Designing a School‐Wide STEM Intervention: A Mutual Collaborative Action Study

ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of a school‐wide collaborative STEM intervention on primary school students' motivation, theory‐to‐practice transfer, learning engagement, and collaboration, as well as its contribution to teachers' professional development and the pedagogical challenges encountered during implementation. The study was designed as mutual collaborative action research and conducted in a primary school. The school had 1014 students, with the study focusing on 450 third‐ and fourth‐grade students and 12 teachers working at these grade levels. Data were collected through student and teacher questionnaires and semi‐structured teacher interviews. Content analysis was used to examine the qualitative data obtained from these sources. The findings provide insights into how school‐based STEM activities supported students' active participation, motivation to learn, collaborative learning, and application of theoretical knowledge to practical situations. Teacher reflections also revealed that the intervention contributed to teachers' professional learning while highlighting challenges related to planning, classroom management, time constraints, and the implementation of STEM activities in primary school settings.