Özet:

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of STEM-based activities conducted in fourth-grade primary school science classes on students’ scientific process skills, problem-solving skills and academic success. The study used the experimental model and was carried out according to the pretest-posttest experimental design with a control group. The study group of the research was made up of fourth-grade students at a primary school in the centre of Karaman province. The “Basic Skills Scale”, “Problem-Solving Skills Scale” and “Test of Academic Success” were used as data collection tools. Another finding of the study was that the posttest academic success test scores of the students in the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the students in the control group. This finding reveals that the implementation of a STEM-based activity on the subject of simple electrical circuits was effective on academic success (U=109.000 p<.01). Following the instruction carried out on the experimental and control groups, there was no significant difference in the mean posttest Basic Skills Scale scores of students in the experimental group on which the STEM-based activities were applied. Moreover, it was determined that the mean posttest Problem-Solving Skills scores of students in the experimental and control groups participating in the study did not show a significant difference (U=201.500 p>.05). This finding reveals that the STEM-based activities did not have a significant effect on basic process skills or problem-solving skills.

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