The effect of STEM supported research questioning based learning approach on the conceptual understanding and scientific creativity of 7th grade students

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the STEM Supported Research Questionnaire Learning Approach on the conceptual understanding and scientific creativity of 7th grade students. The research employed pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design with control group. The research was conducted in a secondary school in Erciş District of Van Province in 2018-2019 academic year with a total of 64 students, 35 of whom were in the experiment and 29 of them were in the control group. The data collection tools of the study are Conceptual Comprehension Test (CAT), Scientific Creativity Test (SCT) and Semi-Structured Student Interview Form. The quantitative data were analyzed using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Mann Whitney U Test, Dependent and Independent T-Test. Content and descriptive analysis were used for qualitative data. The findings showed that there was a significant difference between the CAT and SCT posttest scores of the experimental and control groups. When the SCT subscales of originality, flexibility and fluency were examined separately, it was found that there was a significant difference in favor of the post-test of the experimental group, whereas there was no significant difference between the pre-post-test scores of the control group. On the other hand, the interviews with the experimental group displayed that the activities were fun, created excitement, made them feel happy and encourage cooperation and team spirit. Thus, STEM activities had a positive effect on students. As a result, it has increased the conceptual understanding and scientific creativity of the 7th grade students' experimental group of the Research-Based Learning Approach supported by STEM. It can be recommended that the appropriate engineering design process should be made for the secondary and high school levels in order to carry out STEM supported education. In addition, more research can be conducted as there are limited STEM activities in preschool education level. Keywords: research questioning learning approach, scientific creativity, STEM, conceptual understanding, 7th grade students