Diseño de una Estrategia STEM + A para Fomentar el Pensamiento Crítico Divergente con Enfoque en Sostenibilidad Ambiental en Estudiantes de Grado Sexto de la I.E José Miguel de la Calle de Envigado

Abstract

The need to transform traditional pedagogical practices at the José Miguel de la Calle Educational Institution (Envigado, Antioquia) arose, given the difficulties in skills such as divergent critical thinking, reading comprehension, limited environmental awareness, and the educational use of technologies for educational purposes. The proposal focused on designing, implementing, and validating an educational strategy based on the STEM+A (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics + Arts) approach, combined with active methodologies such as Challenge-Based Learning (CBL). The central objective was to foster fundamental competencies for the 21st century in sixth-grade students, according to Century Skills (2009), such as argumentation, creativity, critical reading, and environmental responsibility, all from an interdisciplinary and contextualized perspective. A qualitative methodology with an educational action research design was adopted, which allowed for the development of the strategy in a participatory, reflective, and adaptable manner to the school context. The participating population consisted of 44 students between the ages of 11 and 13, who developed integrated activities focused on local environmental issues, using digital technologies and artistic expression to propose sustainable solutions. Data collection was conducted through interviews, surveys, observations, photographs, videos, and evaluation rubrics, which allowed for both quantitative and qualitative assessment of the intervention's impact. The results included significant improvements in the development of divergent critical thinking, greater ecological awareness, progress in reading comprehension, and a more participatory attitude toward the social and environmental challenges in their surroundings. Validation by experts and the pilot implementation demonstrated the transformative potential of this strategy for replication in other school settings with similar characteristics.