Could official STEM curriculum documents function as enablers of successful boundary-crossing? The Hong Kong case

Abstract

<p>The ability to bridge between perspectives is essential for handling global challenges. To such end,<br>this study aims to consider how far the official STEM curriculum documents in Hong Kong<br>facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues. The official STEM-related curriculum documents were<br>considered boundary objects that bridge constituent disciplines. Three research questions were<br>formulated regarding how the STEM curriculum documents in Hong Kong fostered<br>interdisciplinary dialogues. We concluded from the analysis that the STEM curriculum documents<br>in Hong Kong could facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues to a limited extent. On the positive side,<br>the coexistence of different disciplinary perspectives was officially legitimated. Student-centred<br>project-based approach permitted STEM learning experiences to connect different subjects.<br>Examples could also be found in the documents regarding how the various project elements could<br>be temporally arranged to mandate boundary-crossing. On the other side, there was minimal<br>discussion of the contribution of multiple disciplines. There was no specification about how<br>knowledge translation should occur, and there was a lack of support for developing routines for<br>interdisciplinary knowledge integration and application. It is hoped that this work could stimulate<br>the further use of the concepts of "boundary-crossing" in the analysis of integrated STEM-related<br>curricula.<br></p>