The effect of STEM practices on primary school students' 21st century skills, ideas on the nature of science and interests in astronomy

STEM activities were public school city center of Düzce in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. STEM activities carried out within the scope of the area of the science course "Earth and the Universe" lasted for seven weeks. the effect of the fourth grade students on their 21st century skills, their thoughts on the nature of science and their interest in astronomy was examined. Quantitative research method was used in the study. A quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used. The study group of the consists of 35 students studying in the fourth grade of primary school. Quantitative data collection tools are the 21st Century Learning and İnnovation Skills Scale and Turkish Version of Students' Ideas about Nature of Science Questionnaire; Qualitative data collection tools consist of semi-structured interview form and observation notes. findings, STEM activities carried out within the scope of the 5E learning model, produce significant improvement in overall 21st Century Learning and Renewal Skills scale and in the creativity and renewal sub-dimension relation to the control group. Moreover, it was found that the students in the experimental group had a positive effect on the development of their critical thinking and problem solving skills as a result of STEM activities. It was determined that the activities carried out had a significant effect on the development of the students' thoughts on the nature of science in the experimental group, in favor of the posttest, and contributed to their interest in astronomy.