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The application of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education in solving real-world problems is challenging. To tackle this challenge, a project-based learning approach that integrates robots with cost-effective self-made toys to problem-solving was adopted to assist rural primary school students to apply STEM skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the project-based learning approach which includes lecturing and hands-on activities on primary school students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes. An experiment was conducted with 25 primary school students who voluntarily participated in a STEM summer-camp programme. Students were asked to assemble a paper house equipped with an IoT control module and LED light switches, and write and edit robot scripts to produce a robot-based storytelling narrative using the paper house they made as a context. The results show that the project-based learning approach was an effective approach for cultivating primary school students' STEM knowledge and skills as evidenced from the post-written test. The relationships between the students' STEM learning outcomes and attitudes were also confirmed by a clustering analysis. Students who had higher learning attitudes also achieved higher STEM learning outcomes; the findings are also supported by the feedback from the open-ended questionnaire items. This study suggests that integrating low-cost self-made toys and robots in project-based learning activities is an effective and practical approach to enhance primary school students' learning outcomes and learning attitudes in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of the use of code.org (particularly Course 2) on elementary school students' attitudes towards programming, and whether the positive effects of this software are lower for students who are 7 or 8 years old. The research involved 293 students (age range: 7–10). After the use of Course 2 of code.org, the older students (9- and 10-year-olds) expressed a significantly more positive attitude towards programming than the younger ones (7- and 8-year-olds). The total number of the tasks that the students solved successfully in Course 2 shows that the older students were significantly more successful than the younger students, which could have influenced the difference in their attitudes. Based upon the results, it can be concluded that the use of Course 2 of code.org by younger students, who are unable to solve a significant number of the programming tasks, can negatively affect their attitude towards programming. Therefore, Course 2 of code.org should not be used on younger students. Some parts of Course 2 could be used by younger students in accordance with K5 standards, but these tasks should be clearly identified on the code.org website or carefully selected by teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]