STEM-DRR: Potential strategy for increasing awareness of disaster risks

Indonesia is a country, which is prone to geological and hydrometeorological hazards, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and droughts. Systematic initial responses based on efforts for pre-disaster prevention and its corresponding countermeasures need to be prepared for the improvement of the capacity of local communities in managing disaster risks and associated recoveries. Education is, then, considered a way of improving basic knowledge necessary for disaster preparedness and promoting a recovery strategy. Learning about earth-related Disaster Risks Reduction (DRR) fits with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education since a disaster could be best examined across multi-disciplines. While the implementation of a STEM-DRR approach in a classroom setting remains challenging, the current study examined a pattern to follow in STEM-DRR as a potential strategy for increasing awareness of disaster risks at schools. The method used in this study is an exploration with a semi-systematic literature review to reduce a possible bias when facing various terms and procedures in the early development of this approach. The results imply a better look for a future direction of integrated research combining disaster education and STEM. This study could lead to an effective strategy for DRR in school environments with two critical aspects as follows: (1) Strategy for STEM-DRR education depends on both the type and location of a disaster, and (2) A follow-up study to handle the shortcomings found from this study needs to be performed with a broader range of research area coverages, including multidisciplinary approaches.