The project aimed at strengthening secondary schools' capacity to develop skills in subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics through innovative and interactive pedagogical methods and approaches. The project provided schools with a pedagogical model and online educational tools to support students to connect with the ‘real-life’ applications of STEM, and teacher training program and supportive materials.
We applied for this project to respond to a clear need to improve the quality and effectiveness of STEM education in secondary schools across our partner countries, Türkiye, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Romania. Through desk research we did before the project, surveys for needs analysis, and partners’ previous project experiences (especially regarding STEM practices), we identified key challenges that both educators and policymakers were facing—particularly the difficulty in adopting innovative and collaborative teaching methods in STEM subjects.With these challenges and needs in mind, the LearnSTEM consortium set out the project based on its core mission to empower secondary schools, particularly teachers of STEM to effectively implement STEM practices while equipping teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to integrate innovative applications and good practices into their STEM instruction.In this phase, the LearnSTEM project, which involved 2 universities, 2 educational research centers and 4 practice schools, has made significant progress in improving STEM education in secondary schools and supporting teachers of STEM professionnally.