Work in Progress: The Effects of Hands-on Learning on STEM Students' Motivation and Self-efficacy: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract This study is a work-in-progress meta-analysis that surveys the landscape of literature on the effects of hands-on learning on students' motivation and self-efficacy in STEM domains. Following well-established standards for conducting rigorous meta-analyses, selection criteria were developed and searches systematically conducted on relevant databases using specific keyword combinations. After an extensive search of over 3,000 studies, data from 24 independent studies involving 2006 participants that met specified selection criteria were extracted and reported in this work-in-progress study. Overall weighted mean effect size shows a moderate statistically significant hands-on learning effect for motivation (d = 0.52, SE = 0.09, p < 0.01) and a near moderate statistically significant effect for self-efficacy (d = 0.51, SE = 0.13, p < 0.01). However, these overall weighted means were moderated by several factors including prior knowledge. This meta-analysis suggests that hands-on learning in the classroom may be associated with increased motivation and self-efficacy and, therefore, beneficial for learning regardless of students' educational level.