The Croatian education system incorporates sustainable development as one of its seven cross-curricular topics [1]. The cross-curricular theme mentioned above encompasses the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely environmental (reduce and reuse), social (respect, rethink and reflect), and economic (recycle and redistribute) and can be connected to the European competence framework for sustainability GreenComp [2]. The objective of the pilot study was to assess the knowledge level of 60 students of 6th grade primary school. This assessment was conducted after they had completed the waste management activities covered in the second educational cycle, which typically takes place in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades of elementary school. The analysis was conducted utilising Jamovi software [3, 4], and based on the findings of the pilot study, it was ascertained that a majority of the students lack proficiency in garbage sorting [5-6], hence highlighting the need for additional education in this domain. The majority of responders provided accurate responses regarding the weight of bio-waste [7-10]. It can be inferred that the assessment of educational objectives, even through brief evaluations, is vital for enhancing knowledge adoption.
Keywords: primary school, sustainable development, waste sorting
References:
1. Ministarstvo znanosti i obrazovanja. (2019) Kurikulum međupredmetne teme održivi razvoj za osnovne i srednje škole. URL: https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2019_01_7_152.html
2. Bianchi, G., Pisiotis, U., Cabrera Giraldez, M. (2022) GreenComp – Europski okvir kompetencija za održivost. Bacigalupo, M., Punie, Y. (urednici), EUR 30955 HR, Ured za publikacije Europske unije, Luxembourg, doi:10.2760/41834, JRC128040
3. The jamovi project (2023) jamovi. (Version 2.4) [Computer Software]. Retrieved from https://www.jamovi.org.
4. R Core Team (2022) R: A Language and environment for statistical computing. (Version 4.1) [Computer software]. Retrieved from https://cran.r-project.org. (R packages retrieved from CRAN snapshot 2023-04-07).
5. Komunalni servis Rovinj – Servizio comunale Rovigno. (2018) Projekt edukacije o gospodarenju otpadom u gradu Rovinj-Rovigno i općinama Bale, Kanfanar i Žminj. URL: https://www.komunalniservis.hr/hr/usluge/cistoca/vodici-i-brosure/
6. Komunalni servis Rovinj – Servizio comunale Rovigno. (2018) Biootpad – zakonske smjernice i upute o postupanju s biootpadom u objektima pripreme i posluživanja hrane. URL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w7OmXTK8VM7oxt0JlbaLr1IsbRLsC4Kv/view
7. Amini Khoozani, A., Birch, J., & Bekhit, A. E. A. (2019) Production, application and health effects of banana pulp and peel flour in the food industry. Journal of food science and technology, 56(2), 548–559, doi:10.1007/s13197-018-03562-z
8. Arunakumara, K., Walpola, B. C., & Yoon, M. H. (2013). Banana Peel: A Green Solution for Metal Removal from Contaminated Waters. Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture, 32(2), 108-116, doi:10.5338/KJEA.2013.32.2.108
9. Putra NR, Aziz AHA, Faizal ANM, Che Yunus MA. Methods and Potential in Valorization of Banana Peels Waste by Various Extraction Processes: In Review. Sustainability. 2022; 14(17):10571, doi:10.3390/su141710571
10. Verma, M., Singh, V. & Mishra, V. (2023) Optimization of banana peel waste based microbial fuel cells by machine learning. Biomass Conv. Bioref, doi:10.1007/s13399-023-04344-0
New Perspectives in Science Education
