Ethno-STEM Integrated Project-Based Learning to Improve Students' Creative Thinking Skills

Authors

  • Ebenezer Omolafe Babalola Department of Educational Technology, University of Ilorin, Kwara State, NIGERIA, Nigeria
  • Emmanuel Keku Department of Actuarial and Statistics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, GHANA, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33394/ijete.v1i2.11308

Keywords:

Ethnoscience, STEM education, Project-based learning, Creative thinking skills, Cultural relevance

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of integrating Ethno-STEM with project-based learning (PjBL) on enhancing creative thinking skills among secondary school students in Nigeria. Acknowledging the critical role of creativity in STEM education, the research addresses the gap between traditional teaching methods and the need for innovative approaches that foster creative thinking. Traditional STEM education, often characterized by rote memorization, has been criticized for not adequately preparing students to tackle real-world problems innovatively. The incorporation of Ethno-STEM into PjBL represents an avant-garde pedagogical strategy, aimed at bridging cultural knowledge with scientific inquiry, thereby making learning more relevant, engaging, and effective in developing creative problem-solvers. This quasi-experimental study, conducted over four months, involved 84 students divided equally into an experimental group, which experienced the Ethno-STEM integrated PjBL, and a control group, which continued with conventional curriculum. Creative thinking skills were assessed through pretests and posttests, focusing on fluency, flexibility, and originality. The results demonstrated a significant improvement in the creative thinking abilities of the experimental group compared to the control group, indicating that the Ethno-STEM integrated PjBL approach effectively enhances students' creative thinking skills. These findings underscore the potential of integrating cultural knowledge and project-based learning in STEM education to nurture innovation and creative problem-solving capabilities among students.

References

Aguilera, D., & Revilla, J. (2021). STEM vs. STEAM education and student creativity: a systematic literature review. Education Sciences, 11(7), 331. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11070331

Aikenhead, G., & Ogawa, M. (2007). Indigenous knowledge and science revisited. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2(3), 539-620. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-007-9067-8

Aini, M., & Narulita, E. (2020). Enhancing creative thinking and collaboration skills through ilc3 learning model: a case study. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 55(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.55.4.59

Alexiades, A., Haeffner, M., Reano, D., Janis, M., Black, J., Sonoda, K., … & Buck, M. (2021). Traditional ecological knowledge and inclusive pedagogy increase retention and success outcomes of STEM students. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 102(4), e01924. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1924

Bathgate, M., Aragón, O., Cavanagh, A., Waterhouse, J., Frederick, J., & Graham, M. (2019). Perceived supports and evidence-based teaching in college STEM. International Journal of Stem Education, 6(11), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-019-0166-3

Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1251. https://doi.org/10.2307/2641280

Birzina, R., Pigozne, T., Lapina, S., & Gymnasium, A. (2021). Trends in STEM teaching and learning within the context of national education reform. Rural Environment, Education, Personality, 14, 41-49 https://doi.org/10.22616/reep.2021.14.004

Fideli, H., & Aliazas, J. (2022). Enhancing collaboration and creative thinking skills through technology preparedness in a mixed learning environment. International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, 3(4), 43-60. https://doi.org/10.53378/352931

Freeman, S., Eddy, S., McDonough, M., Smith, M., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., … & Wenderoth, M. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1319030111

Mahomoodally, M. F. (2013). Traditional medicines in Africa: An appraisal of ten potent african medicinal plants. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine: eCAM, 2013, 617459. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/617459

Mnguni, L., & Mokiwa, H. (2020). The integration of online teaching and learning in STEM education as a response to the covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 19(6A), 1040-1042. https://doi.org/10.33225/jbse/20.19.1040

Mutsvangwa, A., & Zezekwa, N. (2021). STEM Education: A Ray of Hope for African Countries. Unnes Science Education Journal, 10(2), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.15294/usej.v10i2.45746

Ndaipa, C. J., Edström, K., Langa, P., & Geschwind, L. (2023). Internationalization of the curriculum in higher education: A case from a Mozambican university. Cogent Education, 10(1), 2188773. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2188773

Sabat, M., Abdel-Massih, R., Kanaan, A., Salloum, S., Serhan, M., Fares, R., … & Melki, A. (2020). Current teaching methods in stem departments – a road map for fundamental university educational reform: evidence from lebanon. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 14(1), 41-58. https://doi.org/10.1108/jarhe-09-2020-0307

Stains, M., Harshman, J., Barker, M., Chasteen, S., Cole, R., DeChenneâ€Peters, S., … & Young, A. (2018). Anatomy of stem teaching in north american universities. Science, 359(6383), 1468-1470. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aap8892

Sumarni, W., & Kadarwati, S. (2020). Ethno-stem project-based learning: its impact to critical and creative thinking skills. Indonesian Science Education Journal, 9(1), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.15294/jpii.v9i1.21754

Sutaphan, S., & Yuenyong, C. (2023). Enhancing grade eight students’ creative thinking in the water STEM education learning unit. Jurnal Cakrawala Pendidikan, 42(1), 120-135. https://doi.org/10.21831/cp.v42i1.36621

Vistara, M., Rochmad, R., & Wijayanti, K. (2022). Systematic literature review: STEM approach through engineering design process with project-based learning model to improve mathematical creative thinking skills. Mathematics Education Journal, 6(2), 140-156. https://doi.org/10.22219/mej.v6i2.21150

Wardani, D., Wulandari, M., Nurfurqon, F., & Kurniawati, D. (2021). STEM-integrated project-based learning (PjBL) model and lecture with experiments learning model: what is the scientific literacy skills of elementary teacher education students in these learning models? Al-Bidayah, 13(1), 55-72. https://doi.org/10.14421/al-bidayah.v13i1.634

Wieman, C. (2014). Large-scale comparison of science teaching methods sends clear message. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(23), 8319-8320. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407304111

Downloads

Published

2024-07-14

How to Cite

Babalola, E. O., & Keku, E. (2024). Ethno-STEM Integrated Project-Based Learning to Improve Students’ Creative Thinking Skills. International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education, 1(2), 116–130. https://doi.org/10.33394/ijete.v1i2.11308

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2024): September

Section

Articles

Citation Check

License

Authors who publish with International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education (IJETE) agree to the following terms:

  1. For all articles published in International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education (IJETE), copyright is retained by the authors. Authors give permission to the publisher to announce the work with conditions. When the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agrees to implement a non-exclusive transfer of publishing rights to the journals.
  2. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

International Journal of Ethnoscience and Technology in Education is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0