There is a need for secondary schools to provide more authentic, hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and specifically, project-based investigation (PBI) environments in the classroom that focus on real-world problems relevant to students' experiences, interest, and lives that manifest the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) follo wing practices they prescribe. This study investigated how, to what extent, a contextualized aquaponics PBI (APBI) 10-week model unit affected high school students' attitudes toward STEM in general, and aquaculture and aquaponics in particular, and interests in future STEM-related disciplines and/or STEM career pathways. This study also measured changes in students' understanding of standard-based ecological relationships and concepts concerning interactions in ecosystems and specifically the phenomena carrying capacity and bacterial nitrification process .
Using a quantitative methods, quasi-experimental research design, three different student groups who participated in the authentic, hands-on APBI intervention (i.e., treatment groups) were given a pre- and post-attitude/interest survey (N=55) . Further, the treatment groups and control group were given a pre- and post-content-aligned test (N=88) which measured changes in students' ecological knowledge . The results revealed that the intervention contributed to the treatment group students' positive attitudes toward STEM in general, and aquaculture and aquaponics in particular, and developing an interest in STEM discipline s and/or STEM career pursuits. Results also demonstrated that the project-based inte rvention was an effective method to provide meaningful learning and content understanding of standard-based ecologic al concepts and relationships.
The intervention design and findings in this study may provide educators new insights and ideas on how to incorporate and use contextualized, aquaponics project-based instruction (APBI) as a teaching and learning tool. In addition, APBI can offer engaging curricula that articulates NGSS.