Paper #11069: Investigating Student Attitudes and Achievements in K-12 STEM Classrooms: A Preliminary Meta-Analysis
Principal Author: Ibrahim H. Yeter, Purdue University
Co-Authors: Cristina Diordieva, Texas Tech University
This study provides preliminary results on the relationship between student’s attitude and achievement in K-12 STEM classrooms. The study uses meta-analysis technique to examine 10 qualified recent studies consist of 18 effect sizes. In order to have a deeper understanding about the student’s attitude and achievement in STEM classrooms, there are 6 subgroups conducted. They are (1) types of publication, (2) year of publication, (3) sample size, (4) grade level, (5) type of measurement, and finally (6) the origin of the study. Among the total of qualified reviews, a total sample size of 25,113 K-12 participants in and out of the USA. The analysis consists of 1 elementary school level review (N=172), 12 middle school level reviews (N=23,216) and 5 high school level (N=1,725). Consistent with the current reviews, the findings show that student’s attitude and achievement in STEM has a positive relationship with a moderate effect (ES= +0.28). It is found that there are some consistency and inconsistency in the categorized subgroups. There is a consistency in the year of publications (p < 0.56) and sample sizes (p < 0.41) whereas there is an inconsistency in the type of publication, grade level, and type of measurement and the origin of the study. Among the grade level subgroup, elementary school level has the largest effect on STEM achievement, with an effect size of +0.46 following high school and middle school levels with the effect sizes of +0.32 and +0.26, respectively. The results from this study contribute to the field of STEM education research not only for researchers to understand the relationship between students’ attitudes and achievements, but also inform current and future STEM teachers to understand how to improve students’ achievement in STEM subjects. These findings are discussed in details along with the conclusion.