Children’s Visualization and Collaboration in a STEM Makerspace: Opportunities for Fostering Sustainability Awareness

Abstract

With growing concerns about climate change and environmental degradation, students’ understanding of sustainability and climate change has become an increasingly prominent topic in science curricula. This has increased the need for learning experiences that meaningfully address these topics in the classroom. In this study, we investigated how grade 6 students explored sustainability concepts through visualization, specifically by creating 3D models of a sustainable place in a STEM makerspace classroom. By analyzing students’ visualization and their collaborative problem solving, we examined how students conceptualize and navigate diverse perspectives related to sustainability. Our findings indicate that visualization supported students’ epistemic agency and engagement with sustainability concepts. In their 3D models, students highlighted the importance of greenery, renewable energy, local food sources, low-emission transportation, and waste management. They displayed diverse problem-solving approaches when encountering differing ideas in group work. and the visualization activities provided opportunities for students to reason, understand, and negotiate ideas on sustainability and climate change.