as other types of dynamic forms; and (c) 4.1 Physics themed mathematics lessons—the case
allowed students to solve mathematics problems by using of James
a variety of problem-solving strategies that lead to a diver-
sity of legitimate answers. Each of these three evaluation One of the preservice teachers who participated in this
aspects were emphasized in the example activities pre- study, James, proposed a strategy of teaching measure-
sented for preservice teacher participants during the inter- ment connected with buoyancy in physics. The interdisci-
vention, and the evaluation of interdisciplinary pedagogy in plinary pedagogy for mathematics was developed based on
the pre and post surveys was closely related to the inter- Archimedes’ principle; however, he failed to offer further
vention, with the only difference being that the participants exploration for students to discover the pattern between
transferred the contextualization of mathematics teaching buoyancy force and the submerged volume times. The
from an arts-context to a science-context. Overall, in the concept of mathematics in the activity was limited to find-
pre-survey most of the approaches the preservice teach- ing volume using a graduated cylinder, and no formulas of
ers offered were based on superficial associations between volumes and other concepts related to three dimensional
mathematics and science—topics in mathematics were pri- geometry were presented. James described his instructional
marily limited to teaching the concepts of measurement design as follows:

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Preservice teachers’ knowledge of interdisciplinary pedagogy: the case of elementary…

Table 1  Comparison of mathematics-physics interdisciplinary teaching strategies that emerged between pre-surveys and post-surveys
Major themes Major physics themed mathematics teaching strategies

Strategies emerged Quantify what colors absorb the most heat by place different colored papers outside with thermometers
in pre-surveys Put different type of liquids (e.g., rubbing alcohol, vegetable oil, milk, dish soap, maple syrup) into a clear container and
observe the pattern of density from layers
Measure and compare properties of a series of objects with different size (e.g., length) and mass (e.g., weight)
Drop different items (e.g., basketball and tennis ball) at the fixed point and observe whether they reach the floor at the same
time and measure the falling time
Push toy cars across a surface, measure the time of motion and distance and then calculate the average speed
Place different objects into a graduated cylinder and observe the differences of water levels
Put different food items (e.g., chocolate, butter, and cheese) into a heated cupcake pan and create a graph to record the time
of melting from solid to liquid
Strategies emerged Create levers or push and pull systems and then compare the efficiency through experiments
in post-surveys Build ramps for toy cars with different heights and slope, and then explore the variables that impact the speed
Create a maze based on pool noodles and compare the time of falling down process for different objects
Build bridges with popsicle sticks in different shapes and explore the most support to provide from collapsing
Place the compass against the mirror and shine the light or laser into it then identify the angle and reflection
Prepare a number of beakers filled with different amounts of water, measure and compare the rate of temperature changes
by using a thermometer
Drop a number of objects with different shape, sizes and weight into a box with sand, and explore which kinds of objects
make the biggest indentation in the sand
Explore the concept of dry friction by rolling balls with different sizes and materials from the same point, and compare the
traveling distance

Table 2  Comparison of mathematics-chemistry interdisciplinary teaching strategies that emerged between pre-surveys and post-surveys

Major themes Major chemistry themed mathematics teaching strategies

Strategies emerged in Find atomic mass or neutron of an element by solving the equation with missing variables
pre-surveys Introduce units and tools for measuring small amounts of chemicals including solid, liquid and gas
Use pH Test Strips to test a variety of liquids and compare pH levels and determine the acid or base
Combine salt with water and measure the weights of the salt before and after evaporation
Measure the differences of spin speed between raw eggs and boiled eggs to explore the chemical change of molecular
structures
Strategies emerged in Have the children create molecules by grouping atoms and electrons and explore mathematical patterns
post-surveys Discover elements of hydrogen and measure the atomic number, atomic mass, and all the other characteristics
Mix certain quantities of substance together and then determine how the reaction can change by manipulating the
number of items
Use the “picket fence” methods to organize numbers and information for chemistry and other contexts
Explore 3-D geometry through the creation of molecules in each compound by using jelly beans and toothpicks
Experiment with different materials to find out which mixture makes the best crystals, then explore shapes and sym-
metry
Explore algebraic patterns in atoms and determining how many electrons one atom has to lose or share during bonding
processes

In the area of physics, students are able to explore and volume from the second, they will conclude the vol-
collect data from the world around them. With the use ume of the object is equal to the amount of water dis-
of mathematics students learn to record and calculate placed. These activities allow students to participate
data while using this information to develop logical in experimental methods and practice their problem
predictions and hypothesis. One math activity that solving skills using mathematical processes.
can be done through physics is calculating the volume
Different from the linking science and mathematics
of different objects using the displacement method.
without opportunities for students to practice higher level
Students will place three different objects inside of 2 l
of thinking in James’s instructional design in the pre-sur-
of water using a graduated cylinder. They will then
vey, his revised lesson offered a more substantial degree of
measure the amount of water before and after the
integration, with multiple connections between the phys-
objects are placed inside. They will be able to notice
ics theme and mathematics content, by utilizing physics to
that the water level has now increased and will com-
illustrate algebraic patterns at a more sophisticated level.
pare the two values. After subtracting the initial water

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Table 3  Comparison of mathematics-biology interdisciplinary teaching strategies that emerged between pre-surveys and post-surveys
Major themes Biology themed mathematics teaching strategies

Strategies emerged Plant beans in a clear cup with soil and observe how many days it took for the bean to sprout and to days it took for the
in pre-surveys stem to come of the soil
Plant beans with different nutation and conditions, control variables and compare the growth by measuring the height of
the plants
Explore human body by counting the number of bones and teeth, labeling the nerve system and calculate the percentage
of body fat among different people
Have students run around and do physical activities while measuring their heart rate, and creating charts of the difference
between heart rates
Strategies emerged Identify different ant farms and observe how the ants work to make there colony, and collect data on the different groups
in post-surveys to investigate the optimal number of ants to create a colony
Put different types of bread in a zip lock bag and observe the food rotting process, control variables to compare the rotting
speed and use mathematics scales to estimate the amount of mold
Use Punnett squares to represent the cross breeding of two organisms within a species, and create a “blood/crime scene”
problem for students to use mathematical reasoning to determine the criminals
Extract DNA sample from one of fruits and view the strands of DNA under a microscope and investigate the geometrical
structures and mathematical sequences
Identify the probability of a person or plant’s offspring getting a recessive gene in different cases of dominant and reces-
sive gene combinations
Explore the concept of symmetry, congruent, and similar as well as explore Fibonacci patterns across different type of
plants and insects
Identify patterns in life circle across different insects and plants by numbering the sequence stages, and investigate math-
ematical structure in different type of food chains
Explore mathematical structure of extended families, and identify patterns of genetics throughout a number of generations
Have students gather up leaves and sort the leaves out in based on different ways of categories and construct statistical
graphs and Venn diagram to represent their findings
Have students create habitats and facilitate them to explore and recreate the features of various habitats while using meas-
urements and scale
Find the differences in height and weight of different kinds of animals and explore the relationship between the size of the
animal versus the amount of food and water they need to consume per day

Rather than passively recording data by using a measure- reach the finish line at a different time. Why is that?
ment instrument, James’s revised lesson connected the These questions should encourage students to think of
algebraic concepts of a fixed ratio between height and possible solutions, and meanwhile we can introduce
speed, as well as an irrelevant variable of slope. In this les- them to the mathematical equation that explains it.
son, students would be given the opportunity to discover
the equation by themselves from multiple physics experi-
4.2 Chemistry themed mathematics lessons—the case
ments. James provided the following description of the les-
of Jessica
son he designed:
One specific physics activity that I thought of for ele- Jessica introduced a mathematics lesson with water evapo-
mentary students would be to have them engage in an ration activity as the contextualization strategy for teaching
activity where they roll a car down a ramp (inclined measurement, data collection and analysis. However, this
plane). There are several mathematics concepts water evaporation activity allowed students to measure the
within this activity. One is that they would have to weight of salt for limited cases, and the quantitative analy-
weigh the mass of the car, since the formula for force sis process was limited only to comparing decimal num-
is mass multiplied by acceleration. Another concept bers. No follow up investigations and discussions of math-
would be measuring the height of the inclined plane. I ematical concepts were included in the instructional design.
would require the students to do several trials with the Jessica provided the following description of the instruc-
plane at least three different heights. Students can add tional process in her lesson plan:
books to make the plane more or less inclined to their
Because chemistry deals with matter, and the changes
liking. Here, they then would need to take a ruler or
that occur in that matter, it is necessary to evaluate
meter stick to measure the height as well as the base
and measure how matter changes and why changes
of the inclined plane. If one ramp is to be more steep
have occurred. One example of a chemistry lesson
while the other is to be less steep when we are to
that teaches mathematics includes combining salt
release the balls at the same time, the two balls will

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Preservice teachers’ knowledge of interdisciplinary pedagogy: the case of elementary…

with water in order to discover that even though the separate sheet of paper how their snowflakes look
salt seems to have disappeared, it is still there because like. They must state the shapes they used and how
matter is neither created nor destroyed even though it many lines of symmetry each of their snowflakes
may undergo a change. With this particular chemis- are made up of. After the pictures dry, students will
try lesson, students would be required to measure a examine and determine which mixture made the best
certain amount of water and a certain amount of salt. snowflakes, and then we will later discuss how snow-
Additionally, the students would need to find the flakes form and how they are made up of crystals.
weight of the salt by first measuring the container and
then the container with the salt. In order to calculate
4.3 Biology themed mathematics lessons—the case
the weight of the salt, the students would need to find
of Alexandra
the difference of the weight of the container with salt
and the weight of the container alone. Next, the stu-
Among the 13 preservice teachers who proposed a math-
dents would make predictions about what will happen
ematics–biology interdisciplinary lesson based on plant
to the salt when the water evaporates. When the water
growing and measurement activities in the pre-survey,
does finally evaporate, the students will compare their
Alexandra is one who designed a lesson with this plausi-
predictions, initial observations, and weights of the
ble activity. In her multiple-week lesson plan the students
salt before and after evaporation. During this particu-
are required to bring their own plants to the classroom,
lar chemistry lesson, basic mathematical skills are
record the plant’s growth information and finally make a
necessary to be successful in the completion of this
line graph. Although Alexandra thought students may have
experiment. Therefore, it is clear that chemistry relies
a positive attitude in exploring mathematics in their own
heavily on many mathematical skills in order for the
plants, this kind of biology themed lesson offered only a
lessons to be effective.
cover-story for mathematics and the students’ had limited
Still using salt and water as key materials for students chance to understand mathematics in multiple approaches.
to conduct chimerical experiments and explore mathemat- For example, Alexandra provided the following instruc-
ics, Jessica in the post-survey improved her teaching strat- tional design for her students:
egies by added a variety of open-ended thinking tasks for
I think a lesson that would effectively integrate biol-
students to make sense of geometry in an innovative way.
ogy and math would be to have the students grow
Her lesson reported in the post-survey taught the concept
their own plants in the classroom. This activity would
of symmetry based on the different types of snowflakes cre-
take place over the course of several weeks, and the
ated from different chemicals. Students would be given the
students will record the progress of the plants. They
chance to explore symmetrical lines in the snowflakes they
would measure the growth of the plants and how long
made by themselves. Jessica stated the following objectives
it takes them to grow, the students would also keep
in her lesson plan:
track of all their data. By the time the students have
My activity for elementary [students] can be to have recorded the height of their plant, they would then
them experiment with different materials to find out create a line graph of the height measurements they
which mixture makes the best crystals. The materi- recorded of their plant. I think this activity will make
als required for this activity are containers, water, the class a more welcoming environment as they
qtips, black construction paper, and 4 substances to bring in their own plant.
mix with the water (alum, Epsom salt, light salt, and
In the post-survey, Alexandra redesigned a mathemat-
sugar). As a class we will discuss the components
ics lesson focused on the topic of probability based on
of each of these 4 substances, and then the students
the concept of genetics. In contrast to her original lesson
will predict which mixture will make the best crys-
which had repetitive measurement tasks on the same plant,
tals. Have the students label each container that will
in her updated lesson plan in the post-survey she offered
correspond to their mixtures and then they will mix
a profound connection between mathematics and biology
the water and the substances, measuring the water
through hands-on activities. Specifically, she used jelly
and substances to make sure that they use the same
beans with different colors as the key manipulatives for
amount of water for each container. After this the stu-
illustrating how genetics works through three generations,
dents will fold their black construction paper into 4
and the results of the biology experiment also demonstrated
sections, label them to correlate to the mixture, and
probability concepts. As she described:
then they will be asked to take a qtip and draw a sym-
metrical snowflake (one snowflake for each mixture). My ideas for the math lesson involves the students
As the pictures dry have the students describe on a learning how genetics works. To begin, the students

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 S. A. An

will get into groups and be given 7 small cups and through inquiry-oriented processes. Regarding science
jelly beans (red, green, blue, and yellow). They activities for teaching mathematics, a variety of scientific
will label the cups as Grandfather 1, Grandfather 2, topics were all used as interdisciplinary themes for con-
Grandmother 1, Grandmother 2, Mother, Father, and textualizing mathematical concepts. As the cases of James,
Child. Next they will place 8 jellybeans (making Jessica, and Alexandra’s instructional designs illustrated,
sure there are 2 of each color) inside each of the cups rather than merely using science related tasks as warm-up
labeled Grandfather 1 and 2 and Grandmother 1 and practice during mathematics lessons such as in the pre-
2. Then the students will randomly select 4 from the surveys, during the post-surveys a range of pedagogical
first set of grandparents to create the Mother and then approaches supporting mathematics content areas, such
do the same for the second set of grandparents to cre- as algebra, geometry, data analysis and probability, were
ate the Father. The students will repeat the same pro- reported. These new teaching approaches included (a)
cess from the Mother and Father to create the Child. exploring ratios connecting physics and algebra; (b) visu-
Once they are done, the students will return the jelly alizing symmetry, connecting chemistry and transforma-
beans to the grandparents and repeat the process 3 tions in geometry; and (c) conducting experiments with
more times and keep a data table of the results. The heredity that demonstrate connections between biology and
students will be able to see that there are many pos- probability.
sible outcomes for the child. Researchers across the globe, in both centralized edu-
cational systems (e.g., Kim and Bolger 2016; Lam et al.
2013; Saçkes et al. 2012) and de-centralized educational
systems (Venville et al. 2012; Samson 2014; Cady and
5 Discussion Rearden 2007) have identified, implemented, and assessed
various integrated methods for teaching mathematics
The overall findings from both pre-surveys and post-sur- and science content; however there has not been a defini-
veys indicated that in the current study the participating tive answer as to how best to improve preservice teachers’
preservice teachers’ interdisciplinary pedagogical content instructional design for interdisciplinary mathematics–sci-
knowledge was positively impacted by the intervention of ence pedagogy. The current study attempted to help fill
participating and evaluating exemplary mathematics activi- this research gap by examining potential techniques and
ties focused on different pedagogical connections across prospects for facilitating preservice teachers, development
school subjects. This study provides additional empiri- of their own knowledge for supporting science-themed
cal evidence about how contextualized mathematics edu- mathematics pedagogy, by first employing a less intimi-
cational activities, which in the current case explored the dating form of interdisciplinary mathematics education,
association between science and mathematics, can be used namely arts-themed mathematics education. The improve-
as effective teacher education resources for developing ment of instructional designs proposed by the preservice
teachers’ capacity to design innovative mathematics les- teachers from the pre-surveys to the post-surveys, can be
sons. Compared with the instructional designs that preser- reasonably attributed to the intervention, and the effects of
vice teachers’ proposed in the pre-surveys, lessons in the the intervention were partially displayed by comparing the
post-surveys displayed more new teaching methods with results from the pre-surveys and post-surveys. The selected
more profound interdisciplinary connections. Although exemplary interdisciplinary mathematics lesson designs
the preservice teachers in the pre-survey proposed a num- presented during the intervention facilitated the preservice
ber of mathematics lessons that linked with all four major teachers’ comprehension of the potential for employing
science content areas, prior to the intervention there were innovative techniques when preparing lessons that intro-
only a fairly limited number of pedagogical methods pre- duce mathematics concepts. Specifically, in the present
sented that went beyond using science activities as a means study the analysis of the data collected showed that preser-
for conducting basic measurement. The findings also illus- vice teachers’ development of interdisciplinary pedagogical
trated that some content in science, such as biology, is more content knowledge is viable, as most participants learned
difficult than other content, such as physics, for preservice how to apply activities from science curriculum meaning-
teachers in developing mathematics pedagogy, as reflected fully to design lessons that have the potential to help stu-
in the pre-survey. dents conceptualize abstract mathematics concepts during
In the post-survey, however, the findings revealed that inquiry-based knowledge construction processes.
the preservice teacher participants demonstrated a wider Teachers’ effectiveness in designing and implementing
diversity of science-themed activities integrated into math- lessons has been recognized as a crucial factor in achieving
ematics lessons, and they also covered more comprehen- the goal of equity in education—however, the mathemat-
sive mathematics–science connections at the subject level ics achievement gap between minority and non-minority

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Preservice teachers’ knowledge of interdisciplinary pedagogy: the case of elementary…

students is still evident (Darling-Hammond and Baratz- group (i.e., females with Hispanic ethnicity), and therefore
Snowden 2007). To provide sufficient preparation for the effects of a similar intervention are still unknown for
teachers before they start classroom teaching, to ensure different gendered or ethnic demographics. Additionally, in
their pedagogical and content knowledge, one of the key the current study’s intervention we connected multiple top-
missions for teacher education programs is to better under- ics across arts, science and mathematics, and the complex-
stand students’ patterns of mathematics learning and their ity in the resulting pedagogical structure could be problem-
corresponding misconceptions (Swars et al. 2006). How- atic both logistically and during research comparisons. The
ever, evidence across studies displayed that a majority of findings from this study invite additional empirical inves-
elementary preservice teachers are not sufficiently prepared tigation of how to improve teacher education programs by
(Ball 1990; Darling-Hammond and Baratz-Snowden 2007; adding more interdisciplinary components, as well as invit-
Fuller 1997) and teaching outcomes from less competent ing more research to assess more thoroughly the effects of
peers are significantly lower than from highly qualified interventions with interdisciplinary themes. There is hence
teachers (Singham 2003). In particular, Labaree (2008) an opportunity for research examining many such poten-
noted that traditional teacher education programs are tially creative contexts, such as those that integrate science,
customarily organized to emphasize mono-disciplinary social studies, the arts, and language arts, into the devel-
instructional methods, which highlight distinct discipli- opment of mathematics preservice teachers’ pedagogical
nary boundaries. Such teacher education programs that practices.
are rooted in separating the mathematics and science dis-
ciplines into discrete silos have failed to offer relevant and
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