Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Design Based Science Education (DBSE) applications on the perceptions of science teacher candidates about engineering education and engineers. In the quantitative part of the study in which the mixed method was involved, a semi-experimental design with single group pre-test post-test was used while a case study design was adopted in the qualitative part of the study. The study group of the research consisted of 52 juniors who were receiving education at a university in the Aegean Region in the 2016-2017 academic year. The quantitative data of the study were obtained through the 'Engineering Education Survey' and the qualitative data through 'Draw an Engineer Test.’ The quantitative data were analyzed using a statistics software program and the qualitative data through content analysis. It was determined as a result of the study that DBSE applications positively affect the perceptions of teacher candidates about engineering education and engineers. It was also determined that the teacher candidates' stereotypical perceptions about engineers being male and working on their own decreased and their perceptions about the work area and activities of engineers changed in a positive manner. In the light of the findings obtained in the study, the importance of design based applications in STEM education was underlined.
Highlights
There is a consensus about the need for understanding the basic knowledge in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and turning this knowledge into skills in order to be able to train science and technology literate individuals in 21st century, only science and mathematics among these disciplines are a part of educational programs at the K12 level (National Academy of Engineering [NAE], 2010)
It has become a necessity for Turkey as well that modern science education is restructured by the integration of STEM disciplines into educational programs and students are introduced to the discipline of engineering at early ages
While evaluating the teacher candidates' drawings, the answers they gave to the open-ended question regarding the drawing they made in the drawing form were used
Summary
There is a consensus about the need for understanding the basic knowledge in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and turning this knowledge into skills in order to be able to train science and technology literate individuals in 21st century, only science and mathematics among these disciplines are a part of educational programs at the K12 level (National Academy of Engineering [NAE], 2010). In the USA, STEM has become a government policy (NAE, 2010; National Research Council [NRC], 2010) and the importance given to STEM disciplines and STEM education in many European countries has increased (Çorlu, Capraro, & Capraro, 2014). In this respect, it has become a necessity for Turkey as well that modern science education is restructured by the integration of STEM disciplines into educational programs and students are introduced to the discipline of engineering at early ages. In Turkey, the first step towards STEM integration was taken in 2005 with the 'Science and Technology' lesson educational program (Ministry of National Education [MoNE], 2006). By integrating the STEM disciplines through these practices, it is aimed that students deal with the problems of daily life from an interdisciplinary perspective and create a product for the solution of problems by using knowledge and skills they acquire (MoNE, 2018)
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