The Effect of STEM Applications on Girls' STEM Attitude and Engineering Perception

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of STEM practices integrated with the science curriculum on female students' attitudes towards STEM and their opinions on engineer and engineering. The study group is composed of 87 students who are studying at an Imam Hatip Girls Highschool that is located in Muş city. A mixed method including qualitative and quantitative research methods was used in the study. Quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used in the quantitative dimension. "STEM Attitude Scale (SAS)" was used as the quantitative data collection tool and "Engineering Information Form (EIF)" was used as the qualitative data collection tool. Data analysis has shown that STEM practice is effective in improving girl students' attitudes towards STEM. It was also found that some of the students who had an opinion that engineering was a profession for men before the practices had started to have an opinion that after the practices, women might also be engineers. In addition, it was determined that STEM practices helped girl students to establish more connections between engineering, mathematics and science. In the light of these results, it is suggested that more importance should be given in STEM practices in curriculums and more STEM studies should be applied on girl students.

Stem in Movies: Female Preservice Teachers' Perspectives on Movie "Hidden Figures"

“…They emphasized that women can also be engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. Yıldırım and Türk (2018) also concluded that engineering is a suitable job for both women and men in consistent with the results. Numerous studies, however, show that there is a misconception that mathematics and engineering are more suitable for men (Capobianco et al, 2011;Koçabaş et al, 2000;NRC, 2012;The Girl Scout Research Institute [GSRI], 2012).…”

“…al, 2000). These assigned gender roles cause girls to lose interest in engineering and mathematics (Yıldırım & Türk, 2018) which is reinforced by movies as well. In fact, until 1970, movies in the US reproduced unequal gender roles and dissuaded women from pursuing a career in engineering and mathematics.…”

“…Keywords: gender perception in science, hidden figures, women in movie, preservice teachers, STEM education ISSN 1648-3898 /Print/ ISSN 2538-7138 /Online/ (2018) argue that STEM has been developed because white American students have reduced interest compared to African American, Indian and Chinese descendent students with increased interest in science, mathematics and engineering in the United States. Research also shows that students' interest in science, mathematics and engineering has declined (Dasgupta & Stout, 2014;Hall et al, 2011;Hayden et al, 2011;Tekerek & Karakaya, 2018;Yıldırım & Türk, 2018). Especially, female students have little interest in STEM fields (Yıldırım, 2016).…”

Lise Öğrencilerinin STEM’e Yönelik Tutumlarının İncelenmesi

“…It was found that female students' attitudes were higher than that of male students. This result does not correspond to the detection of problems in terms of female students in the engineering applications of Yıldırım and Türk (2018). In addition, it was found that male students showed higher attitudes towards female students in 21st Century studies.…”

“…Kız öğrenciler açısından STEM uygulamalarında özellikle mühendislik işlerinin tanımlanmasında sorunlar olduğu belirlenmiştir (Yıldırım ve Türk, 2018). Akçapınar ve Coşgun (2018) çalışmalarında öğrencilerin yarıdan fazlasının steme yönelik kariyer tercihinde bulunacakları tespit etmişlerdir.…”