Investigation of STEM activities in terms of primary school students' attitudes to STEM, academic success, problem solving and social skills development process

The general purpose of this research is to examine the students' attitudes connected with STEM based activities taken place in the science course and the process of academic achievement, problem solving and social skills development of deeply. In this research, qualitative research model and case study design were used. The study group of this research consisted of fourth grade primary school students in Antakya, Hatay in the 2018-2019 academic year. In the study, homogeneous sampling type, one of the nonprobabilistic sampling methods commonly utilized in qualitative research studies, was used. In the research, the students attitudes of the students pertain to STEM and process of academic success, , problem solving and social skill development were tried to be contributed by the application of STEM-based activities in science course Demographic information form, interview, Student Information Booklets in accordance with the STEM plan; Idea and Product Development Notebooks, researcher's diary, academic achievement test, STEM attitude scale, problem solving inventory and social skills scale were used as data collection tools. Application process started on 12.02.2019 and ended on 14.06.2019. STEM lesson plans were prepared in accordance with the unit outcomes determined for the application. A total of 42 hours out of 14 weeks divided into three hours each week was practiced. The application consisted of 3 units. After applying the data collection tools, the data obtained were analyzed with statistical processes. Descriptive statistics and dependent sample t-test were used in the analysis of quantitative data. Content analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data. In this study, credibility, transferability, reliability and verifiability methods were taken as basis for validity and reliability studies. At the end of the research, it was determined that the students connoted it as "a lesson taught at school, science, nature and the world". When it comes to their awareness about technology, that the majority of the students agreed on the "phone" was observed it. In the research, it was also indicated that the students saw engineering as a profession first. It was stated that the majority of the students associated mathematics with four operations. All of the groups formed during the application stated that the products created during the improvisation processes were compatible with the BTHP. It was concluded that teaching with STEM activities created positive changes in the academic achievement of students. It was understood that the science course based on STEM activities was effective on students' attitudes related with STEM components, problem solving skills and social skills. When the researcher's diaries were examined, it was found out that the most common student-based disagreements and problems with illiterate students were encountered; it was also seen that the instructions were difficult to understand due to the lack of time. Students pointed out that they had more fun with the science lesson based on STEM activities. In addition, the students declared that they learned a lot with curiosity and excitement. They enjoyed the group work a lot. Moreover they saw new materials and their favorite subject was science, they attended the lesson. It was realized that the students mostly expressed the noisy environment for regularly the deficiencies of the science course applied based on STEM activities. In addition, the students expressed that they saw the group disagreements, crowded groups and the scarcity of materials used in activities as a deficiency. They also presented their opinions about the courses in which STEM-based activities can be applied with the most mathematics courses. In addition, the students explained that STEM applications can be included in English, traffic and visual arts classes. Keywords: STEM, primary school, science teaching, problem solving skills, social skills