AUTHOR=Nikoloudakis Nikolaos , Rangoussi Maria , Liarakou Georgia , Sinioros Panagiotis 

TITLE=Engineering education on sustainability and the reuse of electronic components: a novel, hands-on educational method that emphasizes student creativity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1647082

DOI=10.3389/feduc.2025.1647082

ISSN=2504-284X

ABSTRACT=IntroductionEngineering students are experientially introduced to the concepts of sustainability, recycling and the cyclic economy through a novel educational method proposed, implemented and evaluated within an Electrical and Electronics Engineering undergraduate curriculum.MethodsStudents work in groups in a hands-on laboratory to disassemble damaged electrical/electronic devices, reclaim electronic components, recycle the damaged ones and reuse the functional ones, either to repair similar devices or to design and construct new devices. Students get a lived experience of a collaborative sustainability project that aims at developing their cognitive, social/emotional and metacognitive skills, creativity being a central one among them. An educational intervention of two phases is implemented and evaluated via multiple tools.ResultsResults document student gains of varying degrees across all three domains of learning; an increase in creativity, in particular, is measured between the two phases.DiscussionThe formation of a community of learning is another important outcome that opens directions for future research.