| Summary: | Efforts to increase secondary students' interest to pursue STEM studies to create a scientifically literate society continue to challenge Malaysia's education system. This is because trends in students' choices and persistence in STEM subjects have been problematic due to a lack of awareness of this educational segment. Thus, warrants continuous improvement efforts on educational practices to address the dwindling rate of STEM among secondary students. In this context, Plan Do Check and Act (PDCA) approach which has its root in industry was adopted for this study. This study aimed to explore the contribution of the use of Plan Do Check and Act approach to increase the awareness on STEM through pre-engineering-based learning activities as instructional effort and secondly stimulate creativity and innovation as well as ICT skills associated with STEM education. A total of 470 mid-level secondary level students of mix gender from 4 states (Selangor, Johor, Perak, and Melaka) participated in a planned and coordinated pre-engineering hands-on learning experience held in an engineering laboratory setting. A descriptive analysis of the survey indicated a positive upward impact of 6.5% on STEM awareness among 357 science-based students. The study showed that the activity stimulated student's creativity and innovation skills as well as the importance of ICT skills which are closely associated with STEM; with 92.4% and 65.5% respectively. Overall, these findings provide useful information for stakeholders within the secondary school's domain in seeking ways to improve the STEM related teaching and engagement by deploying PDCA improvement method. © 2023 Author(s).
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