Diseño de una Estrategia Pedagógica Basada en el Enfoque STEM, Para el Fortalecimiento del Pensamiento Crítico Ambiental en Estudiantes de Tercer Grado, de la Institución Educativa Técnica Alfonso Vanegas Sierra en el Municipio de San Miguel De Sema, 2025.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to validate the relevance of the STEM approach and Project-Based Learning (PBL) methodology for the design of pedagogical strategies that strengthen environmental critical thinking in third-grade elementary school students at the Alfonso Vanegas Sierra School, located in San Miguel de Sema (Boyacá). By integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in a coordinated manner, the STEM approach facilitates active and contextualized learning that encourages students to analyze real environmental problems from multiple perspectives, promoting critical reflection, creative problem solving, and informed decision-making in relation to their natural environment. To this end, a pedagogical strategy was designed and validated through expert judgment and partially implemented using a qualitative, exploratory, and applied approach. The strategy focused on the interdisciplinary and contextualized study of the biotic and abiotic factors present in the school garden, integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to promote an active understanding of the natural environment among students through PBL. The development of critical environmental thinking was facilitated through the strategy designed, which invited students to identify environmental problems, analyze causes, evaluate evidence, and propose creative and sustainable solutions in a collaborative and reflective process. The partial implementation carried out was documented through qualitative tests, field journals, and participant observation. The findings indicated significant progress in students' ability to problematize real situations related to their environment, argue their ideas with justification, and exercise critical judgment in the face of local environmental conditions. In addition, there was evidence of a growing commitment to environmental care and conservation, manifested in concrete attitudes and behaviors during and after the intervention. Thus, it is concluded that the STEM approach, when articulated with PBL and applied through active and contextualized strategies, is an effective means of developing complex thinking skills from primary school onwards.