The Effects of a STEM-Centered Curriculum on Seventh-Grade Students’ Attitudes Towards Socio-scientific Issues

Abstract

The purpose of the research was to reveal the effects of the STEM-centered program designed according to the Demirel model on seventh-grade students regarding socio-scientific issues. The research was conducted with 78 students at Melikşah Secondary School in the Sincan district of Ankara province, during the spring semester of the 2016-2017 academic year, for 19 weeks when a STEM-centered program was implemented. In the research, data were collected using the Attitude Scale Towards Socio-Scientific Issues (ASTSI). After the application of the pretest, activities prepared within the framework of a STEM-centered curriculum were applied to the experimental group, and applications aimed at the achievements determined by the seventh-grade level of science applications course were applied to the control group for one semester. At the end of the semester, ASTSI was applied to both groups as a post-test. The data obtained in the research were analyzed by the t-test analysis technique. In the study, data were analyzed with a t-test. It was observed that there was a statistically significant difference in favor of the experimental group regarding the attitude towards socio-scientific issues after the Stemcentered program.