This study aims to measure the changes in the water literacy of the subjects (N = 620) aged over 18 before and after participating in the water-saving activities. The results showed that there is a significant improvement in the water literacy of the subjects after the water-saving activities but with a medium-small effect size; there is no significant correlation between water knowledge and water attitude before or after the activities. In addition, there is a significant difference in water literacy regarding subjects' background variables, such as age, income, and household water expenses. In other words, the attitude and behavior related to the use of water could be easily influenced by different background variables. Due to the limitation of the museum being the study field, the post-tests were given immediately following the activities, therefore the improvements of the subjects' knowledge and attitudes may not be retained over time. The findings can serve as a reference for the Water Resources Department to promote water conservation education in the future.

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Background Research on teaching and learning for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects has increased, and has demonstrated the importance of integrating interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. Our research model was based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the data were analyzed by partial least squares-structural equation modeling. The present study aims to identify factors that play an important role in students’ ability to integrate STEM knowledge and skills. Results Data were collected from participants who had won awards in local contests and represented their regions in a national technology competition. The reliability and validity of our instrument, the Students’ STEM Integration Scale, were verified. The findings demonstrated that students’ intentions to integrate STEM knowledge and skills to solve complex problems can be predicted by their attitude and perceived behavioral control. Conclusions This work highlights factors which are associated with students’ intentions to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and skills, and serves as a reference for research on the gap between intentions and actual behavior. The findings could help teachers and instructors design STEM-based activities to enhance students’ attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and intentions, to improve their ability to integrate STEM knowledge and skills.

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Science museums often hold various science education activities in exhibition halls to enhance visitors' cognition and comprehension of science and technology. However, the experience and knowledge accumulated during the participation in technological experiential and learning activities merits exploration. This study conducts a quantitative survey and qualitatively analyzes the data based on the taxonomy of educational objectives that are outlined in the revised version of Bloom's taxonomy handbook. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of life creativity contests held by museums for elementary school children and their parents on the participants' conceptual cognition of water conservation technologies. A survey is designed to evaluate the change in the participants' conceptual cognition of the technologies, and includes questionnaires on water consumption habits in daily lives, understanding of the water resources in the Taiwan region, and uses of and opinions on water-saving devices. A method on which the assessment of the conceptual knowledge of the participants was based was a content analysis of the interviews. The findings of this study suggested: (a) the creativity contest provided diverse opportunities to improve the participants' cognitive concepts of water conservation; (b) this activity also has positively influenced the learning of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of water conservation technologies.