Improving Environmental Literacy through a Safe Drinking Water Project Using a Blended STEM and Thinglink Approach
Dwika Sarnia Putri1, Murni Ramli2*, Muzzazinah3

1Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Life Science and Medicine, National Tsing Hua University
2RG STEAM Education, Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sebelas Maret University
3RG Biosystematics, Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sebelas Maret University

Abstract

This study investigates how two distinct learning models, STEM-Thinglink and Project-Based Learning (PjBL), affect students^ environmental literacy in the context of a ^Safe Drinking Water^ project. Given that climate change and its environmental impacts-such as water pollution-are critical global and national issues, these topics are highly relevant to the Indonesian curriculum. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest control group design was employed with participants from the Youth Scientific Group (KIR) and Social Science Community (SSC) at SMAN 1 Karanganyar. The STEM-Thinglink approach was implemented in one experimental group, while the PjBL model was used in the other. Data was collected via a pretest-posttest for knowledge, a project for skills, and a survey questionnaire for attitudes toward climate change and safe drinking water. Hypothesis testing used a non-paired t-test and an ANCOVA test. Results showed that both the STEM-Thinglink and PjBL approaches significantly improved students^ environmental literacy, with average post-test scores of 3.9 and 3.8, respectively. The student response to both learning models was highly positive, with evaluation scores of 92.30% for STEM-Thinglink and 89.70% for PjBL, indicating that both methods effectively helped students understand the complex issues of climate change and safe drinking water.

Keywords: Environmental literacy, STEM, PjBL, Thinglink, safety drinking water

Topic: Sciences Education and STEM Education