Analysis of the measurement and evaluation processes of the graduate studies conducted on STEM education and the opinions of sciences teachers on measurement and evaluation in STEM education

This study aimed to evaluate the graduate studies conducted on STEM education in terms of assessment and evaluation processes and to examine the opinions of science teachers about assessment and evaluation processes of in-class uses of STEM activities. Criteria for data analysis were achieved by means of extended literature review. The necessary arrangements have been made by obtaining the expert opinion regarding the determined criteria. The study consists of two parts. While some of the criteria determined were used in the analysis of the thesis studies that constitute the first part, some of them were used in the semi-structured opinion questionnaire to be applied to science teachers. Some questions in the analysis of thesis studies and in the semi-structured opinion questionnaire are common. This situation is provided to see the relationship between practices and opinions. The prepared questionnaire questions were sent to two experts who worked on the subject, and they were examined in terms of their suitability and necessary arrangements were made in line with the feedback received. The final form of the questionnaire consists of 7 open-ended questions. The case study method, one of the qualitative research approaches, was used in the study. The graduate thesis studies examined within the scope of the research were reached from the National Thesis Center of the Council of Higher Education (YOK) by using the keyword STEM (namely FeTeMM in Turkish). In this context, 166 graduate thesis studies in the field of STEM between 2014-2020 were reached. Of the analyzed studies, 138 are master's theses and 28 are doctoral dissertations. Descriptive analysis method was used in both parts of the study. Analysis of graduate thesis studies; The measurement evaluations were carried out for covering three dimensions (basic discipline, engineering practices, and interdisciplinary concepts), ensuring effective participation of students in the assessment and evaluation process, the use of complementary assessment and evaluation tools, and the criteria for ensuring the validity and reliability of the assessment and evaluation tools used. Analysis of semi-structured opinion survey responses included the inadequacy of existing evaluations in the teaching environment where STEM education is conducted, things to be considered during the design phase of assessment and evaluation tasks, the benefits of using technology in the assessment and evaluation process, the characteristics of problems or scenarios to be used in engineering applications, and the effective participation of students who are also used in the analysis of graduate thesis studies, and the criteria for ensuring the validity and reliability of the measurement and evaluation tools used. Data were interpreted based on frequencies and presented in tables. As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that the graduate thesis studies prepared on STEM education do not meet the criteria of measuring assessment in STEM education in three dimensions (basic discipline, engineering applications, interdisciplinary concepts), especially interdisciplinary concepts are ignored in these studies. On the other hand, as a result of the semi-structured opinion questionnaire applied to science teachers, it was determined that the teachers mostly left the question asked for the criterion of reliability and validity, and did not comment on making adjustments and language compatibility studies for disadvantaged students. In the analysis of graduate thesis studies, it was obtained that complementary assessment and evaluation tools were mostly used in the studies, and classroom discussions that would ensure active participation of students in the assessment process were less used. It is also evident that there is a general awareness of the need for different assessment and evaluation activities for STEM education from graduate thesis examinations and teachers' opinions, but there are deficiencies in the application part due to the lack of a clear framework. In order to overcome this situation, it is recommended that an assessment and evaluation framework should be established in STEM education and that people who will work in this field should continue their professional development. KEYWORDS: STEM, Assessment and Evaluation in STEM Education