Biomimicry in STEM Education

Abstract

Abstract The integration of biomimicry with the biology subject was proposed as a teaching approach that was a productive way to support a group of pre-service teachers to teach STEM. This article focuses on the pre-service teachers’ perceptions of biomimicry, designing, and transformation of the design to teach STEM procedures. The study was set up in the context of a compulsory course during pandemics. A qualitative case study was used. The data were collected and analyzed by using descriptive and inductive thematic analysis. For the findings, the majority of pre-service teachers perceived biomimicry by connecting it to the basic knowledge of evolution theory. Two main approaches of noticeable biomimicry design which were performed by the pre-service teachers consisted of identifying problems to biology, and examining nature to design. This study has implications for educators trying to establish biomimicry activities to support and develop science teachers to take on the challenge in STEM teaching.