The Role of STEM Teaching in Education: An Empirical Study to Enhance Creativity and Computational Thinking

This research is focused on exploring the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in the development of critical competencies among secondary school students in the 21st century. This was aimed to assess the impact of STEM-based activities on students' creative and computational thinking skills. A quasi-experimental design that included 77 secondary school students from public and private schools in Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, who participated in STEM interventions for over 5 weeks, was adopted. Data were collected through creative thinking tests and questionnaires on CT and STEM attitudes. The results showed that students who participated in STEM activities exhibited significantly higher creative thinking scores compared to peers taught with the traditional curriculum. Specifically, the experimental group showed a progressive increase in weekly test scores, suggesting that STEM methods improved students' performance over time. Structural equation modeling (SEM) disclosed strong positive associations between attitudes towards STEM, CT, and creativity. The implications of these results outlined the need to integrate STEM education into curricula to foster essential skills for future challenges. This research contributes to the understanding of effective educational strategies and also advocates for a shift towards more interactive and integrative methods in secondary education to meet the demands of the contemporary workforce.