The effect of STEM education activities prepared according to the 5E Learning Model on the 7th grade students' conceptual understanding in the force and energy unit

This research aims to examine the effects of STEM education activities prepared according to the 5E learning model on the conceptual understanding of 7th-grade students in the force and energy unit. A quasi-experimental design with an unequal control group was used in the study. The intervention, which took place in the 2019-2020 academic year, was carried out with 43 students (22 experiments, 21 control) studying in the 7th grade of a public school in the town of Yüreğir in Adana province. The datum of the research; is the Force and Energy Unit Conceptual Understanding Test (FEUCUT) and Word Association Test (WAT) developed by the researcher. At the end of the intervention, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 volunteers from the experimental group students. The Shapiro Wilk test was used to analyze whether the quantitative data obtained from FEUCUT (S1-S2-S3-MS3 score types obtained from the overall test and sub-dimensions of the FEUCUT test) had a normal distribution. Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test and Mann Whitney U-test were used in the analysis of non-normally distributed data. Descriptive statistics, ANCOVA, and dependent groups t-test were used in the analysis of normally distributed data. The qualitative data obtained from the semi-structured interview with the experimental group students after the intervention were analyzed by content analysis, codes and themes were created and the findings were interpreted. As a result of the research, when the FEUCUT pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group students were compared, a significant difference was found in favor of the post-test between the S1, S2, and S3 success scores obtained from the overall test and the work and force-energy sub-dimensions. In the control group, the success scores of S2 and S3 were obtained from the overall test; S1, S2, S3 success scores in the "Mass" sub-dimension; In the "Force and Energy" sub-dimension, a significant difference was found in favor of the post-test only between the S3 success score pretest and posttest results. In the misconception scores (MS3); when the pretest and posttest mean scores of the experimental group students were compared, a significant difference was found between the MS3 mean scores obtained from the general test and its sub-dimensions, in favor of the posttest score. In the control group, there was no significant difference between the MS3 scores obtained from the overall test and its sub-dimensions. When the frequency and percentage distributions obtained from the FEUCUT pre-test and post-test misconceptions data were examined, it was determined that the students in the experimental group generally eliminated their existing misconceptions. In the control group students, it was determined that they eliminated their existing misconceptions at a low level, continued their existing misconceptions, or later formed misconceptions. When the Relevance Coefficient Index (RCI) obtained from the Word Association Test (WAT) was examined, it was determined that the relationship between key concepts increased in the experimental group students during the process and that the relationship between concepts was at a high level in the posttest. In the control group, it was determined that a high level of relationship could not be established between key concepts, a lower relationship was established between some key concepts compared to the previous situation, or a relationship could not be established. When the posttest scores of the experimental and control groups were compared, a significant difference was found in favor of the experimental group in the S1 success score obtained from the overall test. A significant difference was found in favor of the experimental group in the MS3 scores obtained from the overall test. Keywords: STEM Education, Science Education, Conceptual Understanding, Force and Energy