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Purpose This study evaluates the effectiveness of a machine learning (ML) integrated science curriculum implemented within the Science Research Mentorship Program (SRMP) for high school youth at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) over 2 years. The 4-week curriculum focused on ML knowledge gain, skill development, and self-efficacy, particularly for under-represented youth in STEM. Background ML is increasingly prevalent in STEM fields, making early exposure to ML methods and artificial intelligence (AI) literacy crucial for youth pursuing STEM careers. However, STEM fields, particularly those focused on AI research and development, suffer from a lack of diversity. Learning experiences that support the participation of under-represented groups in STEM and ML are essential to addressing this gap. Results Participant learning was assessed through pre- and post-surveys measuring ML knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy. Results from the implementation of the curriculum show that participants gained understanding of ML knowledge and skills ( p  < 0.001, d  = 1.083) and self-efficacy in learning ML concepts ( p  = 0.004, d  = 0.676). On average, participants who identified as female and non-white showed greater learning gains than their white male peers (ML knowledge: p  < 0.001, d  = 1.191; self-efficacy: p  = 0.006, d  = 0.631), decreasing gaps in ML knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy identified in pre-survey scores. Conclusions The ML-integrated curriculum effectively enhances students’ understanding and confidence in ML concepts, especially for under-represented groups in STEM, and provides a model for future ML education initiatives in informal science settings. We suggest that policy makers and school leaders take into account that high school age youth can learn ML concepts through integrated curricula while maintaining an awareness that curriculum effectiveness varies across demographic groups.

Advocacy of STEM curricular approaches is based on a concern to engage students in authentic disciplinary and interdisciplinary practices in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines, and the need to promote participation in STEM pathways. The STEM Academy professional learning program was developed to support teachers to engage and motivate students by creating real-world, challenging problems. The initiative involved interdisciplinary teams of secondary STEM teachers attending workshops and working with university experts to design, implement and evaluate STEM curricular experiences. This paper focuses on case studies undertaken in two of the twelve schools involved in the initiative, using interview data from teachers and students, to explore the nature of their programs and their experiences. We investigate key features of these two schools’ approaches, using a conceptual framework for integrated STEM, and explore the challenges and benefits of different features of integrated STEM that promote different dimensions of engagement in learning mathematics. We explore how the framework characteristics can be reframed into four dimensions that promote mathematics engagement in integrated STEM education - design thinking in authentic contexts, content integration, STEM practices and 21st Century skills, and exposure to professional practice.

Background The adoption of integrated curricula in medical schools has grown globally, emphasizing the need to understand academic medical staff satisfaction as a crucial factor influencing successful implementation. Aim This study aimed to assess satisfaction levels among academic medical staff with integrated medical curricula, identifying socio-demographic and work-related predictors of dissatisfaction. Methods A cross-sectional, online multinational survey was conducted from December 2023 to April 2024 among 525 academic medical staff. A structured, self-reported questionnaire was used to assess satisfaction levels, demographic characteristics, and work-related factors. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including logistic regression analysis, to identify predictors of dissatisfaction. Results The study revealed a low satisfaction rate (44.2%) among medical staff, with significant dissatisfaction influenced by nationality (Jordanian: OR = 7.74, and Egyptian: OR = 4.68), male gender (OR = 3.27), over ten years of teaching experience in integrated curricula (OR = 4.25), and employment in governmental universities (OR = 4.23). Dissatisfaction was particularly high with aspects such as the integration of basic and clinical sciences, assessment methods, and implementation schedules. Faculty from private universities demonstrated significantly higher satisfaction (65.1%) compared to those in governmental institutions (41.3%). Younger staff < 45 years reported higher satisfaction rates (50.9%) compared to their older counterparts ≥ 45 years (39.1%), reflecting greater adaptability to curriculum changes. Conclusions The findings highlight substantial dissatisfaction among academic medical staff with the design and implementation of integrated curricula, particularly in governmental institutions and among senior faculty. Institutions must address challenges in curriculum design, resource allocation, and faculty support to enhance satisfaction. Revisiting conventional curriculum components or adopting a hybrid approach may help balance innovation with faculty preferences, fostering a more conducive educational environment.

This study examined the effect of 2 types of mathematics content organization on high school students' mathematics learning while taking account of curriculum implementation and student prior achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling with 3 levels showed that students who studied from the integrated curriculum were significantly advantaged over students who studied from a subject-specific curriculum on 3 end-of-year outcome measures: Test of Common Objectives, Problem Solving and Reasoning Test, and a standardized achievement test. Opportunity to learn and teaching experience were significant moderating factors.

Introduction: The Ottawa-Shanghai Joint School of Medicine (OSJSM) has adopted the uOttawa's undergraduate medical education (UGME) program vertically integrated (VI) curriculum.However, limited information is available regarding whether the VI and non-VI curricula foster different perspectives on necessary competencies. Methods: This study included 167 undergraduate medical students and 142 faculty members from different curricula at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Participants completed a questionnaire, rating the importance of competencies relating to the seven CanMEDS roles. Results: The cognitive level regarding the competencies required to be a successful clinician was significantly higher among participants from VI versus non-VI curricula. All participants gave the highest ratings to the Medical Expert and Professional roles, and rated the Health Advocate role as least important. Competency ratings did not significantly differ between students from VI versus non-VI curricula. Ratings between VI and non-VI faculty showed only one significant difference, namely the competence of \"Constantly update clinical knowledge and professional skills\" was ranked significantly higher by faculty of non-VI curricula. In the top rated 10 competencies, the Communicator role was considered more important by participants from VI versus non- VI curricula. Conclusion: The cognitive level regarding the competencies was related to the curriculum system. The Communicator role seemed to be paid more attention in VI curricula, however, other competencies was not demonstrated to be related to the curriculum system. Keywords: competency, vertically integrated curriculum, medical education

Co-design and co-teaching are practical approaches for teachers with varying experiences to get involved in integrating AI curriculum with STEM subjects. However, teachers’ limited expertise in co-design and co-teaching hinders active implementation. This study explored how two middle school teachers collaborated to design and deliver an AI curriculum within a STEM class. We analyzed co-designing and co-teaching sessions recorded over eight hours through inductive thematic analysis, based on research-practice partnership and a design-based framework. In co-design, one teacher with prior AI experience showed higher initial engagement. Another teacher with less experience demonstrated improved engagement through a structured support system that employed shared goal setting, tailored resources, and iterative curriculum refinement. Teachers employed collaborative strategies in co-teaching, such as preparatory meetings, mutually refined prompts, and scaffolding by connecting AI concepts to real-world contexts. The findings highlight how co-design and co-teaching can foster teacher ownership and professional growth for K-12 AI education.

IntroductionHealth professions education faces transitions from monodisciplinary to integrated education and from soloist teachers to interdisciplinary teacher teams. Interdisciplinary teamwork has been found complex and prone to conflict. Teachers’ perceptions of why some teams work and learn as a real interdisciplinary team and others do not are lacking in this setting. We studied the factors that teachers perceive as enabling and/or inhibiting interdisciplinary team learning.MethodsIn this exploratory, qualitative study, we conducted 17 semi-structured, vignette-guided interviews with teachers recruited from diverse disciplines in undergraduate health professions programmes at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, through maximum variation sampling. Team learning research informed data collection and template analysis.ResultsWe identified three themes representing the factors that teachers perceived to influence interdisciplinary team learning: ‘alignment/misalignment with the educational philosophy’ (regarding personal attributes, tendencies and motivation), ‘leadership practices’ (encompassing team vision, responsibility and reflection), and ‘involvement in organisational processes’ (covering organisational decision-making, support and learning opportunities). For interdisciplinary team learning in development of integrated education, teachers emphasised their personal ability to move beyond disciplinary boundaries. Shared team leadership enabled the creation of a shared vision, shared responsibility, and team reflection. Lastly, teacher involvement in educational management, peer support and learning was considered important.DiscussionTo work beyond disciplines in health professions education, teachers should take an interest in integrated education, share responsibility and work in an environment where people continuously learn from others. Organisations can facilitate this by involving teachers in decision-making processes and providing faculty development aimed to foster shared leadership and team reflection.

BackgroundFew tools or rubrics exist to assess the quality of integrated STEM curricula, and existing tools focus on checklists of characteristics of integrated STEM. While such instruments provide important information about the presence and quality of certain curricular components, they do not assess the level and nature of integration of the curriculum as a whole. Thus, this study explores the development of a process focused to understand the nature of integration within a STEM curriculum unit.FindingsA conceptual flow graphic (CFG) was constructed for 50 integrated STEM curriculum units. Patterns in the nature of the interdisciplinary connections were used to categorize and understand the nature of integration and curricular coherence within each unit. The units formed four broad types of integrated STEM curricula: (i) coherent science unit with loosely connected engineering design challenge (EDC), (ii) engineering design-focused unit with limited connections to science content, (iii) engineering design unit with science content as context, and (iv) integrated and coherent STEM units. All physical science units were in the integrated and coherent category with strong conceptual integration between the main science concepts and the EDC. Curricula based in the Earth and life sciences generally lacked conceptual integration between the science content and the EDC and relied on the engineering design process to provide a coherent storyline for the unit.ConclusionsOur study shows that engineering practices can serve as a contextual integrator within a STEM unit. The utilization of an EDC also provides the potential for conceptual integration because engineering is grounded in the application of science and mathematics. Integrated STEM curricula that purposefully include science and mathematics concepts necessary to develop solutions to the EDC engage students in authentic engineering experiences and provide conceptual integration between the disciplines. However, the alignment of grade-level science standards with the EDC can be problematic, particularly in life science and Earth science. The CFG process provides a tool for determining the nature of integration between science and mathematics content and an EDC. These connections can be conceptual and/or contextual, as both forms of integration are appropriate depending on the instructional goals.

The successful irruption of AI-based technology in our daily lives has led to a growing educational, social, and political interest in training citizens in AI. Education systems now need to train students at the K-12 level to live in a society where they must interact with AI. Thus, AI literacy is a pedagogical and cognitive challenge at the K-12 level. This study aimed to understand how AI is being integrated into K-12 education worldwide. We conducted a search process following the systematic literature review method using Scopus. 179 documents were reviewed, and two broad groups of AI literacy approaches were identified, namely learning experience and theoretical perspective. The first group covered experiences in learning technical, conceptual and applied skills in a particular domain of interest. The second group revealed that significant efforts are being made to design models that frame AI literacy proposals. There were hardly any experiences that assessed whether students understood AI concepts after the learning experience. Little attention has been paid to the undesirable consequences of an indiscriminate and insufficiently thought-out application of AI. A competency framework is required to guide the didactic proposals designed by educational institutions and define a curriculum reflecting the sequence and academic continuity, which should be modular, personalized and adjusted to the conditions of the schools. Finally, AI literacy can be leveraged to enhance the learning of disciplinary core subjects by integrating AI into the teaching process of those subjects, provided the curriculum is co-designed with teachers.