The effect of family-involved STEM education on girls' engineering habits of mind

Abstract

This study aimed to support the development of engineering habits of mind in girls through family-involved STEM education. The participants were 3rd-grade primary school children. A pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was employed as a quantitative research method. The Engineering Habits of Mind Scale was used as the data collection tool. The data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis H and Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare the intervention and control groups. The findings revealed that the engineering habits of mind in the intervention group, which received engineering-based STEM education, were higher than those in the control group, which followed the national curriculum. Additionally, the intervention group demonstrated higher posttest scores than their pretest scores. These findings suggest that family-involved STEM education positively supports the development of engineering habits of mind in girls.