A Study on the Impact of STEAM Education for Sustainable Development Courses and Its Effects on Student Motivation and Learning

Peng-Wei Hsiao and Chung-Ho Su
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Peng-Wei Hsiao: Department of Fine Arts in Digital Media, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao
Chung-Ho Su: Department of Animation and Game Design, Shu-Te University, Yanchao, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-24

Abstract: In 2019, the United Nations released its 10-year policy of “ESD for 2030”. Many schools around the world have actively participated in the transformation and have included the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Many developed countries hope to combine the concept of STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) with interdisciplinary learning, and apply it to ESD. This study intended to integrate the sustainability concept into Virtual Reality (VR) system-aided STEAM education, in order to provide school children with integrated interdisciplinary STEAM education. A literature review was conducted and the research hypotheses were proposed. The empirical method and questionnaires were used as research methods to investigate the influence of the proposed system on the students’ satisfaction, self-efficacy, and learning outcomes after cognition learning. The results of this study showed that the combination of STEAM education, with VR-aided experience courses, could help to improve the learning satisfaction and outcomes of students and to arouse their learning motivation. However, the proposed system needs an ESD that is based on students’ traditional culture (such as designing a role-playing game), so that they can improve their self-efficacy through playing a VR game. Although VR games are interesting, they are difficult for some students to play. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the teaching materials, methods, and strategies appropriately by using information technology, so that ESD can be achieved by inspiring students to explore continuously. The findings can serve as a reference for further relevant studies.

Keywords: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD); STEAM; VR; learning motivation; learning effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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