The Effect of STEAM Practices on 6th Grade Students' Academic Achievement in Science, Science Process Skills and Career Choices

This study was conducted to determine the effects of STEAM applications in the science course of 6th grade middle school students on their academic achievement, science process skills and career preferences. The study group of the research consists of two different 6th grade classes of Hacı Ahmet Özsoy Secondary School in Afyonkarahisar province. In the research, nested design in mixed method design was used. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used together. While the quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used in the quantitative part of the research, the content analysis was used in the qualitative part. In this context, STEAM activities were carried out with the students in the experimental group for 24 lesson hours for 6 weeks on the subject of "Heat and Sound Insulation" in the 6th grade science course. The existing curriculum was applied to the control group. Before and after the application, academic achievement test scale, science process skills scale and STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS)were applied to the students divided into experimental and control groups. In addition, students in the experimental group were asked to write a diary after each STEAM application. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the experimental group students after the STEAM applications were completely completed. As a result of the research; academic achievement levels, science process skills and career interests towards STEM fields of the students in the experimental group increased statistically significantly compared to the students in the control group. As a result, STEAM activities contribute positively to 6th grade students' academic achievement, science process skills and career interests towards STEM fields.