Developing Problem-Solving Skills to Support Sustainability in STEM Education Using Generative AI Tools

Vytautas Štuikys (), Renata Burbaitė, Mikas Binkis and Giedrius Ziberkas
Additional contact information
Vytautas Štuikys: Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania
Renata Burbaitė: Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania
Mikas Binkis: Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania
Giedrius Ziberkas: Faculty of Informatics, Kaunas University of Technology, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: This paper presents a novel, multi-stage modelling approach for integrating Generative AI (GenAI) tools into design-based STEM education, promoting sustainability and 21st-century problem-solving skills. The proposed methodology includes (i) a conceptual model that defines structural aspects of the domain at a high abstraction level; (ii) a contextual model for defining the internal context; (iii) a GenAI-based model for solving the STEM task, which consists of a generic model for integrating GenAI tools into STEM-driven education and a process model, presenting learning/design processes using those tools. A case study involving the design of an autonomous folkrace robot illustrates the implementation of the approach. Based on Likert-scale evaluations, quantitative results demonstrate a significant impact of GenAI tools in enhancing critical thinking, conceptual understanding, creativity, and engineering practices, particularly during the prototyping and testing phases. This paper concludes that the structured integration of GenAI tools supports personalized, inquiry-based, and sustainable STEM education, while also raising new challenges in prompt engineering and ethical use. This approach provides educators with a systematic pathway for leveraging AI to develop STEM-based skills essential for future sustainable development.

Keywords: design-based STEM education; STEM skills; multi-stage modelling; Generative AI tools; prompt engineering (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6935/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6935/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:15:p:6935-:d:1713766

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().