The necessity of STEM knowledge is being more widely acknowledged as the priority in the development of education; however, students lack sufficient knowledge and interest in the acquisition of STEM subjects. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the teaching and learning methods that would correspond to the contemporary young generation and that would facilitate meaningful learning of modern students. Performing the survey of 256 students in Grades 10 – 12 of Latvia, students’ perceptions on how they understand and interpret their STEM learning and methods used by teachers have been explored. The questionnaire in the QuestionPro e-environment was designed according to the criteria describing meaningful learning considering the peculiarities of the young generation. Respondents’ answers were analyzed with the help of the SPSS program, using the methods of non-parametric statistics. Many representatives of the young generation tend to avoid difficulties which confirms a typical feature of this generation – to achieve an immediate result easily and quickly. These students also have a weaker understanding about the importance of STEM that testifies the lack of the learning motivation. The majority of students consider that it is necessary to acquire STEM only at school, failing to connect it with the everyday life. The study describes the national context, yet the presented trends could be significant also on the international level for understanding meaningful learning of STEM. Keywords: meaningful learning, STEM education, teaching/learning methods, today’s new generation

Este artículo analiza la literatura científica y los documentos normativos para diseñar un marco pedagógico para promover la competencia financiera sostenible en la educación y formación profesional secundaria basada en competencias dentro del proyecto Interreg Central Baltic "Sustainability in Finance - SuFi". En 2020-2021 se realizó un estudio empírico que consistió en observar y analizar los procesos de concepción, elaboración y pilotaje de un módulo abierto online sobre cuestiones de sostenibilidad en la educación y formación profesional empresarial dentro del proyecto SuFi. El estudio analizó las respuestas a las entrevistas estructuradas de nueve participantes en el proyecto SuFi; el diseño de análisis de datos cualitativos se basó en la teoría fundada y en el método de comparación constante. Se describen los enfoques pedagógicos para promover la competencia financiera sostenible y se presenta una propuesta sistemática, exhaustiva y basada en evidencias para promover la competencia financiera sostenible en la educación y formación profesional secundaria basada en competencias. El marco pedagógico presentado en este artículo también sugiere direcciones concretas para la práctica pedagógica y la investigación.

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education nowadays is considered priority. To implement it successfully, students must acquire not only STEM “hard” skills, but also “soft” skills, therefore the choice of teaching/learning methods is essential. Problem-based (PrBL) and projectbased learning (PjBL) aim both at the acquisition of science content using real life examples and the improvement of IT skills, critical thinking, decision-making, civil responsibility and cooperation skills. The aim of the research is to find out the use of PrBL and PjBL in the teaching/ learning of STEM in the context of national reform of Latvia. The design of mixed methods was used in the research. The correlative research was performed using QuestionPro e-platform and surveyed 128 STEM teachers and 257 secondary school students to collect quantitative data. As Latvia now is implementing the education reform, the case study for qualitative and quantitative analysis has been carried out using the AQUAD data processing programme and researching the secondary education biology basic course curriculum. This research identified that it was advisable to use practical cases, real everyday examples and project work that would increase students’ interest in science subjects to enable them to solve problems creatively by integrating the content of all STEM subjects. The biology curriculum mainly stresses students’ reproductive than productive work with information, the development of critical thinking by participating in discussions and cooperating, while not enough attention was paid to the use of problem solving in the teaching/ learning process and the implementation of the interdisciplinary project. The use of sensors, practical laboratory works and field study as specific methods of biology are little represented in the curriculum, which is a serious disadvantage. This means that the basic curriculum of biology in the context of national education reform is more oriented to the acquisition of transversal skills, not the development of competent science literacy.