Work in progress: Student-directed learning: An approach to sustainability and engineering education

An increasing focus in K-12 educational outreach is on the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A challenge in educating students about STEM topics is the ability to communicate the key concepts on a level that engages the students. The student-directed learning approach allows the students to create educational content and the teacher to oversee the development. The student´s peers serve as the audience, shifting the interface of students and teachers, as well as increasing student to student interaction. The proposed approach is based on the outcomes of a preliminary internship, which challenged students to develop a week-long module to communicate one of four sustainability concepts: green building, energy, water and green materials. The proposed study will focus on a larger sample of middle school students developing educational modules focused on sustainability and engineering. In-depth assessment of the student developers will provide information on audience awareness, self-efficacy, as well the effectiveness of the approach.