PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND INTEREST IN AFTER-SCHOOL STEAM ACTIVITIES

Abstract

STEAM represents an educational approach that integrates the “arts” into the existing STEM framework. Studies suggest that STEAM education positively affects students’ learning, problem-solving skills, creativity, attitudes, and motivation. The research aims to analyze primary school students’ perceptions of an after-school STEAM workshop. A quasi-experimental design was used. The instrument used in the study was a questionnaire developed by the authors. The sample consisted of 93 third-grade students. All students participated in the workshop about tessellations using the STEAM approach. The results showed that, in general, students expressed highly positive attitudes toward the STEAM workshop and increased interest in participating in after-school STEAM activities. It was determined that girls favored activities related to the arts more than boys, but there were no statistically significant differences in overall attitudes. However, there were statistically significant differences in two items in favor of boys. The boys expressed stronger interest in using digital tools and interactive boards and learning new, unknown things compared to girls. Students’ responses imply that they can recognize tessellations, but frequent repetition of this topic is necessary. The findings also suggest that more school and after-school STEAM activities should be organized as they positively influence students’ attitudes and enhance their interest and motivation for STEAM which might be important when choosing future careers in these fields.