Integrative STEM Education

ITEEA is providing this fundamental resource to lead our profession and enable all technology and engineering educators, along with their STEM colleagues from other disciplines, to take the initiative in how Integrative STEM Education is defined in our K-12 school systems. This resource page includes a definition and primer for Integrative STEM Education. The goal is to operationalize “I-STEM” to provide examples that assist technology and engineering educators (and all others in the STEM field) to understand and implement engaging and dynamic instructional practices K-12 and beyond to benefit ALL students!

This resource provides a launching point that teachers can build on in their classrooms. Our intent is for it to jumpstart our efforts in making I-STEM a core of our instructional practices and demonstrate to the entire STEM community the value of quality technology and engineering education that our classroom teachers provide to students each and every day.

Integrative STEM Education is operationally defined as "the application of technological/engineering design based pedagogical approaches to intentionally teach content and practices of science and mathematics education through the content and practices of technology/engineering education. Integrative STEM Education is equally applicable at the natural intersections of learning within the continuum of content areas, educational environments, and academic levels"   (Wells & Ernst, 2012/2015).
(as adapted from Wells/Sanders program documents 2006-10).