Since April 2022, the Mobile Newton Room in Türkiye has been introducing students to the world of aviation, helping them gain interest and confidence in STEM fields.
The first Mobile Newton Room (MNR) in Istanbul was launched last April by the Science Heroes Association, in collaboration with FIRST Scandinavia and the Boeing Company. Since then, the Mobile Newton Room has reached 1081 young people, aged 13 to 17, in Istanbul.
The Mobile Newton Room was launched in Istanbul, where the containers were located in the courtyard of the Suleyman Nazif Anatolian High School.
The inaugural location of the Mobile Newton Room was at a high school in the Avcılar district, where Newton programming was offered from April until August. Avcılar, located on Istanbul's European side, is one of the districts with the highest number of young people and schools in the city. Through its field research for the project, Science Heroes Association developed a close relationship with the District Directorate of the National Education Ministry and, as a result, the Suleyman Nazif Anatolian High School was thrilled to host the first MNR in Türkiye and engage its students with the Newton Concept.
Representatives from the Science Heroes Association, Boeing, and FIRST Scandinavia celebrate the opening of the first Mobile Newton Room in Türkiye on April 28th, 2022.
The Newton Room was relocated on August 25th, 2022 to the premises of Rahmi M. Koç Museum, Türkiye's first private industrial museum, where it remained until the end of 2022. In the medium- to long-term, the Mobile Newton Room will tour different cities across Türkiye, engaging students with practical, hands-on STEM education.
Students pose with their certificates in front of the Mobile Newton Room's second location after successfully completing the Up in the Air with Numbers module.
“I thought I was in a space station when I entered the Mobile Newton Room. It felt like I was on a different planet,” said one student after participating in the module Up in the Air with Numbers.
“It brings me great joy to watch the difference in students when they enter and leave the MNR,” says Meryem Çelik, the Newton Teacher at MNR Türkiye. “The increase in their self-esteem, excitement about learning, and passion to express themselves freely is incredible. I absolutely love being a Newton Teacher for that reason, among many others."
53% of the participants at the Mobile Newton Room's first location, Suleyman Nazif Anatolian High School, identified as girls.
To measure the impact of the first Mobile Newton Room events in Türkiye, the local project team implemented an evaluation survey to collect feedback from visiting students about their experiences. The results included the responses of 246 participants from the MNR's first two locations at Suleyman Nazif Anatolian High School and Rahmi M. Koç Museum, where 1081 students participated in the programming.
71% of student visitors reported gaining confidence in learning STEM skills after visiting the Newton Room.
“We are really happy to see that 71% of the students reported becoming more confident in learning STEM skills and 65% of them expressed that their experience in the Mobile Newton Room allowed them to make a connection between classroom content and the real world. At Science Heroes Association, we aim to engage pupils with STEM areas at early ages and these early results show that the Mobile Newton Room can do that,” said Aslı Yıkıcı Yurtsever, Secretary General of Science Heroes Association.
“In 2022, we have already reached 1081 students with the Mobile Newton Room. Seeing a positive impact on the student's self-esteem and knowledge of the real world, my team and I are extremely happy with the outcomes of our efforts. We see from the results that 81% of students found the Newton Room to be an enjoyable learning experience. We can’t wait to meet more students from all over Türkiye through our Newton projects to engage them with the exciting aviation world, and invite them to explore other STEM subjects that will be relevant for their futures.”
About Science Heroes Association
Science Heroes Association is a non-profit organization founded in 2011 with the goal of disseminating and promoting science, scientific thought, and scientific awareness in all segments of today’s society, including paving the way for children and youth to interact with science at a younger age.
For the last 18 years, Science Heroes Association has been maintaining a fruitful partnership with the FIRST Foundation in the USA, organizing FIRST® LEGO® League programming in Türkiye. In addition, the Association offers a variety of STEM project workshops and activities, both in person and online, with the goal of encouraging children and youth to discover their STEM abilities. Through its various programs and projects all around Türkiye, Science Heroes Association has reached 52,594 young people and 6,000 volunteers.
