The impact of STEM activities developed within the scope of environmental education on the attitudes of middle scholl science students towards environmental education and STEM education

In order to ensure the permanence of the knowledge taught in our country, the theoretical knowledge given should be used in the solution of daily life problems and should be in mutual interaction with nature. In order to meet this need, environmental education subjects included in the content of science courses can be given through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, which can increase efficiency in learning. Presenting environmental education and STEM education as a whole provides the opportunity for the student to take an active role in the solution by recognizing the problems and situations that occur around him. The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of science course students towards environmental education and STEM education of STEM activities developed within the scope of environmental education. In the study, nested design, one of the mixed research methods, was used. In the quantitative part of the study, a semi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used, and in the qualitative part, a semi-structured interview form was used. The study group consisted of 30 students studying in the 2020-2021 academic year and studying in the Science course. While one class formed the experimental group from the two classes determined as the study group, one class formed the control group. The assignment of classes as experimental and control groups was made randomly. Environmental Education Attitude scale, STEM Attitude scale and semi-structured interview form were used as data collection tools in the study. According to the data obtained at the end of the study, no significant difference was found between the Environmental Education Attitude Scale and STEM Education Attitude Scale pre-test-post-test results of the students studying in the courses in which STEM activities developed within the scope of Environmental Education were applied and the courses in which the Science Curriculum was applied. As a result of the semi-structured interview with the experimental group in which the STEM activities developed within the scope of Environmental Education were applied, it was revealed that the students exhibited a positive attitude towards the lesson and activities. As a result of the discussion of the findings, it is expected that the integration of Environmental Education and STEM Education will form an idea for future studies.