School Community Project and Integrated STEM Education Practice: Smart Classroom Design

Abstract

This study aims to present a best practice example of a school community project carried out in the context of open schooling in which integrated STEM education is reflected. In this context, how the school community project can be carried out and how the integrated STEM education understanding can be reflected were emphasized. The study was conducted in a public school with 6th-grade students aged 12-13. Thirteen of the participant students were male, and six were female. In the process of conducting the study, the Invite, Co-create, Act, Share, and Evaluate (INCREASE) roadmap, which was created within the scope of the Meaningful Open Schooling Connects Schools To Communities (MOST) project and designed for the implementation of school community projects in the context of open schooling, was followed. Student-student and student-stakeholder interactions were managed, the factors to be investigated in the project, how the research would be carried out, and how the evaluation would be carried out were decided collaboratively in the Co-create stage. Students also were supported to produce and discuss ideas based on evidence in the Co-create stage. Students researched collaboratively how an energy-efficient classroom could be designed within the plan they created with stakeholders and made a model by working on actual data. Arduino Uno circuit boards, sensors and software were used while creating the model. Therefore, students worked on software and hardware.