Investigation of Middle School Students' Attitudes To STEM In Terms of Different Variables

The purpose of this study is to explore middle school students' attitudes toward STEM education. This research was carried out to determine middle school students' attitudes towards STEM on the basis of several variables to reveal the relationship between them. It is a descriptive study in the survey model. In this study, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Survey, designed by Guzey, Harwell, and Moore was administered. The scale is a 5-likert type scale consisting of four sub-scales, that is, "social and personal implications of STEM", "learning of mathematics and science and the relationship to STEM', 'learning of engineering and the relationship to STEM' and 'learning and use of technology' science" and 24 items. Participants of this study were selected based on convenient sampling from five schools in a city, in Turkey. A total of 550, 5th through 8th graders in the academic year of 2017-2018, was participated in the study. STEM attitude levels of students analyzed according to some variables. The indepented samples groups t test and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used in the analysis of the data obtained in the study. According to the research results, a majority of the students had positive attitudes towards STEM education. There were no significant differences in students' STEM attitudes in gender and pre-school education. It was determined that the students' towards STEM education were improved as the level of parents education increased.