The Impact of a Sustainable Progressive STEAM Program on Primary School Students’ Critical Thinking Dispositions and Mathematics Achievements

This study, which was supported by a quantitative research paradigm with two experiments and two control groups of 4 × 4 quasi-experimental design, aimed to find out the impact of a sustainable progressive STEAM (SP-STEAM model) application model on 5th-grade primary school students’ critical thinking dispositions and mathematics achievements in North Cyprus. The treatment model was applied to two independent experimental groups for 14 weeks (first semester of 2021-2022 academic year). The split-plot multiple group analysis of variance (split-plot ANOVA) statistical techniques was used to calculate between- and within-group significances regarding exogenous variables. The SPSS-24 software package was used for the analysis. The Pre-test and post-test results deriving from the experiment and control groups revealed a significant effect of the SP-STEAM model upon the 5th-grade primary school students’ critical thinking dispositions, as measured using the CCTDI, mathematic achievements, as well as measured using a dedicated exam. The results of the analysis showed that the experiment groups where the SP-STEAM program was applied performed better across all sub-dimensions of the CCTDI, in comparison to the control groups where the progressive STEAM program was not applied. Cross-sectional splitplot ANOVA results yielded that the experiment group 1 and experiment group 2 displayed statistically significant differences F(3100) 40.581, p < 0.001 in comparison to control group 1 and control group 2, across pre-post test results, in terms of mathematics achievement. No significant difference was observed in favor of control groups. The results were discussed in detail in light of the related literature, with suggestions for further studies proposed.