Thirty five science teachers from ten County Kildare VEC schools have taken part in an innovative training session as part of the Discover Sensors programme.
Pictured are Colm O'Connor, principal of Piper's Hill VEC. Peter Brabazon, Programme Director of Dicover Science and Engineering (DSE), Sean Ashe, CEO of Kildare VEC, and Stephen Hartnett, Education Support Office for VEC, at the Discover Sensors event in Piper's Hill College, Naas, Co. Kildare.
The event took place in Pipers Hill College, Naas, Co.Kildare as part of a new partnership between Discover Science & Engineering (DSE) and Co. Kildare VEC which will see with both organisations working together to spearhead the importance of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects in the development of the smart economy.
Follow-on sessions are taking place in the individual schools during April and May.
The project was designed to introduce new inquiry based learning techniques and the integration of technology to the teaching and learning of science into Kildare schools.
The project will ultimately enable the participating teachers to incorporate the use of sensor technology in hands-on scientific investigations to make the subject more exciting and easier to understand for Junior Science students.
A Discover Science and Engineering initiative, the Discover Sensors project investigates the use of sensors as an integral part of the Junior Cycle Science curriculum and develops a series of online resources for teachers and students.
Discover Sensors is akin to the well known TV programme ‘CSI’ in that it is designed to provide students with an experience of ‘real science’ in the classroom, supporting the investigative approach with real hands-on experiments.
The participating schools include Piper’s Hill College, Naas; St. Conleth’s Vocational School, Newbridge; Maynooth Post Primary School, Maynooth; Athy Community College, Athy; Ardscoil Rath Iomghain, Rathangan; Curragh Post-Primary School, Curragh; Kildare Vocational School & College of Further Studies, Kildare town; St. Farnan’s Post-Primary School, Prosperous; Confey Community College, Confey; and Colaiste Lorcain Post-Primary School, Castledermot.
Commenting on the partnership, Peter Brabazon, Programme Director of Discover Science & Engineering said, “We are delighted to pilot this new phase of the Discover Sensors project with Kildare VEC, whose students will benefit from the latest scientific teaching methods. We fundamentally believe that if you want to get more students interested in careers in science, then you have to bring the subject to life and make it relevant. The Discover Sensors project helps to achieve this by giving real world examples of how science relates to young people’s everyday lives and incorporating the use of sensor technology to get students excited about classroom and laboratory work.”
“This need is never greater and the government’s blueprint for economic recovery, the Smart Economy document, outlines the key actions which the government must take in order to rebuild our economy. Central to this strategy is the promotion of innovative teaching approaches that engage students actively in their own learning and prepare them for the 21st century. Discover Sensors promotes such an innovative student-centred approach to science teaching,” Brabazon added.
Commenting about Kildare VEC’s involvement, Sean Ashe, Chief Executive Officer of County Kildare VEC, said, “We very much welcome the initiative of Discover Science and Engineering in piloting the next phase of Discover Sensors in conjunction with Kildare VEC. The VEC has always supported and promoted the teaching of the Physical Sciences in our schools. This CPD programme with emphasis on the investigative process will be of great benefit to both students and teachers involved.”
“Through this partnership there will be ongoing advice and support for our Science Teaching both through training sessions and online support. It will develop further inter school and team collaboration with benefits for all involved. Teaching and Learning the key functions of our schools will be further enhanced by this training and partnership model,” Ashe concluded.
Participating teachers will now trial some of the course content with their classes and to post feedback to the teacher forum on the Discover Sensors website.
Students will also be to use their new knowledge to participate in the SciFest competition, where a Discover Sensors Award is presented at each regional event.
The Discover Sensors award is presented to a student science project which demonstrates a high level of application of investigative science methodologies that include the innovative use of one or more sensors for the collection, recording and analysis of data.
The Discover Sensors project began with a pilot involving 90 teachers from 45 schools throughout Ireland in 2006/7.
Based on feedback and evaluation and benchmarking against international best practice, it has expanded and evolved to its current state.
To-date, Discover Sensors has worked with almost 500 Junior Certificate science teachers.
