Asian Journal of Contemporary Education - Vol 7 No 1 - STEM and Robotic Activities on Mental Risk-Taking and Inquiry Learning Skills

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

The research explores the effect of STEM and STEM-based robotic activities on students’ perceptions of mental risk-taking in science learning, along with its predictors, and their inquiry learning skills perceptions. A mixed-method design was used with 35 high-school students from Eastern Anatolia during the 2017–2018 academic year. Quantitative data were collected using SPMRSLIP and SPILSS, and a focus-group interview provided qualitative support. Results showed no significant pre-test/post-test difference for mental risk-taking and predictors, while the interest dimension and inquiry learning skills perception differed significantly. STEM and robotic education are recommended for other grades.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Science education and mental risk-taking

Risk-taking definitions and predictors

Mental risk-taking in learning

Keywords

Asian Journal of Contemporary Education ISSN(e): 2617-1252 DOI: 10. 55493/5052 . v7i1 .4752 Vol. 7, No. 1, 1-14. © 2023 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. The effect of stem and stem-based robotic activities on the development of students’ perceptions of mental risk-taking and its predictors and their inquiry skills in science learning Nida AKKOYUN1+ Sema ALTUNYALCIN2 Zehra CAKIR3 Pasa YALCIN4 1,2,4Erzincan Binali Yıldırım Universty, Turkey. 1Email: [nida-1453-ak@hotmail.com](nida-1453-ak@hotmail.com) 2Email: [saltun_11@hotmail.com](saltun_11@hotmail.com) [4](4Email: pasayalcin@hotmail.com)[Email:](4Email: pasayalcin@hotmail.com)[ ](4Email: pasayalcin@hotmail.com)[pasayalcin@hotmail.com](4Email: pasayalcin@hotmail.com)[ ](4Email: pasayalcin@hotmail.com)[3](3Bayburt Universty)[Bayburt Universty](3Bayburt Universty), Turkey. [3](3Email: zehracakir.29@hotmail.com)[Email:](3Email: zehracakir.29@hotmail.com)[ ](3Email: zehracakir.29@hotmail.com)[zehracakir.29@hotmail.com](3Email: zehracakir.29@hotmail.com) (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 27 December 2022 Revised: 10 February 2023 Accepted: 25 February 2023 Published: 17 March 2023 Keywords Inquiry learning Mental risk Predicting perception Robotic Science education STEM. The research explores the effect of STEM and STEM-based robotic activities on the development of students' perceptions of mental risk-taking and its predictors and their perceptions of inquiry learning skills related to science. A mixed method was applied in the research. Its sample consisted of 35 students in a high school of the Ministry of National Education in a medium-scale province of the Eastern Anatolia Region between the 2017-2018 educational year. The Scale for Perceptions of Mental Risk-taking in Science Learning and Its Predictors (SPMRSLIP) and the Scale for Perception of Inquiry Learning Skills for Science (SPILSS) were applied to obtain the quantitative data in the research. In addition, the focus group interview was held. The STEM and STEM-based robotic activities have been performed with the students for 14 weeks. In the findings obtained at the end of the research, no significant difference was determined between the perception pre-test and post-test scores related to mental risktaking and its predictors in science learning. However, difference was found in the dimension of interest. It was found that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores in the inquiry learning skills perception scale for science and the qualitative findings also supported this result. According to the results, it can be recommended that STEM and Robotic educations should be given in other grades. Contribution/ Originality: In this study, different from other STEM studies in the literature, mental risktaking and inquiry learning skills perceptions, which have not been studied before, are being researched. In the literature, mental risk taking and inquiry learning skills are important in terms of raising students as qualified individuals in the future. 1. INTRODUCTION Science is a process of describing the universe by using and arranging real scientific methods (Çepni, 2015) . Since science is a quite significant branch of science that investigates the events in nature with the same purpose and contributes to the development of countries economically and scientifically, it plays an important role in the education system to be able to live in parallel with the developing structures and educate qualified individuals who can ensure this parallelism (Ayas, 1995) . The science course, which has a wide scope in this aspect, offers an interactive environment that necessitates mental risk-taking such as making statements, asking questions, investigating and approving as required by its content. It is suggested in the literature that there is a positive relationship between academic achievement in science and menta

FAQs

What is the study’s main purpose?

The study investigates how STEM and STEM-based robotic activities affect students’ perceptions of mental risk-taking and its predictors in science learning, and how these activities influence students’ inquiry learning skills perceptions.

How was the research conducted?

A mixed-method approach was used with 35 high-school students, applying SPMRSLIP and SPILSS for quantitative data and using a focus-group interview for qualitative insights. The activities lasted 14 weeks.

What were the key findings about mental risk-taking?

There was no significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores related to mental risk-taking and its predictors in science learning, although a difference emerged in the interest dimension.

What did the study find about inquiry learning skills?

A significant difference was found between pre-test and post-test scores in the inquiry learning skills perception scale for science, and qualitative findings supported this result.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel