Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Journal of Research in Teacher Education, cilt.14, sa.2, ss.19-35, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)
This
study aimed to find out the effect of STEM activities on primary school
students' attitudes towards STEM by using a pretest-posttest,
experimental-control group quasi-experimental design. The research was conducted with 39 primary
school students in the experimental (Nexperimental=21) and control
group (Ncontrol=18) who were studying in the fourth grade of a
school located in a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Türkiye in the
2021-2022 academic year. The STEM
Attitude Scale was administered as a pretest and posttest to measure the
changes in primary school students' attitudes towards STEM before and after the
STEM activities. The intervention step included nine different STEM activities
prepared for primary school students. The data were analyzed using analysis of
covariance (ANCOVA) and dependent groups t-test, and the effect size (e-square
[ή2]) was calculated according to the variances between the scores.
Based on the results, it was concluded that STEM activities foster the positive
STEM attitudes of primary school students participating in these activities
with a significantly wider effect than the primary school students who do not
participate in such activities. The effect of engaging in STEM activities on
primary school students' attitude towards STEM sub-dimensions was also
examined, which indicated significant improvements in all sub-dimensions
compared to the primary school students who did not take part in these
activities. Including STEM-based activities in primary schools is highly
recommended because STEM activities are design-oriented, enable the use of
technology, and involve skills such as creativity, problem solving,
communication, and cooperation.