Technology Supporting Thematic Learning

Thematic learning is a way of organizing curriculum around particular topical areas of exploration or themes. A variety of traditional subject areas - such as mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies - as well as dispositions such as critical thinking, cooperation, and collaboration can be woven into interdisciplinary thematic units which center around a unifying theme. Common examples of themes might be the environment (specifically animals, the rainforest, seasons, etc.), holidays, political events such as elections, or foreign countries and cultures. While working within a theme, students conduct research, prepare reports, and make presentations. These activities help develop and reinforce basic skills such as reading, writing, mathematics, and science.

Technology supports thematic learning by providing tools for communications (e.g., e-mail), research (e.g., WorldWideWeb or CD-ROM-based resources), and presentation (e.g., wordprocessors and multimedia authoring/presentation tools such as HyperStudio). Technology used within thematic units supplements traditional educational tools and practices such as classroom discussion, audiovisual aids, pencil and paper writing, and tests.

As with all of these strategies, thematic units can be fully developed as a key curricular component without the assistance of any technology. Where technology can primarily come into play is as a tool for work within the theme. Teachers can communicate with other teachers via e-mail to develop ideas and resources for themes. Students can use electronic communication, the Internet, and CD-ROM resources to research projects within their themes. Student projects can be published via the WorldWideWeb. When teachers employ technology based curriculum units - such as units from Integrated Learning Systems or other curriculum materials such as videodisc programs - an effort can be made to link these units with the current thematic unit. Often, the supporting materials for the curriculum packages offer teachers guidance in making these links.

General Resources

Primary Curriculum Ideas

Elementary Curriculum Ideas

Middle School Curriculum Ideas

Secondary School Curriculum Ideas

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General Resources

• Middle School Journal, March 1994; v25 n4 - This issue of the Middle School Journal is devoted to an exploration of Interdisciplinary Instruction and has a number of useful resources for teachers interested in developing thematic curricula.
• A January, 1996 ERIC Digest on Integrative Education summarizes a variety of issues and resources related to developing interdisciplinary and thematic curricula for all grade levels. ERIC Digests are available on-line via the US Department of Education's WWW server.

Thematic Units in the Primary Curriculum

Second graders in Frost Lake Magnet School in St. Paul, MN participated in a theme entitled Labor and its Connection to Community Needs. This theme asked students to explore the qualities of being a "good worker" and how businesses in a community are interdependent. This theme was developed by the school's Global Studies specialist. Students read literature related to the theme, interviewed their parents about their jobs, and wrote "newspaper articles" about their parents' jobs. The unit also made use of a software simulation of a factory assembly line so that students could collaboratively explore a worksite and come to understand how the different elements of a factory relate to each other. Throughout the theme, students practiced basic skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics while they also used technology both as a tool within these skill areas and as a tool (simulation) for exploratory learning within the theme.

Stacey R. Kadrmas, Teaching Global Studies with Technology in Media and Methods; March/April, 1994; pgs. 24 - 25

Thematic Units in the Elementary Curriculum

Fourth through sixth grade teachers at Southgate Elementary School (located in Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, OH) have used bridge-building as a thematic unit. This unit drew together curricula in geometry, data collection/analysis, social studies, writing, and multimedia authoring focused on the central research question of "Does Cincinnati Need Another Bridge?" Students working in this unit designed and administered a community survey; researched the social and engineering history of bridges in their community; and designed a variety of bridges of different sizes, capacities, and shapes. Some students were offered the opportunity to write songs about bridges. Those students who designed bridges were able to strength test their bridges through building models. At the end of the unit, students drew their conclusions about whether or not Cincinnati needed another bridge and then presented these conclusions to the City of Cincinnati for consideration. Software used in this unit included Cruncher (for spreadsheets),ClarisWorks (for drawing bridges), and MicroWorlds Project Builder (for designing simulated bridges).

Deanna J. Salisbury, Does Cincinnati Need Another Bridge? in Learning and Leading with Technology; September, 1995; pgs. 17 - 19

Thematic Units in the Middle School Curriculum

• Students at Woodbridge Academy in Lexington, KY work in an interdisciplinary, thematic, unit on the environment called The Sinkhole Project. The teacher facilitators for this project believe that the environment is a subject which brings together all curriculum as the environment is literally "all around us." They look towards such universal themes as a way of engaging and motivating their student population - all of whom have learning disabilities of one sort or another (e.g., dyslexia, ADD, etc.). Sinkhole project students work in clusters of three or four classes to explore and collect data on 10 different sinkholes (a geographic artifact resulting from groundwater and mineral subsidence often found in areas subjected to heavy and long-term underground mining) each year. Students collect and analyze data, write and publish their results, and use a variety of multimedia to make a final presentation. Technology tools such as HyperCard and ClarisWorks are commonly employed. History and political science are incorporated into the theme through the creation of mock environmental laws relating to sinkholes. Students defend these "laws" against other student teams.

Richard Goldsworthy, The Sinkhole Project: Technology, Integration, and the Environment in Learning and Leading with Technology; April, 1996; pgs. 16 - 18.

For more information about this project, mail to bridge@ukcc.uky.edu

• The Good News Bears Stock Market Project is an interdisciplinary project for middle school students which uses the stock market as a theme to interweave learning in English, Mathematics, and Social Studies. The project revolves around an interactive stock market competition between classes or groups of students using real-time stock market data from the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. The objectives for the students participating in the project are for students to be "...able to recognize and use terms related to market activities, use research tools on the Web to make an informed decision in developing their stock portfolio, track and manage their own portfolio of stocks, recognize the effect that economic indicators, company management, political climate, foreign relations and other variables have on the stock market, and analyze their own stock data in relation to the fluctuating indicators."

Thematic Units in the Secondary School Curriculum

By definition, thematic units are an organizing element in an interdisciplinary curriculum. Primary, elementary, and to a large extent, middle school curricula are by nature interdisciplinary. Therefore, many teachers at the pre-secondary levels easily see how thematic units can be implemented in their curricula. Unfortunately, the secondary school curriculum is seldom interdisciplinary. Due to the perceived need to above all else master specific content as a preparation for college or vocation, most high schools have not significantly adopted interdisciplinary curricula. High school teachers often work in formalized "departments" (e.g., math, science, languages, etc.) and are not afforded the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues outside of their department. Finally, the 40-50 minute class period still common in most high schools mitigates against the use of class time for in-depth investigation, open-ended discussion, student collaboration, and research so often required for meaningful interdisciplinary work. In short, the structure of most secondary schools makes it difficult to implement thematic units as has been done in primary, elementary, and middle schools.

• Robert Gauger, Department Head of Technology at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, IL, believes that by integrating Chemistry and Physics curricula with a technology curriculum students curiosity for and interest in science will be increased. Gauger has developed two courses called Chemistry of Technology and Physics of Technology. Both courses emphasize a hands-on, exploratory approach to high school science education which integrates study of scientific theory within a technology framework. In other words, students experiment with technology and study the basic science which lies behind the technology. Mathematics is also integrated within Gauger's courses as a tool for data analysis and manipulation. Gauger's courses are offered as electives, and thus Chemistry/Physics of Technology do not replace traditional courses, but rather provide integrated, hands-on, supplements which help students develop a deeper understanding of these basic elements of the academic high school curriculum.

Robert Gauger, Chem Tech and Physics Tech: Parallel Teaching Strategies in The Science Teacher; December, 1990; pgs 39 - 43

• Students at Century High School in Santa Ana, CA participate in interdisciplinary projects which match teams of students with community non-profit groups requiring assistance. The "Prophets" project asks students to select social or environmental topics to study. Then, students are matched to community groups which focus on those chosen topics. This matching takes place on a community-access WWW server operated by Access Sacramento (a local community services provider). Since the students in this project are located at a considerable distance from the community groups (all of which are in the Sacramento area), technology is used to facilitate interaction and discussion. Students use Internet-based videoconferencing and WWW resources to communicate with their community groups and cooperatively solve problems related to their topics. The community groups serve as on-line mentors and "experts" for the students. Students participate in "authentic" real-world tasks which provide them with useful career skills in technology, environmental, and scientific fields. One of the major outcomes of the Prophets project is that students help the non-profit groups design WWW presences. Most importantly, students feel connected to the real-world and its problems through their "hands on" work in solving some of those problems.

Thomas March and Jessica Puma, A Telecommunications-Infused Community Action Project in T.H.E. Journal; vol 24(5); December, 1996; pgs 66 - 70.