Secondary Students’ Reasons for Sustainable Consumption in STEM Education

Contemporary global challenges are characterized by their complexity and cannot be adequately understood from a single disciplinary perspective, but they require knowledge and methods from multiple fields. To prepare students for their future roles as informed decision-makers, fostering interdisciplinary knowledge is essential. In this study, an interdisciplinary learning environment was developed on the topic of sustainable consumption using apple consumption, integrating the disciplines of mathematics, geography and computer science. At the end of the learning environment, students were asked to write a critical statement on whether an apple from overseas is more climate-friendly than a local apple. Written arguments of n = 52 students were analyzed to identify the types of arguments they used and the competencies they gained. Using qualitative content analysis, the data revealed that students referred to ecological, economic, and social aspects in their reasoning. Notably, the findings demonstrate that students did not limit their reasoning to the content explicitly covered in the teaching unit. They also integrated arguments derived from their everyday experiences and personal knowledge, demonstrating the interplay between formal learning and informal understanding. Therefore, this study highlights how interdisciplinary learning settings can promote critical thinking, system thinking, and decision-making in the context of sustainability education.