Study of students 'attitudes for first lego league (FLL) tournaments in terms of various variables

First LEGO League Tournaments have been held around the world since 1999, and our country has been a participant since 2004 and is a scientific organization which is realized with more participants and volunteers every season. The 15th season of the First LEGO League Tournaments, which brings together thousands of students and hundreds of teams from different cities of different countries every year, was held this year. TheFirst LEGO League (FLL) Tournaments, which aim to produce a unique solution to a different problem every season at the global level, aim to ensure that the young generation cooperates, individuals who are scientific, questioning, discovering, confident, acquire real life skills and are aware of global problems. The aim of this research is to investigate students' attitudes and opinions about FLL Tournament process in depth and to evaluate the results. For the purposes specified, 2018-2019 academic year in Turkey, Adana, Manisa, Elazığ, Malatya, Izmir, Istanbul, Kutahya, Istanbul and Bursa provinces participating in the FLL tournament selected from 10 schools, was conducted with 160 students and 12 teams coach. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were blended and used in a single study. The quantitative part of the research was conducted with all participants of the research; the qualitative part was realized with 24 students and 12 team coaches. First LEGO League Attitude Scale, which was used in the quantitative data collection phase of the study, was created by the Association of Science Heroes (2013) and applied to the participating students after the tournament. In the process of collecting qualitative data, semi-structured interview forms prepared by the researcher for team coaches and students were used. In the analysis of the data, independent samples t-Test, ANOVA and Kruskal Wallis-H test were used for the analysis of quantitative data; descriptive analysis was used for the analysis of qualitative data. In the study, it is seen that FLL process in general has positive results on students. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained from the FLL attitude scale, there was a significant difference in the interest of STEM students according to the gender variable in favor of male students, creativity according to experience variable, interpersonal relationships according to age variable and self-confidence and competence awareness according to the team role variable. When the opinions of the students and team coaches were analyzed, it was found that the problem solving skills of the students participating in the tournament were improved; improving communication and presentation skills; It was concluded that their sensitivity towards real world problems increased and contributed to their discovery and creative thinking skills. In addition, physical conditions are insufficient; the participation of students whose financial conditions are not suitable is restricted; lack of adequate support for public schools; It was concluded that the jury members who evaluated the projects carried out in the tournament did not have enough information about the FLL process.