THE EFFECTS OF STEM APPLICATIONS CONDUCTED WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS ON THEIR ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE LEVELS AND AN EXAMINATION OF STUDENT OPINIONS REGARDING THE PROCESS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of STEM applications on the engineering knowledge levels of 8th grade students and their opinions regarding the application process. The study was planned and conducted using a mixed research design that evaluated both quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 30 volunteers, 15 girls and 15 boys, participated in the study. Six activities focusing on the stages of the engineering design process, covering physics, chemistry, and biology, were implemented over a period of six weeks during scheduled after-school hours. In the study, the “Engineering Knowledge Level Scale” adapted into Turkish by Aydın, Saka, and Guzey (2018) was used as a data collection tool to measure students' engineering knowledge, and a student opinion form was used to examine students' views on the application process. The data obtained were analyzed using the SPSS program and content analysis method. When the scale data were evaluated, a statistically significant difference in favor of the mean of the final test scores was found. According to the results obtained from qualitative findings, it was determined that students struggled most with the steps of construct a prototibe, develop possible solutions, and redesigning in the engineering design process, while they performed better in the steps of investigating and identifying needs/problems.  Generally, it has been determined that STEM activity applications contribute to the engineering knowledge level of 8th grade middle school students and reveal their strengths and weaknesses in the engineering design process steps.
Key words: STEM activities, engineering design process, 8th grade middle school