The idea of this project first originated with our need to complement our previous project application (Erasmus KA1-Creativity is My Power). We hold the belief that success is achieved when you don't limit your educational applications or activities to the time when the projects we have initiated finish. Therefore, so as to make the impact of a project of your school, we believe it is important to support it with additional partnerships for further and more intense effects. Through the meetings we hold with our school staff and already existing connections with other schools and even universities, we happened to come up with the desire to go an innovative change in our educational policy seeing that our learners have long been authority-oriented, while they should be encouraged to possess the skills to put up with the constantly changing world and be ready for a productive performance of them in compatitive nature of today's world. Europe have called for workforce who are to demonstrate skills of critical-creative thinking and problem-solving, which generated another source of motivation of us to go innovations in our schools and form strategic partnership with others from European countries. Looking for efficient ways to achieve our goals related to our individuals' productivity to show in international level, we have been chosen one pilot school of our town where a Stem lab is to be established and it is not to hard to imagine that we jumped that chance to base our project on Stem education in that it has been strongly believed to equip learners for international level expectations. Making use of the existing partnerships of us and the use of e-Twinning, we could form strategic partnerships with INFOL, an international course-provider from Rome, Italy, and three schools of secondary level from Poland, Romania and Latvia. As five partners within our intended project, we set off for a long-lasting progress in our educational policies with a long-lasting partnership which will not stop with the official finishing time of this project. The first gathering of us will be in Bucharest, Romania under the term of "Transnational Meeting" (M1) where it is aimed to make a detailed plan of our project activities and know more about each other regarding expectations, strengths and weaknesses. This meeting will last 3 days when partnership ties of us will be strengthened. In order to be able to function productively within Stem-based instruction, our school staff members have been agreed with partners to need an awareness and theoretical base for active implementation. In this relation, key staff of each partner organization will be involved in an education to be provided by our partner in Rome. School visits will also be organized during this training in that staff members can internalize the best ways to apply stem in their classes. Each partner organization will be there as 4 participants. With the awareness and theoretical base of Stem education, each partner schools will be responsible for implementation of Stem-based applications into their instruction and for dissemination of results from practices. It is when they will start visiting partner schools where they will be able to observe different applications and compare-contrast theirs to those in that they can reach the best as practice and have the most fruitful results from new instruction based on Stem. The first school to be visited will be the one in Poland, while that in Latvia will be the second, and Romania will be the third. Our school will be the last venue where we as partners will implement different Stem-based applications in a general Stem fair. Interactions among staff members of different schools and learners will we believe help broaden our perspectives and have our practices last long. In order that we as partners can figure out how effective our partnership has been and plan additional activities for further cooperation, a final transnational meeting (M2) will be held in Krakow, Poland and efficient dissemination activities will be decided as we desire to make progress of and innovations in our education continue longer times although the project will finish after 24 months.
This project was initiated as a product of five institutions in Turkey, Italy, Poland, Romania and Latvia, represented by schools aiming to find new approaches in education outside of Italy. STEM, which stands for "Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics", was decided to form the basis of this partnership as an innovative teaching method, as a result of further attracting students from all partner schools to education. Italy took part in this partnership as an NGO with its role in providing participants with the necessary training to successfully implement STEM activities. Immediately after the project was accepted, Poland demanded its exclusion from the partnership and was displaced by our next partner, Lithuania. The overall core activities of our project consisted of 2 TPMs and 5 LTTAs, which were carefully planned in the online meetings of the partners. This was important for the successful implementation of the project, as well as active cooperation between partners. The first TPM was held in Alexandria, Romania. Each partner, including Italy, was represented by 2 participating teachers. The host organization Romania held meetings where the scope of the project and the implementation process of the activities were discussed face to face. The partner schools, represented in a highly collaborative atmosphere, were made clear about their roles and responsibilities to be assumed. Our partner in Italy, infol, implemented Stem-based training practices to strengthen the professional profiles of teachers who will play a key role in the project. At the LTT here, training was received on Stem and studies were carried out on how to integrate Stem into the education curriculum. The 2nd LTT was held in Latvia with the participation of 12 students and 5 teachers. The host school demonstrated examples of good practice in stem. Afterwards, sample activities were carried out. Visits were organized to cultural and historical sites of the city. 5 teachers and 11 students attended the 3rd LTT held in Lithuania. Stem activities enriched with recycling materials were carried out here. Our Romanian partner, the 4th LTT, hosted 15 students and 5 teachers. He organized stem activities in the physics laboratory. Turkey hosted the last LTT. 9 students and 4 teachers participated. Lithuania could not participate in this LTT due to Kovid 19. Good practice examples of the school's Stem laboratory were exhibited. Stem events were hosted by Çukurova University. Stem laboratories of the surrounding schools were observed. The final meeting was held in Lithuania. While Turkey provided 2 physical participants to this meeting, other partners were connected online. Preparations were made for the final report of the project. Documents were reviewed. Achievements achieved: In students; -The use of different disciplines improved the ability to identify and solve problems in real life. -Learning by doing and experiencing made the students more active in the lesson. -The number of students benefiting from the Stem workshop has increased. -Positive attitude towards school developed. - Improved language skills. - Improved sense of self-confidence - Gained Stem literacy skills. In teachers; - Motivation for the use of stem in the classroom has increased -With Stem, the capacity to cooperate with teachers from different branches has increased. -Professional profile strengthened -Has a chance to see the missing aspects by seeing different applications At school; -School climate improved positively The school's visibility has increased at local, national and international levels. -Increased academic achievement -The school's international cooperation capacity has improved -Intra-school communication strengthened -Stem activities and parents' attitude towards school improved positively Dissemination: All our partners have made the project known by using dissemination materials at local level. In addition, dissemination activities were carried out by opening social media accounts. Seminars and stem studies were held in the surrounding schools. Project activities were presented to local MoNE directorates. The exhibition was organized with the concrete outputs produced as a result of the stem. Results and Impact Our institutions have increased their international cooperation capacity. The applications of different countries in the Stem fields have been experienced. - Stem laboratories made students more active and took the teacher from the center to the position of a guide. -Students became more successful in solving unique problems. -Students' creative and critical thinking skills and problem solving skills have improved. -The principle of interdisciplinary integrity has emerged in education. -English speaking skills of staff and students in our schools have improved. -Parents' cooperation with schools has become stronger than ever In the long run; This project contributed to the elimination of prejudices between our country and other countries, cultures and societies. Our country's economy, education, society, etc. brought a new perspective to the potential to achieve goals.