The Effect of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Program on Students’ Achievement in Mathematics: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The positive impact of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs on student achievement, attitude, interest, communication skills and problem-solving has alerted the education community to reform instructional approaches in STEM subjects. This meta-analysis study aims to analyze previous studies' results of STEM program impacting students' mathematics achievement. The criteria for inclusion of literature in the meta-analysis were: published between 1998 and 2017, employed experimental research design, and reported data necessary for computing effect sizes. Based on the Hedges-g effect size values, three of the studies were categorized into the large effect category (n=3), two studies were classified under the medium effect group (n=2), and twelve studies were considered to be small effect sizes (n=12). The overall weighted average effect size was 0.242 with a corresponding p-value of 0.023 demonstrating that STEM had an impact on student mathematics achievement. However, no evidence was found concerning the impact of STEM program on students' mathematics achievement based on the three moderator variables: education level, publication source, and length of intervention. Limitations and implications of the study were discussed.

The Effects of STEM Education on Students’ Academic Achievement In Science Courses: A Meta-Analysis

“…According to Cohen et al's (2007, p. 521) effect size classification, this result means that STEM education had a strong effect on the academic achievement levels of students. In addition, when these results were compared with the results of the study conducted by Saraç (2018), an effect size larger than three times was found. While the effect size of 44 studies in the present study was positive, only 1 study was found to have negative effect.…”

“…As a result of the analyses, we found that the studies had a heterogeneous distribution and according to this result, we decided to use the REM model. When it is considered that a total of 11 studies were reached about STEM education in Turkey in a study conducted by Saraç (2018), we found that there has been a serious increase in the number of studies since 2018. Kalemkuş (2019) also stated that studies about STEM began to intensify in 2018.…”

“…The present study aimed to find out the general effect size of these educations that have a specific basis and application culture by analysing them with meta-analysis. Saraç (2018) analysed 27 studies in which STEM education approach was applied in science education. Saraç examined and compared the achievements of students in these analyses in terms of their attitudes and scientific process skills.…”

“…In a meta-analysis study by Kim, Belland, and Walker (2018), it was found that computer-based STEM education had a Hedges's g effect size of .39 on cognitive outputs in problem-based learning. Saraç (2018) found that STEM education had a Hedges' g effect size of .44. As can be seen in the studies above, it has been found that, in general, STEM education had a small or moderate effect size on the academic success of students.…”

Teachers' Views of the Implementation of STEM Approach in Secondary Schools and The Effects on Students

“…In today's world, there is a need for individuals with 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, entrepreneurship, communication, collaboration, decision-making, leadership, problem-solving, responsibility, and creativity. One of the educational approaches in which these individuals are nourished is the STEM approach (Ergün & Külekci, 2019;Siregar et al, 2019). STEM was first mentioned by The National Science Foundation director J.…”