STEAM in geography education and sample applications

It has been observed that graduates from institutions based on theoretical and rote-based education systems face significant difficulties when solving real-world problems. This situation has led to a shortage of qualified workers (with STEAM skills) for businesses. This inadequacy in the the education system has drawn the attention of developed countries in recent years, prompting numerous initiatives to introduce STEAM-based education into schools. As a result of the extensive literature review, it was determined that the STEAM-based education approach is mostly applied in science courses and that there are more studies in these areas. It has not been emphasized enough that geography is a branch of science that develops STEAM skills, and there have even been discussions about whether geography is an applied science. Due to the lack of sufficient STEAM application studies in Geography education worldwide and in our country, teachers encounter difficulties in gaining insights into what kind of work they should conduct in their classes and how to develop their students' STEAM skills. This study aims to emphasize that Geography education is an area where STEAM skills can be applied and to provide Geography teachers with new sample applications. Fourteen application tasks requiring STEAM skills have been developed for this purpose, considering the geography curriculum, and created in collaboration with students. The tasks were designed with a multidisciplinary approach, without strict boundaries in interdisciplinary transitions. To ensure timely completion within the annual plans according to the Geography education curriculum, the tasks were structured as semester projects. The products and ideas resulting from these tasks were submitted to competitions such as TeknoFest and TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey). One of the projects was awarded second place in the TÜBİTAK Izmir Regional Competition. Keywords: STEAM, Geography Education, Experiential Learning