Understanding the emerging food, energy, and water nexus (FEW-Nexus) systems in science education

The intricate interdependence of food, energy, and water (FEW) systems necessitates effective and coordinated educational efforts across various contexts to equip students with the skills to tackle FEW challenges. As an emerging interdisciplinary field, understanding educators’ and education researchers’ views on the FEW-Nexus perspective, self-efficacy, needs, and approaches to promoting community engagement are vital to facilitating the growth of this field. The National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW) is an NSF-funded, emergent, interdisciplinary community of educators and discipline-based education researchers engaged in sustained network and capacity building around FEW-Nexus. We present initial survey findings from 166 NC-FEW members, predominantly postsecondary faculty from varied disciplines. Our goal was to understand their views of FEW-Nexus perspective, self-efficacy in FEW-Nexus-specific teaching and education research, instructional design, and community engagement. The findings suggest that FEW-Nexus educators in the NC-FEW community view the Nexus as a blend of diverse concepts and themes, emphasizing the necessity of establishing a concrete definition of the nexus perspective. Their self-efficacy levels were higher in general STEM teaching (mean = 4.03) and STEM education research (mean = 3.61) compared to FEW-Nexus-specific teaching (mean = 3.43) and education research (mean = 3.18). Respondents reported feeling moderately connected to the FEW-Nexus educator community (mean = 2.21). They also outlined anticipated community benefits and contributions to promoting teaching and learning in the FEW-Nexus. These findings highlight the significance of boosting FEW-Nexus educators’ self-efficacy and building a stronger sense of community, having important implications for professional development in emerging fields and broader educational reform endeavors.