STEM Education in Secondary Schools: Teachers’ Perspective towards Sustainable Development

Abstract

Young people are the future of society and agents for social change, and so it is crucial to provide education that not only equips them with knowledge and skills but also changes their attitudes and behavior towards sustainable development. This study provides a review on how pedagogical approaches in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education can be deployed to teach concepts of sustainability. It also shows how secondary school teachers perceived STEM education and how they applied integrated STEM disciplines in designing projects to address development issues in Vietnam. Seventy-seven STEM teaching projects of teachers across the country were analysed, and interviews were conducted with 635 teachers who participated in the STEM program. Teachers valued STEM education and were willing to apply constructivist pedagogical methods to help solve the real-world problems. It is hoped that an integrated STEM approach can transform education into an innovative and inclusive education for social equity and sustainable development.

Perusing the Past to Propel the Future: A Systematic Review of STEM Learning Activity Based on Activity Theory

“…The more that STEM activity designers integrate the disciplines, the more likely they are to adopt different tasks and investigate different learning outcomes. Integrated STEM disciplinary activities are deemed promising and therefore have been promoted by the UN for "sustainable development education" [65]. The findings revealed that researchers in the last 10 years did not focus on integrating STEM-related concepts in other disciplines.…”

STEM Temelli Ders Planı Hazırlama Süreci ve Uygulama Sonuçları: Çevreci Sifon Etkinliği

“…In the literature review conducted by Smith and Watson (2016), the integration of STEM education with sustainability education was discussed, and it was suggested that individuals would apply STEM knowledge and skills to solve sustainability and environmental problems based on economic or international competition. In their study, Nguyen, Nguyen and Tran (2020) interviewed 635 teachers working in STEM disciplines in middle schools and stated that the teachers wanted to use STEM education to address real-life sustainability problems such as pollution, sustainable consumption and production, energy and water saving. In the study conducted by Suh and Han (2019) on 42 university students, it was investigated how a STEM project affected student competencies related to sustainability by using a mathematical modelling applied for six weeks in mathematics lessons.…”

“…In the literature review briefly summarized above, through the integration of sustainable development education with STEM, individuals are expected to use their STEM knowledge and skills to solve current sustainability problems or future economic, environmental and social problems in order to achieve a goal of sustainable life (Nguyen et al, 2020;Smith & Watson, 2016;Suh & Han, 2019). In addition, with STEM education, it is emphasized that individuals should acquire environmental information, develop a positive attitude towards the environment and develop environmentally friendly behaviours (Candan-Helvaci & Helvaci, 2019;Özçakır-Sümen & Çalışıcı, 2016).…”

Water Wastage in Secondary Schools: A Case of Secondary Schools in Esikhaleni Circuit, King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal

“…Therefore, schools can be regarded as agents of change that can modify the lives of children and promote sustainable development, that is, sustainable use of water. Moreover, the kind of education secondary schools provide must not only equip them with skills and knowledge but also modify their attitude and behaviour leading towards water sustainability (Nguyen, Nguyen & Tran, 2020).…”