The effect of STEM activities performed via simple materials on students' entrepreneurship and self-regulation skills

This research was carried out to determine whether entrepreneurship based STEM education performed via simple materials has any impact on entrepreneurship and self-regulation skills of secondary school students.The sample of the study consisted of 20 eighth grade students studying in 2019-2020 academic year. The mixed method was used in the research. Single group pretest-posttest model was used toreveal whether students' entrepreneurship and self-regulation skills might change. "Entrepreneurship Scale for Secondary School Students" and "Perceived Self-Regulation Skills Scale" were used to obtain quantitative data. The open-ended "semi-structured interview form" created by the researcher was used to obtain the qualitative data.In addition, a reflective diary sample was applied to the students after each activity in order to determine the feelings and thoughts of the students as to the STEM activities. Entrepreneurship based STEM education supported by activities consisting of simple materials was provided to students for 8 weeks. As a result of the study, it was observed that no significant difference between the pre-and post-test scores of the students'entrepreneurship and self-regulation skills occurred, however according to the qualitative data on entrepreneurship skills, the activities had a positive effect on the students' social skills, group work, leadership and tendency to stand out. In the qualitative data on self-regulation skills, an increase was observed in favor of the post-test regarding the concepts of being open to innovation and self-efficacy.The findings on the reflective diaries indicated that the students found STEM activities interesting, entertaining and useful. 2020, 137 Pages Keywords: STEM activities, Entrepreneurship, Self-Regulation