Discover Science and Engineering has welcomed the increased participation at higher level in mathematics by students involved in the Project Maths pilot group.
It demonstrates that students have responded to the shift to inquiry based learning in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects which will ultimately lead to improvements in the performance of students in these subjects in the Leaving Certificate.
Commenting, Peter Brabazon, Programme Director, Discover Science and Engineering, said, “The increased participation at higher level by the Project Maths pilot group is very encouraging. The project is ensuring that mathematics in school is becoming more relevant to the everyday lives of students by further developing their understanding of maths concepts and their applications. This is particularly important in the context of developing a Smart Economy as it will help students build skills that they will use both in the world of work and in their lives generally.”
“We will also see improvements in physics and chemistry in the future when inquiry based project coursework, which has already been introduced at Junior Certificate level, is fully rolled out for the Leaving Certificate. It is clear that inquiry based teaching and learning, as evidenced by the increased participation by the Project Maths group and improvements in the Junior Certificate, will positively impact students attitudes to maths and science subjects. However, Discover Science and Engineering believes this approach to learning has to start with children in primary school. Therefore, it has developed with the support of 4,500 primary school participant teachers over 50 ‘hands-on’ curriculum based maths and science activities which are available at www.primaryscience.ie”
