Investigation of secondary school students’ self-efficacy for STEM activities

Abstract

The STEM education approach aims to raise qualified individuals who can create global competitiveness. The high self-efficacy of the students in STEM disciplines will ensure that the goals are achieved smoothly. This research was aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale that can measure secondary school students' self-efficacy towards STEM activities. In addition, it was aimed to examine secondary school students' self-efficacy towards STEM activities in terms of different variables. The research, in which the survey design was used, was conducted with 786 (N1=445; N2=341) secondary school students. “STEM Activities Self-Efficacy Scale (STEM-ASES)” was developed, in which the χ2/df value and the model-structure fit perfectly and it fits well according to the CFI and TLI values with a reliability coefficient of (0.939). In addition, as a result of the research, it was stated that the secondary school students’ STEM activities self-efficacy scores did not show a statistically significant difference according to the variables of gender, school type, class level and frequency of technological use. However, it was stated that the students' self-efficacy in STEM activities differed statistically according to their achievement scores.

Keywords

• STEM
• STEM self-efficacy
• secondary school students

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