Effects of the STEM Education Program on Preschool Children’s Science Process Skills/Utjecaj STEM obrazovnoga programa na vještine znanstvenoga mišljenja predškolske djece

Abstract

Abstract
For more than a decade, STEM educational approaches have attracted the attention of educators. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the Early STEM Education Program (ESTEMEP) on children’s science process skills. The study utilized the semi-experimental research design and it was conducted with 26 six-year-old children in Istanbul during the 2017-2018 academic year. The “Preschool Science Process Skills Scale for 60-72 Month Old Children” was used in the study as a data collection tool. Before starting the education process, pretests were conducted with the experimental and control group. Secondly, the ESTEMEP was applied to the experimental group twice a week for 10 weeks, after which both groups were given a posttest. The covariance analysis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for analyses, and the results show that, although the groups shared similar scores in the pretests, there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in the posttest scores. This finding shows that the ESTEMEP program is effective in the acquisition of science process skills (SPS).
Key words: 21st century skills; pre-school education; science process skills; STEM.

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Sažetak
Pristupi STEM obrazovanja već više od desetljeća privlače pažnju edukatora. Cilj je ovoga istraživanja ispitati utjecaj programa ranoga STEM obrazovanja (PRSTEMO) na vještine znanstvenoga razmišljanja djece. Istraživanje je imalo polueksperimentalni dizajn i obuhvatilo je 26 djece u dobi od šest godina. Provedeno je u Istambulu tijekom 2017./2018. školske godine. Kao mjerni instrument u istraživanju je korištena Skala vještina znanstvenoga razmišljanja predškolske djece u dobi od 60 do 72 mjeseca. Prije početka obrazovnoga procesa s kontrolnom i eksperimentalnom grupom proveden je predtest. Uslijedila je primjena PRSTEMO-a u eksperimentalnoj skupini dva puta tjedno u periodu od 10 tjedana. Nakon toga su obje skupine rješavala posttest. Za analizu podataka korišteni su Mann Whitney U test i analiza kovarijance. Rezultati pokazuju da su grupe imale slične rezultate u predtestu i značajnu razliku u korist eksperimentalne skupine u posttestu što znači da je rani STEM obrazovni program učinkovit u stjecanju vještina znanstvenoga mišljenja (VZM) predškolske djece.
Ključne riječi: predškolsko obrazovanje; STEM; vještine 21. stoljeća; vještine znanstvenoga mišljenja