SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1579474
Systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of STEM education on students learning outcomes
Provisionally accepted
- 1Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade, Fuzhou, China
- 2Tatung University, Taipei, Taiwan
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STEM education's impact on student learning outcomes is nuanced, with differentiated effects across outcome types and academic levels. This study uses meta-analysis to systematically analyse 66 experimental and quasi-experimental studies on STEM education published in international English journals from 2000 -2024. The study finds that: 1) Subgroup analysis showed that STEM education had the most significant impact on cognitive outcomes in high school (d = 0.58) and reduced heterogeneity (I² = 62.1%), while the overall effect size was exploratory due to construct diversity. 2) Overall, STEM education has a moderate effect on students' learning outcomes, but the overall moderate effect size masks these key differences. 3) The effect of STEM education on students' learning outcomes is influenced by the moderating variables of sample size, academic level, subjects, experimental period and teaching method. These findings highlight the need to tailor STEM interventions to outcome type and academic level, strengthening the integration of theory and practice in STEM education.
Keywords: learning outcomes, Meta-analysis, stem education, Systematic review, moderating variables
Received: 19 Feb 2025; Accepted: 29 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cao, Lu, Wu and Hsu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xin Cao, Fuzhou University of International Studies and Trade, Fuzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.