EFFECTS OF BIOMIMICRY-ENRICHED ENGINEERING DESIGN-BASED TEACHING ON STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION WITH DAILY LIFE, STEM ATTITUDE, AND BIOMIMICRY ATTITUDE IN SOUND AND ITS PROPERTIES UNIT

This study examined the effects of biomimicry-enriched engineering design-based teaching on sixth graders' daily life associations, STEM attitudes, and biomimicry attitudes in the “Sound and Its Properties” unit. A pre-test post-test quasi-experimental design was used, with four classes randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The study involved 109 sixth graders in Türkiye. The experimental groups received biomimicry-enriched engineering design-based teaching for 22 hours, while the control groups followed the existing curriculum. The Association with Daily Life Test (ADLT) in the sound topic, Biomimicry Attitude Scale (BAS), and STEM Attitude Scale (SAS) were administered as pre-tests and post-tests to collect data. The post-test scores of the students' association with daily life, biomimicry attitude, and STEM attitude were compared using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) when their pre-test scores were controlled. The findings of the study revealed that the students in the experimental group had significantly higher levels of association with daily life, STEM attitude, and biomimicry attitude compared to those in the control group, with the most substantial impact on association with daily life in the sound topic. Keywords: biomimicry-enriched teaching, engineering design-based teaching, biomimicry attitude, STEM attitude, association with daily life.