Examining the communication and collaboration skills and STEM identity development of disadvantaged students during the process of extracurricular STEM activities

In today's education, students have the role of thinking, questioning, researching and producing solutions in order for countries to compete at the global level. STEM-based learning has emerged as a new approach suitable for the needs of current era. STEM education, which integrates four disciplines, aims to increase individuals' 21st century skills and to create career interests in STEM discipline areas. Considering the principle of equal opportunity in education, it is a necessity for STEM-based education to be accessible to all segments of society. This study aimed to examine the collaboration and communication skills and STEM identities of disadvantaged students through extracurricular STEM activities. . The participants of the study consists of 10 disadvantaged students studying in the 4th grade and their teachers at a primary school in Turgutlu district of Manisa province in the 2023-2024 academic year. In this study, case study, one of the methods of qualitative research design was used, and data was collected with both qualitative and quantitative data collection tools. In order to collect qualitative data, a semi-structured interview form, observation and field notes were used. '21st Century Learning and Innovation Skills Scale' as a quantitative data collection tool to evaluate collaboration and communication skills; 'Interest in STEM Professions Scale' was used to help examine STEM identity development. While parametric and non-parametric tests were used for the analysis of quantitative data, content analysis method was used to analyze qualitative data. The implementation process of STEM activities based on the Engineering Design Process lasted 6 weeks. The results of both qualitative and quantitative data showed that the collaboration and communication skills of disadvantaged students increased during the extracurricular STEM activities. The STEM identity development of the students was analyzed in three categories as developed STEM identity, moderately developed STEM identity and undeveloped STEM identity, which emerged within the frameworks of the student's interest in STEM, the extent to which he/she used the steps of the engineering design process in the activities, whether he/she was recognized as a STEM person by his/her peers, teacher and researcher, and the self-identification of the person as a STEM person.