The impact of teaching astronomy with STEM-based activities on attitude towards astronomy

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is an educational approach that aims to bring together different disciplines and use the knowledge and skills related to these disciplines to solve problems encountered in daily life. STEM education supports skills such as creativity, critical thinking, communication skills, and problem solving skills, which we consider as important skills for the current century. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of STEM-based astronomy activities on astronomy and STEM attitude in a certain group of middle school students. In the study, astronomy and STEM attitude scales were applied as a pre-test to 7th grade students studying at a rural school. The students that make up the study group consist of a total of 18 people, 8 girls and 10 boys. In the research, which lasted for 4 weeks, pre-activities were carried out to prepare and accommodate the students to the process before STEM activities prepared with astronomy subjects, then STEM activities related to astronomy were implemented and at the end of the application STEM and astronomy attitude scales were applied to the students again. For STEM activities, information-based life problems were presented to students, and students put forward their own unique ideas about finding solutions to the problem and designing suitable products. The data obtained at the end of the application were subjected to statistical analysis and the results were evaluated. According to the analysis results, although there was a positive increase in the STEM attitude scale pre-test post-test scores of the students, there was no statistically significant difference in their attitudes towards STEM (p> .05). Considering the data obtained from the test results, a statistically significant difference was found in the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the astronomy attitude scale applied to the students (p <.05). According to the results of this research, astronomy activities prepared with STEM-based activities were effective in improving the astronomy attitude of the students. Keywords: STEM, Astronomy, STEM Activities, Attitude