The effect of STEM applications on the perceptions of 7th grade middle school students'inquiry learning skills in science and their attitudes towards STEM

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of STEM applications on the perceptions of 7th-grade middle school students' inquiry learning skills in science and their attitudes towards STEM. This research is experimental which adopts pretest-posttest control group experimental design. The study group consisted of 43 students (24=female, 19=male) studying at two different branches at 7th grade level in a private school affiliated to Antalya Provincial Directorate of National Education. The experimental and control groups were assigned based on the grade-point averages of academic achievement during 2016-2017 academic year.While the experiments in MoNE curricula were applied to the experimental group with the STEM perspective, the current program of MoNE was implemented in the control group.A lesson plan was prepared for the unit "Electrical Energy" in the science course and the research was conducted with both groups for 8 weeks by the researcher during the spring term of 2017-2018 academic year."STEM Attitude Scale (SAS)" and " Scale of Inquiry Learning Skills Perception Devise (MILSPD) were administered as pretest and posttest to both groups.Additionally, semi-structured interviews,which were prepared by the researcher by taking experts' opinion, were made with parents to figure to the effects of STEM applications on the students. The data obtained from the pre-test and post-tests administered to the experimental group and the control groups were analysed by using SPSS package program. Therefore, the data entry was made, missing value and outliers analysis were performed. The normality test was performed separately for both scales. Since the data did not show normal distribution,the non-parametric Mann Witney U Test (as an equivalent for Independent Samples T-Test) was computed. The pretest and posttest scores of the 24-item other scale were shown in tables. The results of the pretest and posttest analysis of each sub-dimension in the STEM scale were tabulated and the findings were interpreted. The qualitative data collected from parents was analysed through thematic content analysis technique. In addition, the data obtained from the interviews with the teacher were interpreted by transcribing the teacher's expressions as they were without being modified. While the quantitative findings of the study reveal that there is no significant difference between the control and experimental groups, there are changes in cognitive and affective dimensions of the students who had STEM education in terms of the qualitative findings. Both the academic success of the students increased and their interest in the course changed. When the experimental and control groups were compared, it was observed that the students' inquiry skills developed in the experimental group. In addition, there was an increase in the motivation and interest of the experimental group.Based on the results, recommendations were put forth on STEM applications.