MacIntyre, Brears & Bhattacharya (2006) report, that in
2001 the New Zealand Ministry of Education developed and implemented a national literacy and numeracy strategy for primary schools. Many schools responded to this
strategy by organising their literacy and numeracy programmes in the morning slots with the other five curriculum disciplines relegated to the afternoon slots under the guise of ‘integrated studies’ or ‘inquiry learning’. With a national emphasis on numeracy and literacy and the adoption of national standard testing for both numeracy
and literacy in 2009 the pressure towards integrated curriculum will not abate. The requirement for preparing pre-service teachers for teaching in an integrative manner becomes a vital component, not to address the Ministry initiatives per se, but more importantly to address the learning needs of the students for the 21st century.
The appropriate pedagogical approach
The focus of this paper, an integrated Curriculum Science and Technology course is informed by a number of principles aimed at enhancing the learning experiences of the pre-service teachers to meet the curriculum requirements in their future classroom teaching practice. Prior to this course, which takes place in the third year of study; initial education teachers have taken a specialist technology course in the first year and a specialist science curriculum course in the second year. As well as furthering the understanding of the nature of science and technology this course advances an understanding of metacognition and the development/enhancement of Information and Communication Technology skills through the application of PBL as the strategy for collaborative inquiry at the interdisciplinary level of curriculum integration.
Problem-based learning is situated within the domain of inquiry-based learning. Central to all forms of inquiry-based learning according to Justice et al (2002) is self reflection and evaluation. PBL as an inquiry-based learning strategy, is characterised by its encouragement of collaborative group work; an emphasis on analysis, evaluation and focus on reflection as integral components of practice (Goransson,
2007; Putnam 2001). Gallagher et al. (1995 cited in Ward
& Lee, 2002) note three features that set the parameters of the PBL strategy: “initiating learning with a problem, making exclusive use of ill-defined problems and using instructors
as metacognitive coaches” (p. 18). In the research investigation students were required to work within groups of three to develop an outcome in response to a self- generated problem or issue of concern over a five week period. Assessment of the group electronic presentations include a section titled ‘Self reflection and Evaluation’ of the PBL process.
Tambyah (2008) asserts that the role of primary teachers are distinctive from that of their secondary counterparts in that they are generally responsible for teaching across the curriculum, rather than in specialist areas, where in general