THE EFFECT OF STEAM-BASED ACTIVITIES ON SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS: “EFFECTS OF FORCE” UNIT

Scientific creativity is widely regarded as an important skill for societies aiming to achieve scientific literacy. Science lessons, by their very nature, are closely related to scientific creativity. In this context, this study examined the effect of STEAM-based activities implemented in the “Effects of Force” unit on the scientific creativity and academic achievement of 4th-grade primary school students in science courses. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control-group design was used in the study. STEAM-based lesson plans were employed in the experimental group, whereas a textbook grounded in constructivist learning theory was used in the control group. Data were collected through the Scientific Creativity Scale and the Academic Achievement Test. The findings showed that STEAM-based activities in the experimental group led to a significant increase in students' scientific creativity and academic achievement, with large effect sizes relative to the constructivist, textbook-aligned science teaching used in the control group. These results show that science courses in which students are actively engaged and design processes are applied can positively affect learning outcomes. In this context, STEAM-based activities can support scientific creativity and academic achievement, especially at the primary school level. Keywords: academic achievement, science education, scientific creativity, STEAM approach