Effects of Project Approach Management Based on the STEM Education on Young Children’s Basic Mathematical Skills at Nadee Municipal School, Mueang District, Samut Sakhon Province

Abstract

   The purpose of this research was to compare the Young children’s basic mathematical skills before and after the implementation of project approach learning management based on the STEM education. The sample consisted of 25 young children, boy and girls, aged between 4–5 years, studying in Kindergarten Year 2 during the first semester of the 2025 academic year at Nadee Municipal School, Mueang District, Samut Sakhon Province. The participants were selected by cluster random sampling, with all classrooms having similar characteristics. The research instruments included 32 project approach learning plans based on the STEM education, with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) of 1.00, and four sets of basic mathematical skills tests for young children, each consisting of four items: number and numeral recognition, comparison, classification, and ordering, totaling 16 items. The IOC of the test was 1.00. item difficulty values between 0.43 to 0.73, item discrimination indices between 0.33 to 0.73, and a reliability coefficient of 0.68. The statistics used for data analysis were mean, standard deviation, and a dependent samples t-test.

     The research findings revealed that young children who received project approach learning management based on the STEM education demonstrated significantly higher basic mathematical skills than before the implementation at the .๐๕ level, both overall and in each aspect.