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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
Introduction
The country’s economic growth and development should be based on new technologies and
innovations (James, 2021). Science and engineering are the basis for economic growth and development
(Sahin-Topalcengiz and Yildirim, 2019). Nowadays, more investments are done in educating staff who
will apply this new knowledge based on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The best example of the former is the eld of energy efciency (Radojević, Nikolić and Skerlić, 2020).
The best example of the former is the eld of energy efciency (Pašalić et al., 2020). However, many
countries have challenges with STEM education (Beswick and Fraser, 2019). Tran (2018) pointed out that
innovation is crucial for the development of the United States of America (USA), but it lags behind other
developed countries in the production of its own qualied staff with STEM competencies. The situation is
similar in other countries where demand for STEM skills is growing (Marginson, et al., 2013). Developing
countries are increasingly investing in STEM education (Kelley and Knowles, 2016), and this trend has
been present in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in recent years. The biggest challenge in the education
of staff for STEM areas is the lack of interest of students to study these areas (Waite and and McDonald,
2019). Therefore, it is necessary to gradually introduce these areas to students in the earliest educational
process (Ghanbari, et al., 2023).
Bosnia and Herzegovina has begun the introduction of STEM areas in teaching in secondary and
primary schools in recent years. The ENABLE-BiH project (Enhancing and Advancing Basic Learning
Students’ Attitudes About STEM Teaching Case Study From Brčko District
of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Edisa Puška1* , Adis Puška2 , Ilija Stojanović3 , Branislav Dudić4, 5 , Jelena Premović6
1Ninth elementary school of Brcko, Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, e-mail: edisapuska@yahoo.com
2Government of Brcko District BiH, Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, e-mail: adispuska@yahoo.com
3College of Business Administration, American University in the Emirates, Dubai International Academic City,
United Arab Emirates, e-mail: ilija.stojanovic1976@gmail.com
4Comenius University, Faculty of Management, Slovakia, e-mail: branislav.dudic@fm.uniba.sk
5Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management, Novi Sad, Serbia
6Faculty of Economics and Engineering Management, Novi Sad, Serbia, e-mail: jelena.premovic@gmail.com
Abstract: The knowledge that is based on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is the basis for the
development of any country. Less developed countries lack experts in these areas. Therefore, the ENABLE-BIH project (Enhancing
and Advancing Basic Learning and Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina) was introduced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which
aims to improve the situation in the education sector. This study included the Public Institution “Ninth Elementary School” in
Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina in which this project was implemented. The study included a total of 125 students
from this school. The aim of this study is to examine the difference between attitudes about STEM from the point of view of
gender differences and the age of students. After the data were collected, the statements were grouped into appropriate factors
using factor analysis. The factor analysis showed that ve factors stand out in this research. The results of multiple regression
analysis showed that there is no difference between students ‘attitudes regarding gender differences, while there is a difference
regarding students’ age. The results of this research showed that the ENABLE-BIH project delivered good results and suggests
the importance of implementing similar projects in the future.
Keywords: STEM, Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ENABLE-BIH, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis.
Original scientic paper
Received: October 12, 2023.
Revised: November 27, 2023.
Accepted: December 02, 2023.
UDC:
37.091.31(497.6)
330.341(497.6)
10.23947/2334-8496-2023-11-3-475-485
© 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
*Corresponding author: edisapuska@yahoo.com
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
and Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina) was introduced in 2016 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with
the aim to improve learning about STEM courses. The basic idea of this project is to avoid focusing
on special or separate disciplines and connecting these courses through practical application. With this
approach, students can acquire the key skills and competencies necessary for further progress in the
modern environment. This project was implemented throughout the whole country, and 12 schools and 4
areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina were selected. Two schools from the area of the Brcko District of Bosnia
and Herzegovina (BDBiH) have participated in this project. BDBiH is a unique administrative-territorial
unit of local self-government under the sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which represents its
specicity in relation to other areas in the country. Thus, this is the reason for special research interest in
the implementation of this project in BDBiH.
The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of students towards STEM teaching implemented
within the ENABLE-BiH project, which is implemented in the Public Institution “Ninth Elementary School”
in BDBiH. The special research attention is focused on differences in attitudes towards STEM teaching
within the ENABLE-BiH project in relation to the gender differences of students and students who attend
general and specialized classes. The contribution of this research is reected in the following:
- Obtaining signicant information from students related to STEM classes;
- Determining the existence of differences between students’ attitudes;
- Providing guidelines for the improvement of STEM teaching in primary education;
In addition to the introduction, this paper consists of ve other sections. The second section provides
the theoretical framework for the study. The third section oversees the research methodology. This section
explains how the research was conducted, presents a research sample, and set research hypotheses.
The fourth section provides the ndings of the research. In this section, the collected claims are grouped
into factors, and then the hypotheses are tested through multiple regression analysis. In the fth section,
the obtained results are explained in more detail through discussion, and the ndings are compared with
other similar studies. The sixth section presents the most important research results providing guidelines
for future research.
Theoretical framework
The concept of STEM education is not a new concept as some authors claim, but this term
appeared in the 19th century at Harvard University as part of the standardization of the agricultural school
system (Ostler, 2012). After that process, this term was not used often in education, only to come to
attention in the 1990s when the National Science Foundation in the United States identied areas crucial
for improving economic work in the United States (Herro, et al., 2017). The acronym STEM stands for the
education of students in the elds of natural sciences, computer science, engineering, and mathematics.
STEM is a specic educational program, designed with the aim of using knowledge from the STEM elds
when solving problems in everyday life (Rizvanović and Alihodžić, 2019).
The term STEM refers to the integration of science (S), technology (T), engineering (E), and
mathematics (M) which relates to both workforce and everyday life experiences (Pimthong and
Williams, 2018). The STEM term is relevant because every scientic discipline encounters complex
and multidimensional problems that need to be solved. To make full use of STEM potential in students,
schools need to improve STEM education and improve teaching (Margot and Kettler, 2019). Gomez
and Albrecht (2013) advocate the establishment of STEM education and teaching in schools through an
interdisciplinary approach. Establishing STEM education in school is an innovative approach to education,
it is widely applied in the global environment and is the basis for the development of educational policies
and reforms (Nguyen, Nguyen and Tran, 2020). The principle of introducing STEM teaching in schools
emphasizes the importance of students’ understanding of science and mathematics but all to be integrated
through theology and engineering (Chesky and Wolfmeyer, 2015). The integration and application of
STEM concepts and processes are needed by students who should have the opportunity to participate
in real multidisciplinary situations (Pimthong and Williams, 2018). The application of STEM teaching with
real examples opens up perspectives for students to learn the basics of using STEM disciplines.
The importance of students’ education in STEM areas has gained importance worldwide, and
demand for these skills is growing. However, students drop out from these courses, and almost 50% of
students do not complete these courses (Chen, 2013). The situation is similar in Germany (Heublein, et al.,
2012) and in other countries. In the last twenty years, a decrease in the number of students who choose to
continue their education in STEM elds has been observed in many European countries (Babarović, Pale
and Burušić, 2018). It has been proven that lower achievements in STEM courses in primary education
can inuence the choice of continuing education in STEM areas (Wang and Eccles, 2013). To solve
this problem, an adequate way to increase students’ interest in STEM subjects is sought (Sadler, et al.,
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
2012). Rosenzweig and Wigeld (2016) point out that STEM educational programs conducted in the
upper grades of elementary schools and high schools motivate students for STEM areas and increase
their aspirations toward STEM careers. That is the justication why there are more projects in the world
that are being introduced in primary and secondary schools in order to increase students’ interest in
studying in these areas. The introduction of STEM in education gives high autonomy and independence
to students in solving problems in STEM, creates content and activities tailored to the individual needs
of students, and there is an interactive approach in teaching aimed at developing student competencies
(Rizvanović and Alihodzić, 2019).
Based on the recommendations of the European Commission for Education, which focused on the
promotion of key competencies and their inclusion in the education system, the Agency for Preschool,
Primary and Secondary Education (APOSO) in 2012 identied key competencies to be developed in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2016, following these recommendations, the ENABLE-BiH project was
launched in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which aims to strengthen education in STEM areas. The goal of
this project has been to contribute to the process of changing the educational paradigm in Bosnia and
Herzegovina to enable the development of society and a knowledge-based economy (Mrdović, 2018). This
project seeks to set the framework and create a comprehensive basis for the introduction of STEM areas
in regular education within existing and / or innovative teaching content. Furthermore, this project aims to
integrate different disciplines such as natural science, mathematics, and technology through STEM into a
cohesive learning paradigm based on practical applications (Rizvanović and Alihodzić, 2019). Following
these interests, a common core curriculum was formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, composed by the
Agency for Preschool, Primary, and Secondary Education (APOSO). In addition, operational curricula for
STEM competencies have been designed in order to align the results in mathematics, physics, chemistry,
biology, geography and informatics, as well as for the courses environment, nature and society, and
similar courses with global trends and standards. Therefore, it is important to investigate how students
perceive teaching in STEM areas and what their attitudes are towards STEM.
Materials and Method
In this section, an overview of the survey questionnaire, the research and the basic characteristics
of students who took part in the survey are presented. Additionally, the research hypotheses based on
previously conducted research are introduced. When conducting the research, primary research will be
used using questionnaires. The collected questionnaires are coded and prepared for analysis using the
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) 20 software package. The following analyzes will be
calculated with this software package: exploratory factor analysis, correlation analysis and regression
analysis.
Survey data
The ENABLE-BiH project was implemented in 12 schools in different regions of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Seven primary schools and ve secondary schools were included. A total of 2556 students
were included in this project, of which 1636 were students from primary schools, while 920 students were
included from secondary schools. The aim of this project was to examine the differences in attitudes
towards STEM studying in relation to gender differences of students and in relation to the differences in
form of classes looking at general courses and specialized courses, the basic research sample included
students of primary schools who took a part in the project. Due to technical and other issues encountered
in this study and due to the specics of Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this research was
conducted in Public Institution “Ninth Primary School” Maoča. The study included students of the second
and third triad who were sent survey questionnaires. A total of 125 students from this school were included,
which represents 7.64% of the research population from this school.
For the purposes of this study, the research was conducted in the Public Institution “Ninth Elementary
School” located in Brcko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This research included students of the
second and third triad who were asked to take a part in the survey. The survey questionnaire consisted
of two parts. The rst part of the questionnaire referred to the characteristics of students in terms of a
gender, form of classes and the success of students in the previous period (Figure 1). The second part of
the questionnaire consisted of statements related to students ’attitudes about students being required to
give their grades ranging from 1 to 5, where 1 was the lowest grade and 5 was the highest grade. A total
of 21 questions were used, which are presented in Table 2.
Data was collected from students of the selected school in two ways. Survey questionnaires in
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
paper form were distributed to general class students, while electronic survey questionnaires were sent
to students of specialized courses. The justication of this approach one can nd in the fact that general
class students do not have the informatics course in their curriculum, while specialized class students
have this course included, thus these questionnaires were sent as part of the course activity.
Figure 1. Characteristic of students
A total of 149 questionnaires were collected. However, only 125 questionnaires were included in
the analysis because the rate of their completeness rose more than 80%. Survey questionnaires that
were completed below 80% were not included in the survey, thus 24 survey questionnaires were excluded
from further analysis. All survey questionnaires were coded and included in the statistical package SPSS
(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Using this software, students’ attitudes were rst grouped by
exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by the examination of the reliability of the measurement scale
using Cronbach’s alpha (CA) indicators, and then the research hypotheses were examined using multiple
regression analysis (VRA).
Research hypotheses
The study of STEM areas is inuenced by many factors. Babarović, Pale and Burušić, (2018) in
their research highlighted the following factors: gender differences, student age, and student motivation.
Reinking and Martin, (2018) pointed out that gender factors are key to accepting STEM study, and at
the same time they inuence students ’attitudes. In some other studies, it is pointed out that gender
differences are decisive factors for acceptance of the STEM areas (Mavriplis, et al., 2010; Robinson and
Lubienski, 2011; Legewie and DiPrete, 2014). Therefore, this research is focused to investigate gender
differences and the age of students on their attitudes about STEM study.
By studying gender differences, no unambiguous results were found by Rosenzweig and Wigeld
(2016) who concluded that gender does not moderate the systemic effect of motivational interventions.
From the above, it can be expected that future STEM interventions will be equally effective for all students.
However, the ndings by Huppatz and Goodwin (2013) showed that girls lose the most interest in STEM
areas between the ages of nine and twelve. Furthermore, Kuschel, et al. (2020) showed that there are
a small number of women entrepreneurs in STEM areas, which emphasizes the existing gender biases
and systemic shortcomings in social structures. However, the results showed that since the beginning of
the 1990s, the number of women who have graduated or obtained their master’s or doctoral degrees in
STEM areas has increased (Reinking and Martin, 2018). Still, women are less represented in STEM areas
(Legewie and DiPrete, 2014), which is conrmed by research conducted by the authors Wang and Degol
(2016). Based on this, the following hypothesis is set for this study:
H1 – Gender differences in students affect the attitudes toward teaching within the framework
ENABLE-BiH project
Although there is not enough evidence to draw rm conclusions that intervention programs are
effective for younger students, there is general knowledge that supports this assumption (Babarović, Pale
and Burušić, 2018). It has been also shown that motivation and interest in STEM areas decline during the
senior years of primary school (Bryan, Glynn and Kittleson, 2011). This is especially present with the female
population because they lose interest in the STEM areas during studies, and this is especially present for
mathematics courses (Robinson and Lubienski, 2011). Daugherty, Carter and Swagerty, (2014) suggested
that in order to increase students’ interest in STEM areas, it is necessary to start encouraging them in
a primary school. Opinions about STEM education and engagement are also inuenced by transitions
within education, from preschool to primary education and from primary to secondary education (Perry
and MacDonald, 2015). Archer et al. (2012) in their research showed that the aspirations and attitudes of
students aged from 10 to 14 years do not differ signicantly. Due to the differences in previous research
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
results, it is necessary to investigate whether differences in age or attendance affect students’ attitudes
about STEM studies. Based on this, the following hypothesis is set in the research:
H2 – Age of the students inuences the attitudes regarding the teaching within the framework
ENABLE-BiH project
Results
Before testing the hypotheses, it is necessary to group the claims via EFA. Within EFA analysis,
Varimax factor rotation and Kaiser Normalization were applied (Zhou and Li, 2023). The application of
Kaiser Normalization determines the number of factors in the conducted EFA analysis. In order to group
a statement into one factor, its value according to Kaiser Normalization must be greater than 1. When
performing EFA analysis, it is necessary to meet certain conditions, namely: the correlation matrix is
suitable for EFA analysis, which is proved by the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) indicator of sample adequacy
and the sphericity of data by Bartlett’s test is satised. The values of the KMO indicator should be greater
than 0.6, while in Bartlett’s test the signicance level should be less than 0.05 (p <0.05) (Puška, Maksimović
and Stojanović, 2018). The results obtained by EFA analysis showed that the sample is adequate (KMO
= 0.894) and the data are spherical (p <0.000), which conrms this analysis.
The obtained results of EFA analysis showed that the claims were grouped into ve factors in which
72.49% of the variance was explained. The obtained factors were used to examine the reliability of the
measurement scale of the questionnaire via CA indicators. The value of this indicator should be greater
than 0.70 (Al-Ansi, et al., 2023).
The rst factor covered seven claims and explained 22.781% of the variance (table 1). This factor
seeks to explain the experience of students in STEM teaching and it provides answers to whether STEM
teaching is better than traditional and whether students would still have STEM teaching. The highest
grade for this factor was given to the statement “STEM teaching is useful for students” (average = 4.55),
while the lowest grades were given to the statements: “I am proud to be part of STEM teaching” and “I
would like to continue to have STEM teaching” (average = 4.14). The value of standard deviations (SD)
showed that the highest variance in grades for the statement “I wish I still had STEM teaching” (SD =
1,183), while the lowest variance in grades for the statement “STEM teaching is useful for students” (SD
= 0.844). The obtained value of the CA indicator (CA = 0.897) showed that the measurement scales of the
collected data are reliable for this factor.
The second factor included six claims. This factor seeks to explain whether STEM teaching is
interesting and fun for students and whether it allows them to better understand teaching material. The
statement “I like examples in STEM teaching” received the highest grade for this factor (Average = 4.50),
while the statement “STEM teaching interests me” received the lowest grade (Average = 4.31). The
highest variance of grades is found in the statement “STEM teaching is more interesting than traditional”
(SD = 1,083), while the lowest variance is in the statement “I like examples in STEM teaching” (SD =
0,783). Measuring scales (CA = 0.835) were also found to be reliable for this factor.
The third factor included three statements where the average values are between 4.33 and 4.42.
This factor seeks to explain the usefulness of STEM teaching for students. Of these three statements, the
greatest dispersion was in the grades of the statement “STEM teaching helps me master the material”
(SD = 1,028), while the smallest dispersion in grades for the statement “STEM teaching makes learning
easier” (SD = 0,898). The value of the CA indicator (CA = 0.82) conrmed the measurement scales.
The fourth factor included the fewest claims of all factors, namely two claims in which the average
score is uniform. This factor explains the experience of students with STEM teaching. The statement
“My experience with STEM teaching is very good” (SD = 1,285) had a greater dispersion of grades. The
performed CA analysis (CA = 0.838) conrmed the measurement scale for this factor. The fth factor
included three claims. This factor explains whether STEM teaching aids learning by better understanding
the material. The statement “STEM teaching improves my understanding of the material” received the
highest average grade (Average = 4.41), with the lowest variance in grades (SD = 0,920). The lowest
average grade was given to the statement “STEM teaching helps me learn” (Average = 4.24), which had
the highest dispersion (SD = 0,920). For this factor, the measurement scale for the questionnaire was
conrmed (CA = 0.745).
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
Table 1.
Factor and descriptive analysis of claims
The study of the relationship between the factors was performed using the Pearson correlation
coefcient. The results obtained by this analysis showed that for all factors there is a signicant positive
correlation at a signicance level of less than 0.01 (Table 3). Factors 1 and 2 were the most closely related
(r = 0.784; p <0.01), while factors 3 and 4 were the least related (r = 0.495; p <0.01)
Table 2.
Correlation between research factors
Note: *. Correlation at a signicance level of 0.01
The research hypotheses were tested using the VRA (Oliinyk, 2023). The task of the VRA is to
include several factors in the analysis to assess the impact of independent variables on the dependent
variable (Famo and Machate, 2023; Štilić, et al., 2023). The examination of the hypotheses was carried
out by applying indifferent statistics at the signicance level of 0.05 (Abdeldayem, Aldulaimi and Baqi,
2022). Since two hypotheses have been set, two VRAs were applied.
During the examination of the rst research hypothesis, we started from the assumption that there
is a signicant difference in students’ attitudes in relation to the gender difference, and for that purpose,
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
a VRA model was created. The results of this analysis showed that there is no signicant statistical
difference in these attitudes (F-test = 1,779; p = 0.122), which provided a basis for rejection of the rst
hypothesis of the research. This VRA model explained 7% of the baseline (R2 = 0.070). Observing the
individual inuence of the factors, it was noticed that only with factor 5 there is a signicant statistical
difference (t-test = 2.128; p = 0.035), and this factor had the greatest inuence on the direction of the
regression function (Beta = 0.295). With two factors there is a negative inuence on the direction of the
regression function, namely with factor 1 (Beta = -0.192) and factor 3 (Beta = - 0.112).
While we examined the second hypothesis, the research started from the assumption that the age
of students inuences attitudes about STEM teaching. For this purpose, two groups of students were
formed. One group of students attends general classes and the other specialized classes. The results of
the conducted VRA showed that there is a signicant statistical difference between the observed groups of
students (F-test = 11,088; p = 0,000), and thus the second research hypothesis was accepted. This VRA
model explained 31.8% of the baseline (R2 = 0.318). Observing the partial inuence of individual factors
on the regression function, there is a signicant statistical difference between three factors: factor 1 (t-test
= 2,869; p = 0.005), factor 3 (t-test = -5,204; p = 0.000) and factor 4. (t-test = 2,780; p = 0.006). It should
be mentioned that with factor 2 (Beta = -0.161) and factor 3 (Beta = -0.633) there is a negative inuence
on the direction of the regression function. The same results would be obtained by applying ANOVA
analysis because hypotheses are tested in MRA in SPSS using ANOVA analysis (Puška, Maksimomvić
and Stojanović, 2018).
Table 3.
Hypothesis testing using regression analysis
Discussions
In order to determine the existence of differences between students’ attitudes regarding STEM
teaching which was implemented within the ENABLE-BiH project, which was assessed in the Public
Institution “Ninth Elementary School” Brcko District, data were rst collected by students through a
questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed in two ways, physically and electronically, with paper
and electronic questionnaires. It was observed during the data collection that a smaller number of blank
questionnaires were for questionnaires distributed in paper form compared to questionnaires distributed
in electronic form. The reason should be sought in the fact that students who received an electronic
version of the questionnaire could open it on various media (Petrović, 2014). Some students opened the
survey, started lling it out, and dropped out. Another disadvantage of the electronic survey is that one
student can ll in the survey several times. However, in this research, access to the surveys was limited
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
with the IP address disabling that one student completes the survey more than once. In this way, this
shortcoming was solved.
Factor analysis grouped the data collected from students and the claims related to STEM teaching
from the ENABLE-BiH project were grouped into ve factors. These factors cover 72.49% of the variance
that is common for social research (Puška, et al., 2021). Looking at the claims placed in the corresponding
factors one can see there is a connection between these claims. In factor 1, all the claims are related to
the intention to further use STEM teaching, that STEM teaching is useful and that students enjoy it. Factor
2 grouped the claims concerning the interestingness, quality, and fun of STEM teaching. Factor 3 grouped
the claims concerning understanding, mastery, and learning assistance by STEM teaching. Factor 4
grouped the claims related to STEM teaching experience. Factor 5 included the claims regarding learning
assistance, rejoicing in the continued use of STEM teaching, and the claim related to understanding the
material.
The obtained values showed that there is a positive signicant correlation between all factors. The
correlation for all claims ranges between 0.495 and 0.784, which is a very good correlation, especially
when it comes to social research (Puška, Maksimović and Stojanović, 2018). However, this association
does not mean that the gender difference and the age of students inuence the observed factors. The
results of the VRA showed that the age of students affects the observed factors while the gender difference
does not. These results indicate that boys and girls equally accept STEM teaching and their attitudes are
similar, thus conrming the results provided by Rosenzweig and Wigeld (2016). The attitudes they used
are most similar in factor 2 because the signicant value in VRA is the highest which shows that there is
the smallest difference in attitudes in this particular case. With factors 1 and 3, there is a negative inuence
on the direction of regression analysis, which indicates that girls have better attitudes than boys regarding
these two factors. This indicates that interest by girls has not decreased in STEM teaching, which does not
conrm the results provided by Huppatz and Goodwin (2013). This nding is very positive, as it reduces
gender discrimination in STEM teaching. If girls maintain their interest in STEM teaching, it is expected
that there will be a larger number of women who will work in STEM areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina
in the future. In this way, the justication of the ENABLE-BIH project in Bosnia and Herzegovina was
conrmed, because this project delivered a positive effect on students in their early years and reduces
gender discrimination in STEM areas.
Observing the difference between the ages of students, the results of the VRA showed that there
is a signicant difference between the attitudes. However, by analyzing individual factors, one can see
that in factors 2 and 3 there is a negative impact on the direction of regression analysis, which shows that
students from specialized classes have better attitudes towards these factors than students from general
class. Furthermore, the results for factor 5 indicate that there is no difference between the attitudes of
these students. In this way, it was proven that students’ attitudes do not decrease with the age of students,
and the observed students accept STEM classes from the ENABLE-BiH project equally well, thus denying
the results from Bryan, Glynn and Kittleson, (2011).
The ndings from this study show that there is no gender discrimination in terms of acceptance
of STEM classes’ from the ENABLE-BiH project. In addition, the results show that the interest is higher
in certain segments of STEM teaching among students in specialized classes in relation to students
in general classes. All mentioned point to the fact that the ENABLE-BIH project provided good results
and it is necessary to implement more similar projects in order to improve the situation in Bosnia and
Herzegovina in the STEM area. With the improvement of the STEM area, it is possible to achieve the
growth and development of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Conclusions
Education in STEM areas is key for the development of any country. Inuencing the acceptance
of STEM studies by students provides a good basis for continuing studies in these areas, which creates
a favorable climate for development. This research was conducted in the Brcko District of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and included students of the Public Institution “Ninth Elementary School”. The aim of this
study was to examine the existence of differences in the gender and age structure of students. The results
show that there is no gender difference in students’ attitudes towards STEM teaching implemented within
the ENABLE-BiH project, thus rejecting the rst hypothesis of this research. Furthermore, the results
show that there is a difference in terms of student age, thus accepting the second hypothesis of this study.
Further insight into the results of the VRA indicates that there is a difference between the attitudes of
students, but there is no uniform difference. Some claims are better assessed by students from specialized
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Puška, E. et al. (2023). Students’ attitudes about stem teaching case study from brčko district of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(3), 475-485.
classes in relation to students from general classes and vice versa. In this way, it has been proven that
students are equally interested in STEM teaching.
The study ndings show that the ENABLE-BIH project implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina
delivered good results, which was fully conrmed by this research. Therefore, in the future, more similar
projects should be implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina in order to inuence students to continue
their studies in these areas. Furthermore, the implementation of this project has shown that students
need to get closer to the STEM area, by making a connection between these areas in teaching that
is also enriched with practical exercises. In this way, students can understand these areas and have
better attitudes regarding these STEM. This should affect the strengthening of STEM areas in Bosnia and
Herzegovina and contribute to the development of the country. In the future, it is necessary to include
more schools and students with similar projects in order to have a greater impact on the acceptance of
STEM areas by students.
This study has shown that innovations in education, in this case, the convergence of STEM areas
through the connection of different areas, have a signicant impact on the students’ acceptance of STEM
studies. In future projects and research, it is necessary to use innovations in teaching in a similar way to
improve students’ curiosity for STEM studies, which creates a precondition for strengthening these areas
in certain countries. The scientic validity of the conducted research was to understand how elementary
school students accept STEM subjects because it is very important to prepare students for these subjects.
The social justication of this research is based on the preparation of students in elementary school for
these subjects, so that they can continue their careers in them and so that there will be no shortage of
occupations in the future.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the respondents who participated in the research and the reviewers
who made a valuable contribution to the quality of the work by giving constructive suggestions.
Conict of interests
The authors declare no conict of interest.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, E.P., and A.P.; methodology, E.P.; software, A.P.; formal analysis, E.P and A.P.;
writing—original draft preparation, E.P. and I.S.; writing—review and editing, A.P. and I.S. All authors have
read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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