An investigation of STEM applications efficiency related to different variables towards 5th grade unit measuring the force and friction

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effects of the STEM (science education, science, technology, mathematics, engineering) activities on the, academic achievements, views of nature of science, scientific process skills and attitudes towards STEM in the 5th grade science course "Measurement of Force and Friction" unit. In this study, the quasi-experimental design with pre-test post-test control group was used. In the 2017-2018 academic year, the 5th grade students in the Taşova district of Amasya province were accepted as the universe of the study. The sample is composed of the 5th grade students attending a public school in the same district. In the study, one of the 5th grade class in this school was randomly assigned as the experimental group and the other as the control group. The study was conducted with total 20 students, 10 of whom were in the experimental group and the other 10 in the control group. The study lasted in 4 weeks. In the experimental group, STEM activities were applied and the control group was taught with the 5th grade science textbook. In experimental group, STEM activities in accordance with curriculum acquisitions prepared by the researcher were applied firstly. Then, the students prepared and implemented the activity that on their preference. When STEM activities prepared, themes related to nature of science have been considered. "Measurement of Force and Friction" unit achievement test, views of nature of science scale (VNOS E), scientific process evaluating test and attitude toward STEM scale were used as data collecting tools. Data collecting tools were applied as pre and post test in both groups. "Measurement of Force and Friction" unit achievement test was developed by the researcher, validity and reliability studies were made. In this study, SPSS 20.0 statistical package program was used to analyze the data. Since the number of samples was not sufficient, nonparametric tests were used in the analysis and the results were considered at p<0.05 significance level. According to the results of the study, the views about the nature of science and the attitudes towards STEM were found to be significant in terms of the experiment group which was taught with STEM activities. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of scientific process evaluation and academic achievement tests. In the achievement test, the increase in the response rate of the high-level questions in the experimental group is noteworthy. At the end of the process, the achievement test, views on the nature of science and attitudes towards STEM scores were found significantly different in the experimental group, while there was not significant change in the control group. STEM activities play important role in increasing students' interest in the course. These activities are thought to be useful in other courses besides the science course. In the study, it is proposed to design activities closely related to life and make time planning to these activities. It is advisable to develop activities that prioritize scientific process skills. In addition, other suggestions were made for researchers and teachers.