The effect of STEM education on students' science success: A meta-analysis study

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the effect of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education on students' academic achievement compared to the traditional method with the meta-analysis method. The research includes all master theses, doctoral dissertations, and articles published in our country that examine the effect of FETEMM education on the academic achievement of students according to the traditional method between 2010-2020 and comply with the determined criteria. As a result of the literature review, 28 studies were reached that could be included in the meta-analysis. As a result of the research, the overall effect size value of STEM education on the academic achievement of students according to traditional methods was calculated as 1.010 (95% confidence interval). This value corresponds to a very large impact level according to the classification of Cohen's et al. (2007 cited in Saraç, 2018). The effect sizes of the studies included in the study; How it differs according to the target group, sample size, learning area, and implementation time moderators was examined. As a result of the moderator analysis, a significant difference was found among the sample sizes of the studied studies in favor of studies with 50 or more samples. Among the effect sizes of the learning areas, significant differentiation was determined in favor of the effect size of the "Physical Events" learning area. When we look at the distribution of students' grade level and of the studied studies experimental practice time in terms of effect sizes in the studied studies, no statistically significant difference was found. This study is important in terms of trying to understand how effective STEM education practices in science education in our country are compared to traditional methods and the current science curriculum. Also, it will contribute to our literature in terms of analyzing the studies on STEM with a holistic perspective.