STEM education and sustainability: what role can mathematics education play in the era of climate change?

Abstract

Climate change is recognised globally as an urgent crisis, prompting the integration of sustainability into education to address future challenges beyond disciplinary boundaries. In STEM education, integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics empowers students to address environmental, societal, and economic concerns for a better future quality of life. Concerns about mathematics potentially disappearing or becoming relegated to a mere tool within STEM activities have been raised. However, these concerns have received limited and disproportionate attention in mathematics education discussions over the past decade. This study, therefore, took a step towards contributing new insights to this field by designing a STEM and sustainability (STEMS) programme for students aged 15–18 in Scotland and investigating students’ perceptions of mathematics within this programme. The study also examined changes in students’ attitudes towards mathematics before and after participating in the programme. Implications and directions for further research are also discussed.