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Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education has been identified as a keystone teaching and learning area for developing students' knowledge and skills on interdisciplinary critical thinking and problem solving (We use the term 'interdisciplinary' because discipline knowledge and methods were integrated from different disciplines in the project that used a synthesis of approaches). The position held by various government, industry and education stakeholders is that STEM learning, through different stages of education, will enable students to achieve their full potential. Underpinning this research was a response to an expressed school community need articulated through a primary school Principal's desire to integrate STEM learning into the classroom. Consequently, three primary schools from the mid north coast and north coast regions, New South Wales (NSW), Australia were involved in this research. In particular, the project facilitated teacher professional learning through authentic teaching and learning experiences coupled with transferable teaching and assessment strategies for the classroom. The rural and remote settings of the schools was influential in the design of the program. The methodology drew on Technacy Genre Theory to frame the interdisciplinary learning domains: Science (hypothesis testing literacies); Technology (digital microscope and robotics literacies); Engineering (food systems and biotechnology literacies) and Mathematics (data collection and statistics literacies). The findings indicated the teachers benefited through the development of effective strategies that led to successful outcomes on interdisciplinary teaching and learning and built up their confidence, knowledge and skills involved in the implementation of a STEM program into their primary school classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical development of food education in secondary schools in New South Wales Australia is a compelling yet under-researched area of interest. This review starts by exploring how food curricula have evolved since the 1700s to the present day juxtaposed on socio-economic and political factors. This review is interested in the role secondary food education may play in ‘supplying’ people into professional studies towards a career as a food technologist. Accordingly this review compares contemporary secondary food curriculum with related curricula in the higher education sector and establishes a marked dissonance between the two. The implications of this are then put forward. The drive to empower students to be enterprising and innovative twenty first century problem solvers in relation to food design through the interdisciplinary nature of food science is discussed, despite the uncertainty as to what degree Food Technology in schools is currently promoting these life-long and life-wide abilities in students. The authors suggest the lack of a theoretical underpinning may be holding the subject back from becoming a robust discipline. For this reason this review puts forward a conceptual framework for the study of food. The following review is relevant to secondary and higher education food education stakeholders (teachers, academics, curriculum developers, professional food industry) and higher education providers nationally and internationally, as the way in which food education is presented in secondary schooling is not contained to the Australian context alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]