An investigation of the relationship between disciplined mind characteristics and STEM motivations of middle school students in science lesson

This study aims to analyze the relationship between middle school students' disciplined mind characteristics in science lesson and STEM motivation. For this purpose, the quantitative research method and correlational survey design were used. In the 2022–2023 academic year, 496 fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from Afyonkarahisar's middle schools—selected based on convenience—provided data for this research. The data collection tools were the "Demographic Information Form", the "Disciplined Mind Scale" developed by Can Aran (2014) and the "STEM Motivation Scale" developed by Luo, Wang, Liu and Zhou (2019) and adapted into Turkish by Dönmez (2020). Data were analyzed employing descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis. As a result, it was discovered that middle school students' disciplined mind characteristics in science lesson and STEM motivation were "sometimes" present. Middle school students' disciplined mind characteristics in science lesson were found to have a positive and moderately significant relationship with their STEM motivation. When gender, grade level, maternal educational level, paternal educational level, access to a computer with an Internet connection, access to a tablet with an Internet connection, participation in any STEM project, participation in any STEM activities, and STEM career choices were all taken into account, the results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that middle school students' disciplined mind characteristics in science lesson were the most significant positive predictor of their STEM motivation. When gender, grade level, maternal educational level, paternal educational level, access to a computer with an Internet connection, access to a tablet with an Internet connection, participation in any STEM project, participation in any STEM activities, and STEM career choices were controlled, middle school students' disciplined mind characteristics in science lesson were also found to be the most significant positive predictor of their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics motivation.