Stem in transition from primary school to middle school: Primary school students' attitudes

Abstract

This study aims to examine the STEM attitudes of primary school fourth-grade students who are in the transition period from primary school to middle school. More specifically, this study examines whether the students' attitudes towards STEM significantly differ according to gender, parents' educational background, science achievement, and mathematics achievement. The data obtained from 221 fourth-grade students through the STEM Attitude Scale were analyzed by independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The research results revealed that students move from primary school to middle school with a high STEM attitude. In this transition, girls' attitudes towards mathematics and boys’ towards engineering and technology were higher. The tendency in engineering and technology attitudes differs only in favor of male students but does not differ significantly in parents' educational background, science, and mathematics achievement. While there was no significant difference in general STEM attitudes of the students in terms of gender and mother’s education, there was a difference in father’s education, mathematics, and science achievement. Following, the research results were discussed, and recommendations for policymakers and practitioners were presented.