Abstract:

Science and Technology play a crucial role in human capacity to overcome todays’ planetary problems and society needs more than ever highly qualified scientists and STEM professionals. In addition, climate change, the raw material shortage and the energy crisis question contemporary production and consumption models and require aligning personal values and behaviours with norms, regulations and policy objectives.

Education plays a key role in shaping peoples’ values and equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to act as informed and responsible citizens. However, critical voices claim that what is taught at schools and high education institutions is far away from what is needed to fully participate in socio-scientific debates and to make informed decisions in today’s society, collaborating to the search and development of sustainable solutions.

The European project MOST (Meaningful Open Schooling Connects Schools To Communities) responds to the previously mentioned societal and environmental needs. Funded by H2020 Framework Program, the MOST project involves experts from 23 institutions of ten different countries in the development of tools, guidelines and instruments to improve STEM literacy and sustainability consciousness through the development of Open School Projects (SCP).

SCP directly speak to students concerns and needs related to improving their close surrounding in the construction of a more sustainable world. In the process of search and development of creative solutions, schools collaborate with different agents in the co-creation, negotiation and implementation of these solutions.

Students take an active role meaningfully applying STEM knowledge and competences through the whole process, increasing their sustainability consciousness and becoming aware of their important role in solving current societal and environmental problems.

This work describes de development of instruments to evaluate the impact of the project on participants, with special attention to how participating in SCP increases students’ interest in science and scientific careers and developes their science literacy and sustainability consciousness.

Keywords:

STEM education, education for sustainable development, science literacy, sustainability consciousness, open schooling.