예비유아교사를 위한 STEAM 기반 지속가능발전교육 프로그램 개발 및 적용

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and implement a STEAM-based Education for Sustainable Development(ESD) program for pre-service early childhood teachers, verify its effectiveness, and explore the meaning of participants' experiences in the program. To this end, research was conducted to develop the program, and the program was applied to pre-service early childhood teachers to validate its effectiveness and examine the meaning of their participation experiences. In order to accomplish the research purpose, three research questions are as follows. First, How to design a STEAM-based ESD program for pre-service early childhood teachers? Second, What is the effect of applying the STEAM-based ESD program for pre-service early childhood teachers? Third, What is the meaning of the participation experiences in the STEAM-based ESD program for pre-service early childhood teachers? The research procedures and findings for the research questions are as follows. First, in this study, a review of relevant literature was conducted to establish theoretical foundations for the development of a STEAM-based ESD program for pre-service early childhood teachers. Subsequently, a needs assessment was carried out to establish practical foundations. Using these foundations, a program draft was developed. The program draft underwent content validity through expert reviews, and it was modified and improved based on the provided feedback. The final program includes the program's purpose and goals, contents, teaching and learning methods, and evaluation. The purpose of the STEAM-based ESD program for pre-service early childhood teachers is to train pre-service early childhood teachers who can effectively practice ESD in the field by improving ESD competencies. Accoridingly, the goals include fostering knowledge and attitudes toward ESD, enhancing competencies in ESD, improvement STEAM literacy, and improving problem-solving abilities. The educational content is structured based on STEAM principles to integrate social, economic, and environmental aspects in line with sustainable development goals. The teaching and learning method of the program consisted of teaching and learning principles, teaching and learning stages, instructor roles, and the evaluation of the program composed of qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The second part of the STEAM-based ESD program for pre-service early childhood teachers aimed to investigate its application effects. The program was implemented with 24 students from the Early Childhood Education Department at University B, spanning a total of 24 sessions from March 8 to June 14, 2023. To validate the program's effectiveness, ESD competencies and STEAM Literacy tests were conducted before and after the program. The collected data underwent Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for analysis. As a result of analyzing the impact on ESD competencies, significant improvement was found, and this program was found to have a positive impact on ESD competencies. As a result of analyzing the impact on STEAM Literacy, significant improvement was shown, showing that this program has a positive effect on STEAM Literacy. Third, we examined the meaning of pre-service early childhood teachers' experience of participating in a STEAM-based ESD program. The meaning of participation experiences included reflecting on my surroundings, beginning the action of overcoming discomfort, confronting challenges for a sustainable future, and collaboratively seeking solutions. The above results are significant as they indicate the potential applicability of the STEAM-based ESD program to the pre-service early childhood teacher training process and provide insights into the implementation direction of ESD.