The Effect of E-STEM Education on Students’ Perceptions and Engineering Design Process about Environmental Issues

Abstract

E-STEM (Environmental, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) refers to the integration environmental education into STEM education and can have important role on students’ understandings and engineering design process about environmental issues such as plant growth, acid rains, pollution, sustainable agriculture etc. since it engages students in real-world environmental problem-solving that integrates science, technology, engineering, and math. In this manner, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of E-STEM Education on fifth grade students’ perceptions and their engineering design process about environmental issues. To reach this aim, a one-group pre- and post-test model was used. The research group of study is five 5th grade students at private school, Istanbul, Turkey. The data was collected with open-ended questions, focus group interview and researchers’ observation notes. In data analysis, students’ responses to open-ended questions were analyzed with content analysis and classified in terms of adequacy. Transcribed discussions from focus group interview and researchers’ observation notes were assessed based on Engineering Design Process Framework. As a result of the study, students’ perceptions and engineering design process about environmental issues improved through E-STEM Education.

Pre-service Teachers' Environmental Literacy: The Role of STEM-Based Environmental Education with Microcontrollers

“…As mentioned above, when reviewing the literature on environmental literacy, it has been found that education that aims to raise awareness and/or provide information on the topic is often implemented, but STEM-based education that aims to question the existence of environmental problems or how to solve environmental problems is less common (Tadena & Hairulla, 2019;Koculu & Girgin, 2022;Wahyuni et al, 2022). Therefore, this research serves to fill the knowledge gap (Miles, 2017) that is missing in the literature.…”

“…One is the studies using STEM approach to develop participants' skills called STEM skills (Candan-Helvaci, 2021) such as creativity, engineering design skills, innovation skills, and problem solving skills (e.g. Koculu & Girgin, 2022;Kulegel & Topsakal, 2021;Ozcakir-Sumen & Calisici, 2016). In these studies, environment-related contexts are used as everyday problems.…”

“…Another study group is the studies in which the STEM approach is used in the learning environment planned to provide environmental education to the participants (e.g. Koculu & Girgin, 2022;Tadena & Salic-Hairulla, 2019;Wahyuni, Arrohman, Wilujeng, Widowati & Suyanta, 2022;Widowati, Purwanto & Akbar, 2021). The main objective of this study group is to provide environmental education to the participants in a student-centred environment.…”

“…At the end of the study, it was found that the environmental awareness of the participants had increased. Similarly, Koculu and Girgin (2022) conducted a 4-week E→STEM activity with primary school students to raise awareness about soil pollution, acid rain and sustainable agricultural practices. At the end of the study, the students' environmental awareness was found to have improved.…”

The Effectiveness of Blended Learning on STEM Achievement of Secondary School Students

“…Moreover, the integration of environmental education into STEM education, known as E-STEM, has been identified as having a crucial impact on students' perceptions and their understanding of the engineering design process related to environmental issues (Koculu & Girgin, 2022). This highlights the potential of E-STEM to cultivate students' awareness and knowledge regarding environmental challenges such as plant growth, acid rain, pollution, and sustainable agriculture.…”