Cover Image

Investigation of Middle School Students’ Attitudes towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Determination of the Predictors

Cennet Göloğlu Demir, Nagihan Tanik Önal, Nezih Önal

Abstract


The purpose of the current study is to investigate middle school students’ attitudes towards Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and to determine the predictors of these attitudes. The study was designed according to the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research designs. The sample of the study is comprised of 408 middle school 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students. The data of the current study were collected using a STEM-oriented attitude scale. An independent samples t-test, one-way variance analysis, and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the collected data. As a result of these analyses, it was determined that the students’ attitudes towards STEM vary significantly depending on the students’ gender, grade level, participation in in-school and out-of-school social activities, science and mathematics achievement. The most effective three predictors of STEM were found to be science achievement, being a 6th grader, and being female. The state of being female was found to be negatively correlated with the prediction of the attitudes towards STEM. As a conclusion of the study, suggestions were made to eliminate gender-based differences in STEM attitudes, increase STEM activities in upper grades, and for career planning.

Full Text:

DOWNLOAD PDF

References


Abell, S. K., & Lederman, N. G. (2007). Handbook of research on science education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Akgündüz, D., Aydeniz, M., Çakmakçı, G., Çavaş, B., Çorlu, M. S., Öner, T. & Özdemir, S. (2015). STEM eğitimi Türkiye raporu. Akgündüz, D. ve Ertepınar, H. (Ed). İstanbul: Scala Basım.

Aydın, G., Saka, M., & Guzey, S. (2017). Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematic (STEM) attitude levels in grades 4th – 8 th. Mersin University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 13(2), 787-802. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17860/mersinefd.290319.

Bybee, R. W. (2010a). Advancing STEM education: A 2020 vision. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 70, 30-35.

Bybee, R.W. (2010b). What is STEM education?. Science, 329,966. Doi. 10.1126/science.1194998.

Bybee, R. W. (2013). The case for STEM education: Challenges and opportunities. Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hilsdale. NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison K. (2018). Research methods in education. (Eighth edition). London:Routledge

Çetin, A., & Ünsal, S. (2019). Social, psychological effects of central examinations on teachers and their reflections on teachers' curriculum implementations. Hacettepe University Journal of Education, 34(2), 304-323. doi: 10.16986/HUJE.2018040672

Çorlu, M. S. (2014). FeTeMM eğitimi makale çağrı mektubu [Call for STEM education research in the Turkish context]. Turkish Journal of Education, 3(1), 4-10.

Dabney, K. P., Tai, R. H., Almarode, J. T., Miller-Friedmann, J. L., Sonnert, G., Sadler, P. M., & Hazari, Z. (2012). Out-of-school time science activities and their association with career interest in STEM. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement, 2(1), 63-79.

Ejiwale, J. A. (2012). Facilitating teaching and learning across STEM fields. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 13(3), 87.

Fan, S-C., & Ritz, J. (2014). International views on STEM education. http://www.iteea.org/Conference/PATT/PATT28/Fan%20Ritz.pdf sayfasından erişilmiştir.

Fraenkel, J.R & Wallen, N.E (2009). How to design and evaluate research in education (7th ed). New York. McGraw-hill.

Friday Institute for Educational Innovation (2012). Middle and High School STEM-Student Survey. Raleigh, NC: Author.

Gonzalez, H. B., & Kuenzi, J. J. (2012). Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education: A primer. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.

Gülhan, F., & Şahin, F. (2016). The effects of science-technology-engineering-math (STEM) integration on 5th grade students’ perceptions and attitudes towards these areas. Journal of Human Sciences, 13(1), 602-620.

Gündüz, H. Ç., & Tarhan, S. (2017). The ımpact of gender on primary school students’ attitudes towards choosing a profession. Elementary Education Online, 16(3), ss1287-1300 DOI: 10.17051/ilkonline.2017.330258

Ing, M. (2014). Gender differences in the influence of early perceived parental support on student Mathematics and science achievement and stem career attainment. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, (2014)12,1221-1239.

Jon, J. E., & Chung, H. I. (2013). Consultant report securing Australia’s future STEM: Country comparisons-STEM Report Republic of Korea. Retrieved Jul 02, 2020 from https://acola.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Consultant-Report-Korea.pdf

Kalaycı, Ş. (2009). SPSS applied multivariate statistical techniques [SPSS uygulamalı çok değişkenli istatistik teknikleri]. Ankara: Asil Yayıncılık.

Karakaya, F., & Avgın, S. S. (2016). Effect of demographic features to middle school students’ attitude towards FeTeMM (STEM). Journal of Human Sciences, 13(3), 4188-4198.

Lamb, R., Akmal, T., & Petrie, K. (2015). Development of a cognition‐priming model describing learning in a STEM classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(3), 410-437. doi: 10.1002/tea.21200

Mahoney, M. P. (2009). Student attitude toward STEM: Development of an instrument for high school STEM-based programs. Unpublished PhD thesis, The Ohio State University.

Ministry of National Education (MoNE, 2016) STEM education report Directorate General for Innovation and Educational Technologies. [STEM eğitimi raporu. Yenilik ve Eğitim Teknolojileri Genel Müdürlüğü]. Retrieved from http://yegitek.meb.gov.tr/STEM_Egitimi_Raporu.pdf

Ministry of National Education (MoNE, 2018) Science curriculum, (Primary and Secondary School 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Grades).[ Fen bilimleri dersi öğretim programı, (İlkokul ve Ortaokul 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ve 8. Sınıflar]. Retrieved from http://mufredat.meb.gov.tr/ProgramDetay.aspx?PID=325

Morgan, G. A., Leech, N. L., Gloeckner, G. W., & Barrett, K. C. (2004). SPSS for introductory statistics: Use and interpretation. Psychology Press.

OECD (2007). PISA 2006: Science competencies for tomorrow’s world: Volume 1: Analysis. OECD Publishing: Paris. http://dx.doi. org/10.1787/9789264040014-en.

OECD (2018). Strengthening education for innovation. Retrieved Jul 02, 2020 from https://www.oecd.org/media/oecdorg/satellitesites/stie outlook/files/policyprofile/STI%20Outlook%2012_%20PP%20HR_Education.pdf.

Oral, I. & McGivney, E. (2011). The determinants of student performance and achievement in math and science fields in Turkey [Türkiye’de Matematik ve Fen Bilimleri alanlarında öğrenci performansı ve başarının belirleyiciler]i. İstanbul: Eğitim Reformu Girişimi.

Özcan, H. & Koca, E. (2018). Turkish adaptation of the attitude towards stem scale: a validity and reliability study. H. U. Journal of Education ,34(2),ss:384-401 doi: 10.16986/HUJE.2018045061.

Özkurt Sivrikaya, S. (2019). Research of high school students’ attitudes of stem. International Journal of Society Researches 11(18), 914-934. DOI: 10.26466/opus.547459

Pallant, J. (2016). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS (6th edition). Sydney: Allen & Unwin

Sanders, M. (2009). STEM, STEM education, STEMmania. The Technology Teacher, 68(4), 20-26.

Smith, J. & Karr-Kidwell, P. (2000). The interdisciplinary curriculum: A literary review and a manual for administrators and teachers. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED443172.pdf sayfasından erişilmiştir.

Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L. S (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th edition).Boston: Pearson Education

Turner, K. (2013). Northeast tennessee educators’ perception of STEM education implementation. Doctoral Dissertation. https://www.dc.etsu.edu/etd/ sayfasından erişilmiştir.

UNESCO (2017). Cracking the code: Girls’ and women’s education in science, technology, Engineering and mathematics (STEM). Retrieved Jul 02, 2020 from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000253479.

Unfried, A., Faber, M., & Wiebe, E. (2014). Gender and student attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University Retrieved Jul 02, 2020 from https://miso.fi.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/AERA-2014-paper-Student-Attitudes-Toward-STEM.pdf

Unfried, A., Faber, M., Stanhope, D. S., & Wiebe, E. (2015). The development and validation of a measure of student attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and math (SSTEM). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 33(7), 622- 639. doi: 0734282915571160.

URL-1: https://www.rmkmarine.com.tr/bal-arilari-muhendis-oluyor-projesi.html

West, M. (2012). STEM education and The workplace, Occasional Paper series, (4),4.

Yıldırım, B. (2016). An examination of the effects of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (stem) applications and mastery learning integrated into the 7th grade science course. Dissertation, Instıtue of Educational Sciences, Gazi University Ankara. https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/tezSorguSonucYeni.jsp

Yoder, B. (2019). Instructor Perceptions of Extracurricular and Co-curricular Activities on Developing 21st Century Soft Skills in Students. Doctoral dissertation, Southwest Baptist University.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/jsl.v4i2.28859

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Copyright (c) 2021 Cennet GÖLOĞLU DEMİR, Nagihan TANIK ÖNAL, Nezih ÖNAL

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Journal of Science Learning is published by Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
in collaboration with the Indonesian Society of Science Educators
Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi 229 Bandung 40154, West Java, Indonesia
Website: http://www.upi.edu
Email: jslearning@upi.edu