In the EPI·STEM PODCAST episode 24, Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome Dr Jeff Buckley, Lecturer in the Department of Technology Education at the Technological University of the Shannon. Dr Buckley teaches research methods in engineering education to postgraduate students. Aformer alumni of the University of Limerick Jeff completed his PhD and postdoctoral research in a university in Sweden and in an engineering department.
Dr Buckley introduces his current role as Series Editor of a newSpringer Nature series of book publications entitled ‘Emergent Discussions in Engineering Education’. The Springer book series is designed to be of support for engineering educators, researchers and policymakers with an interest in contemporary issues in engineering education. Dr Buckley is joined here by our UL colleague Dr Jason Power, an EPI∙STEM affiliate who is a member of the Editorial Board for this Springer Nature book series in engineering education. They are well supported by the Springer Nature team in this endeavour including by the Education Editor, Claudia Acuna. Topics of interest in engineering education include paying attention to affectivity and empathy and how to make the subject more accessible for women and girls. Jeff reminds us that this cultural question provides a challenge to the field, and to society, and needs amore expansive framing, beyond simply number or fixing the girls.
Dr Buckley and Dr Power Jeff share what they are looking for in a book chapter submission. They show the advantage for an early career researcher accessing the key names in a field through an edited book and the opportunity it provides to engage with the ideas underpinning the field.
The musical selection today is by Ayyaz Mehmood, a graduate from the Performing Arts in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. Ayyaz is a singer and a songwriter. Here Ayyaz is playing acoustic guitar and singing one of his own compositions, entitled ‘Homelife’.
In this episode of the EPI·STEM podcast, Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome Associate Professor Audrey O’Grady as their special guest. Associate Professor O’Grady is a Lecturer in the Life Sciences with a research specialism in etymology [study of insects] in the Faculty of Science & Engineering at the University of Limerick. Audrey is an EPI·STEM affiliate where she is a member of our PhD supervision team for our next generation of Science and STEMeducators.
Here Associate Professor Audrey O’Grady shares her passionfor teaching science in higher education and her research and public engagement with local schools in relation to the importance of future sustainability, knowledge and care of the natural environment. Audrey has published a number ofresearch papers in relation to innovative pedagogical practices in science education. Audrey speaks to the importance of inspiring your people in science, the need for practical hands on and minds on work in learning science and how scientists can work to make a difference.
Associate Professor O’Grady has an extensive track record inoutreach and public engagement with local schools, science teachers and pupils in relation to science and pedagogies of science. She is involved in a recent Irish Research Council research partnership project on trees, called ROOTS [ReachingOut to Our Trees] with local primary schools and the University of Limerick. The aim of the project is to support primary teachers and their pupils to become observant of trees, to learn to identify five trees in their locality and to learn something of the science behind trees and their co-existence with other species. Connecting to the life of trees in this way not only teaches the young children the science behind tree identification but it also provides a green space for STEM education, for wellbeing and for community engagement andsustainability. Audrey shares about the work underway to develop the arboretum in the University of Limerick.
The musical selection is from Ben King, a songwriter and guitarist from Nenagh in Co. Tipperary. Ben is a student, in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Musicand Dance in UL. Here Ben performs his own Reggae composition called Warm.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 22, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD reflect on the newacademic year ahead and the emphasis in the podcast to date of a rich variety of voices connected to STEM and STEAM Education, including researchers, teachers and partners.
Here, Geraldine and Michelle discuss the research study Geraldine completed for the European Commission, a scoping study on education and skills that was published in recent weeks (https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/education-and-skills-social-transformations-and-resilience_en). The study is a philosophical critique of education and skills with an emphasison a futures orientation for a fair and sustainable green and digital transition in Europe. The study considers the key question under three headings. First, the study interprets the current state of play of education and skills in a fast-globalising world and in Europe. Second, the study reveals supranational policy documents from UNESCO, OECD and others that are seeking a paradigm shift in the framing of education and skills, for a new social imaginary that repairs past injustices and provides a new emphasis on societal and environmental aspects. They discuss the findings in relation to teachers’ knowledge base and futuristic apprenticeships.
We want thank our Research Assistants who worked in EPI•STEM on a summer internship producing research-led CPDresources, in engineering and STEM subjects, resources that are free to all teachers who register on our EPI•STEM ACADEMY OF STEM TEACHERS (https://epistem.ie/hea-resources/).
The musical selection today is The Boyne Water, an arrangement by Martin Hayes and The Common GroundEnsemble played on fiddle by Eilidh Pope, an instrumentalist/composer who completed her BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 21, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD reflect on the variety of voices in the podcasts to date. They then continue where they left off in Episode 7 in relation to selecting and justifying a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to doctoral studies in STEM and STEAM Education.
Michelle Starr PhD shares her research specialism in the criticalsociology of the French intellectual Pierre Bourdieu and shows how thinking with the big ideas and concepts of Bourdieu offers a powerful explanatory framework for education research studies framed as cultural problems. Michellespeaks to the interplay between the individual and structure and the relations between what Bourdieu called ‘habitus’, ‘field’ and cultural, social and economic ‘capital’.
Geraldine Simmie PhD shares her research specialism in Critical Policy Studies, her understanding of the complexity of this social scientific problem, not only interrogating the gap between policy and practice but justifying the need to offer an affirmative critique of the framing of education policies.Geraldine shares her approach to doing this policy research, drawing from philosophical, critical and feminist theorists and educational thinkers.
We restart the podcast again in the autumn. In the meantime, thank you to all our listeners, the team and Affiliates in EPI•STEM, School of Education colleagues and students from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. Thanksto Professor Sara Tolbert at the University of Melbourne at Monash, Australia, local schools, teachers and pupils, OIDE chemistry support team, Limerick Education Support Centre, Hunt Museum and local enterprises {Analog, Boston Scientific, Elly Lilly, ESB, SEROSEP}. A word of thanks for the endorsement of our eco-village project from the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, the Cloughjordan Eco-Village project and RTEs David Bannon. Finally, a special thank you to the Digital Hub in UL especially our producer Greg Rogala.
The musical selection is Gan Anam Jig, a lively traditional tune played on keyboard by Ciara Geaney from Dingle, an accomplished piano player and a student in the BA in Irish Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance,Faculty of Arts and Humanities, UL.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 20, co- hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome Associate Professor Diarmaid Lane as the special guest. Diarmaid is a Lecturer in Technology Education in the School of Education and an EPI•STEM Affiliate at UL.
Associate Professor Diarmaid Lane shares his personal story of his route into teacher education and research in Technology and STEM teacher education in the University of Limerick. He shows how his continuing reflexive learning ismaking a difference to the pedagogical approaches he espouses with his students and colleagues. Associate Professor Diarmad Lane shares his recent research andhis passion for researching new pedagogical approaches to teaching design thinking and spatial literacy to student teachers in Initial Teacher Education in non-linear ways and as an assemblage of representations.
Associate Professor Diarmad Lane is currently writing research with Professor Geraldine Simmie exploringthis issue of reflexivity and how it might hold up a crucial mirror to the ethical and caring endeavour of emancipatory STEM teaching in higher education. Having won numerous prestigious awards for excellence in teaching at theUniversity of Limerick, regionally and nationally, it is clear here that Diarmaid continues to work with colleagues to constructively question and constantly critique his teaching, research and learning.
The musical selection today is from Liam Broderick. Liam is a singer and guitarist from Abbeyfeale in Co. Limerick. Liam is a final year student in the BA in Irish Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Liam performs a beautiful rendition of the traditional song Siúil a Rún, which means ‘Walk my love’ or ‘Come with me my darling’ with origins in the late 17th century.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 19, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome Professor SaraTolbert from the University of Melbourne at Monash in Australia. Professor Tolbert was recently appointed as a Professor of STEM Education and alongside colleagues leads out the new SCIENCE EDUCATION IN THE ANTHROPOCENE IMPACT LAB. The impact lab is designed to reimagine our relationship with the natural world. Previously, Professor Tolbert was the Professor of Science Education atthe University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
The Science Education Impact Lab positions Science Education today as being at the intersection of nature, culture and society. This throws up new questions and invites a fresh rethink about how we teach science and how we need to equip young people with capabilities to address complex issues by recognising the complex relationshipsbetween ecological systems, political and economic structures and sociocultural practices that shape our current planetary conditions.
Professor Tolbert discusses the contested literature that is currently reimagining science education, as a theoretical and social movement resulting in new strands added to the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA), including futuristic thinking about science, intersectionality, education and inclusion. The impact lab invites a rethink about the purposes of science education, the history ofscience while bringing together diverse perspectives and knowledge systems.
The musical selection today is a waltz, called Tears, written by Gerry Holland in Cape Bretton in Canada and played onfiddle by Dr. Avril McLoughlin. Avril was a former researcher in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL and is now a Lecturer in Music Education at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 18,co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome guests from theLimerick city post-primary school, Coláiste Nano Nagle – Conor Bourke, the chemistry and biology teacher and two second year students, Marina Alphonsa and Areej Elgenaidi.
The students and their teacher recount the deep learning in STEAM education they experienced from participating in theproject entitled DESIGN A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE IN IRELAND IN 2050. The project was offered to schools in Limerick as a pilot partnership between EPI•STEM at the University of Limerick, the HUNT Museum and the Limerick Education Support Centre.
Here the teacher and students share their futuristic design, the ways they developed a sustainability and justice mindset, and the importance of planning, doing and reflecting together on using STEAM knowledge, values and skills for the greater good of society and the local environment.
The group worked with the art teacher Sarah Nestor and included additional students, Leya Zanean, Rumasa Shaizadi,Ciara Courage and Hina Nazar. They recounted their visit to the Hunt Museum for additional inspiration and the way their concept evolved from a detailed drawing of the village.
The group paid attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in relation to GenderEquality. They were interested in the construction of an eco-village with cultural spaces, spaces for wellbeing, sports and inter-denominational worship. Their imagined 2050 Eco-Village was a futuristic world where there was gender equality for all in theory and in practice.
The musical selection today is the Kilnamona Barn Dance from County Clare, played on fiddle by Dr. Avril McLoughlin. Avril is a Lecturer in Music Education in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 17, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome guests from theLimerick post-primary school, Thomond Community College – Shaun Donegan, the engineering teacher and Transition Year students, Patrick Rwasibo and Josh Cronin.
The students and their teacher recount the deep learning in STEAM education they experienced from participating in theproject entitled DESIGN A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE IN IRELAND IN 2050. The project was offered to schools in Limerick as a pilot partnership between EPI•STEM at the University of Limerick, the HUNT Museum and the Limerick Education Support Centre.
Here the engineering teacher and TY students share their futuristic design, the ways they developed a sustainability and social justice mindset, and the importance of planning,doing and reflecting together on using engineering for the greater good of society and the local environment.
The group worked with another engineering teacher Aidan O’Connell and included additional students, Melios Smalis, Ciara Quaid, Emer Quinn and Sandra Galecka. They recount a visit to the Cloughjordan Eco-Village in Co. Tipperary and a visit to the Hunt Museum for additional inspiration.
The group paid attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in relation to reducing poverty. They were interested in the construction of a democratic village where egalitarian relations existed between people rather than the more familiar hierarchical relations.
The musical selection today is an original song played onacoustic guitar by Ayyaz Mehmood, a composer and final year student in Performing Arts and World Music in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. Ayyaz is singing his own composition, a bilingual love song in Urdu and English called ‘Widhu’.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 16, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome guests from thepost-primary school, Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom Co. Limerick – Edel Farrell, the physics teacher and three Transition Year students, Felix Nabor, Masha Galinovska and Andrew Szetlitsvoi.
The students and their physics teacher recount the deep learning in STEAM education they experienced from participating in the project entitled DESIGN A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE IN IRELAND IN 2050. The project was offered to schools in Limerick as a pilot partnership between EPI•STEM at the University of Limerick, the HUNT Museum and theLimerick Education Support Centre.
Here the physics teacher and TY students share the vision of their futuristic design, the multiple ways they developed asustainability mindset during the project, and the importance of thinking, planning, doing and reflecting on justice for the greater good of society and the local environment.
Besides working with the physics teacher, the students worked closely with the Art teacher, Michael Delorgy and the art room provided a welcome space to plan the details of the project.Through this combination of STEAM subjects their OCTO_ECO_VILLAGE concept was formed, a fully sustainable eco-village in the shape of that most versatile animal, the OCTOPUS. The village was fully pedestrianised with green bicycle routes and an underground car park. The eco-village was situated on the banks of a river with ready access to water. Renewable energy was in-built, and climate friendly material was used to construct the dwelling spaces, the local housing and community meeting spaces for cultural activities andmulti-denominational worship.
The musical selection today is by Ayyaz Mehmood, a final year student in the Performing Arts in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music. Ayyaz is a singer and a songwriter. Here Ayyaz is playing acoustic guitar and singing one of his own compositions, entitled ‘Homelife’.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 15, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD discuss the positioning of education at a crossroads once again in light of the fast changing global economic landscape brought about by the US President Donal Trump. The imposition of trade tariffs between nation states brings an abrupt end to the last twenty years or more of free trade and free movement of people, goods and services across the globe.
The central question Geraldine and Michelle engage with here is why a change to the economy of this substantive and unforeseen scale will inevitably result in changes to the education system in nation states and across continents and to the perceived purposes of education.
The political scientist Hannah Arendt reminds us in her book Totalitarianism that when there is a crisis in the economy this will inevitably result in policy changes to the education system. Education is never innocent and the socio-political order of the day is always remade through the education system.
The European Commission is currently researching how to reframe an equitable and fair green and digital transition in a futuristic Europe, the importance of care and justice for society and the environment. Geraldine is the expert researcher from Ireland on this European research study.
While the global world braces itself for tariff changes, the question is whether or not the political powers are socially constructing a future of neo-conservatism and authoritarianism or a future of deeper democracy, where the common good of society and the environment prevail. This in-between space gives us time to reflect, rethink and to remind ourselves that the etymology of ‘edu-cat-ion’ is to ‘lead out’ human potential with ‘care’.
The musical selection today is an original song played on acoustic guitar by Ayyaz Mehmood, a composer and final year student in Performing Arts and World Music in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. Ayyaz is singing his own composition, a bilingual love song in Urdu and English called ‘Widhu’.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 14, co-hosts GeraldineSimmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Associate Professor Niamh O’Meara, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education and Deputy Director of EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education in the School ofEducation, University of Limerick.
In this episode Niamh shares her passion formathematics from her early school days, a passion that has nowadays found expression in Niamh’s research specialism, theorising mathematics teachers’ content knowledge in contemporary times. Here, Niamh also speaks to her researchinterest in related topics such as numeracy across the curriculum, improving adult numeracy and teaching mathematics for understanding and appreciation.
Niamh’s extensive collection of research journalarticles and book chapters reflect this research specialism and also show the extent of Niamh’s networking and collaboration with mathematics education researchers in Ireland and internationally.
Associate Professor Niamh O’Meara’s research makes adifference to mathematics pedagogy in the academic literature in Ireland and internationally. At the same time, Niamh is a regularly contributes to the public policy debate in Ireland in relation to mathematics education. Niamh isoften a guest on Newstalk and other radio talk shows, she writes articles for RTE Brainstorm and recently had an Opinion piece published in The Irish Times in relation to the current policy debate on Bonus Points for Higher LevelMathematics at Senior Cycle.
The musical selection today is played by Tara Sagay.Tara is a composer and final year student in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. Here Tara plays her own composition on flute, a classical waltz called “Afternoon Tea”.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 13, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Associate Professor Donal Canty, Deputy Head of the School of Education and Senior Lecturer in TechnologyEducation at the School of Education, University of Limerick.
Donal shares the origins of his passion for educationand for technology education from his early life growing up in Kerry. Interestingly, Donal connects his current role as an academic in UL and his former role as a secondary school teacher with the importance of the ethic of care and relationship needed to play his best in a team and to have that positive commitment to the common good.
Donal’s passion for teaching and research lies in his deep interest in pedagogy and assessment, and especially in teaching student teachers of technology education in the School of Education how to scaffold the formative assessment of their students. Here he talks about one of his recent publications examining the pedagogies behind that skill of formative assessment using an expansive framework provided by Xu & Brown in 2016. The advantage of this framework is that it provides an uplifting and holistic view ofassessment that includes affective care and cultural contexts. Donal published his paper with colleagues in UL, from the School of Education in UL and from the Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, Technological University of theShannon.
The musical selection today is by Ayyaz Mehmood, afinal year student in the Performing Arts in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music. Ayyaz is a singer and a songwriter. Here Ayyaz is playing acoustic guitar and singing one of his own compositions, entitled ‘Homelife’.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 12, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Associate Professor Jason Power, a Senior Lecturer in Engineering Education in the School of Education in the University of Limerick.
Jason shares his passion for engineering and teaching engineering to student teachers who will become the next generation of STEM teachers. Jason’s research interest lies in the multidisciplinary spaces between engineering and the psychology of problem-solving and learning. His researchexcellence is in the area of theorising self-efficacy as a crucialpsychological self-belief system in engineering education. This research specialism runs throughout Jason’s research publications, his highly successful competitive grant awards and in his research team of six PhD students.
Jason has a wide number of research collaborators across faculties at the University of Limerick and internationally. Jason shares his understanding of the big ideas that matter most in engineering education and his understanding that many complex problems today will need for their solution newly imagined multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches.
The musical selection today is the Kilnamona Barn Dance from County Clare, played on fiddle by Dr. Avril McLoughlin. Avril is a Lecturer in Music Education in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 11, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Norma O’Brien, the Director of the Limerick Education Support Centre (LESC). Norma explains the ongoingeducative and partnership work of the centre, for example, through ongoing liaison with school principals in primary and post-primary schools in Limerick city and county and Tipperary, providing CPD for school leaders and teachers and workingwith community groups, museums, national and regional policymakers and local enterprises.
Norma shares her vast expertise of working as a former scienceteacher and school leader in different schools in Ireland and London and how this has prepared her to live out her values and commitment in her current role as Director of the LESC. We speak about our three way partnership in the Eco-Village project for 2050, between LESC, the HUNT Museum and EPI•STEM. We are already in awe of the project work taking place in the six schools under the guidance of the teachers. We are viewing the projects using the lens of social justice and our understanding of that in terms of the greater good of Irishsociety and ecology. Norma has started a PhD in Educational Leadership in the University of Limerick with the guidance of her supervisors, Professor Patricia Mannix McNamara and Dr. Nicolaas Blom. We wish her every success in her future endeavours.
The musical selection today is provided by Ayyaz Mehmood, afinal year student in the Performing Arts in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music. Ayyaz is a singer and a songwriter. Here Ayyaz is playing acoustic guitar and singing one of his own compositions, entitled ‘Homelife’.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 10, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Tara E. Ryan, a PhD student in Physics who now works in the ACTUATE LAB in the Department of Chemical Sciences in the Bernal Institute in the University of Limerick under the supervision of Professor Sarah Guerin. Tara is a UL graduate of a science teacher education degree and worked for one summer as a Research Assistant in EPI•STEM. During that time Tara produced CPD resources for teachers in chemistry, physics and earth and science that are now made available on the EPI•STEM ACADEMY OF STEM TEACHERS (see epistem website).
Tara tells us of her love of science and physics from a young age and with the support and inspiration of her science teachers in St. Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, Co. Clare.
Tara’s research is in the area of piezo electricity, working with crystals to generate electricity from mechanical compression. Her doctoral research involves a search for alternative and sustainable energy sources that can be safely disposed of at end of life. Tara shares how her study is taking place within the scientific community and how she presents at international conferences. Tara’s study won a prestigious prize with UL Engage in the UL Citizen’s Assembly in Limerick.
The musical selection today is a waltz, called Tears, written by Gerry Holland in Cape Bretton in Canada and played on fiddle by Dr. Avril Mc Loughlin. Avril was a former lecturer in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in UL and has recently been appointed as a Lecturer in Music Education in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.
www.epistem.ie
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 9, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Dr. Avril Mc Loughlin, a researcher and lecturer in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL. Avril shares her research interest in community music and music education and the important interplay between theory, practice and culture.
We tease out some tensions and synergies between the Arts and Music and STEM subjects, and how that plays out in contested views of STEAM Education. While there are technical aspects to all disciplines we are also interested in the many aspects that are upstream of the instrumental.
The Arts, Aesthetics and Ethics are central to our rationale for the STEAM Education design project of a Futuristic Sustainable Eco-Village in Ireland in 2050. The seven schools are engaging with the project in this cross-curricular, holistic, and humanising way for a care-based, social and planetary justice view. Looking anew at how to make that transformative difference to our shared life world.
We are now signing off until the University of Limerick’s semester starts again in January 2025. We want to give a special word of thanks to Grzegorz Rogola, the senior multimedia designer in the UL digital Hub in the Kemmy Business School for all his expertise and support with the production.
Our musical selection today is from Sarbik Guha, known by all as Biki and his Buddies. Biki is a singer, songwriter and acoustic guitarist and a second year PhD student in Arts Practice in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, UL. Biki sings his own composition ‘Hey There Fellow Dreamer’.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 8, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD read from a letter sent to EPI•STEM by the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. The President congratulates everyone connected to the Transition Year STEAM Education project entitled ‘Design a Sustainable Eco-Village in Ireland in 2050’, especially the students in the seven schools in Limerick.
Geraldine and Michelle chat today with special guest Associate Professor Olivia Fitzmaurice. Olivia is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education in the School of Education, an Affiliate of EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education and Academic Director of the Mathematics Learning Centre.
Olivia shares her passion for researching and teaching mathematics and how she was persuaded to select math in her undergraduate degree through listening to Professor John O’Donoghue on a UL Open Day, one of the original founders of EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education.
Olivia’s research is interested in the social scientific problem of teaching math for understanding in the context of classrooms in Ireland, the deep learning and the multifaceted approach needed.
Many of Olivia’s research studies draw from Usiskin’s model, which includes the relational, procedural, conceptual, cultural historical, representational and the necessity to make the vital link to real world applications. Professor Fitzmaurice shares her insights from a joint research study on a diversity of careers and how they were all connected in one way or another to math. Finally, Olivia concludes with a brief summary of the findings from her recent national policy report examining the delicate transition for students of math between primary school and post-primary school.
The musical selection is the Kilnamona Barn Dance from County Clare and played on fiddle by Avril McLoughlin. Avril is a researcher and a lecturer in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Limerick.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 7, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD present an introduction to research studies in the Critical Sociology of Education, and in the Critical Sociology of STEM Education and STEAM Education.
Research studies in the sociology of education seek to make meaning of the present in relation to human development, both from the individual and the societal perspective. Critical sociology of education studies, at masters and PhD level seek to interpret the present in order to change it in the direction of the greater good of society, care, social and planetary justice.
Critical sociology studies in education therefore assume both a research and advocacy stance revealing a problem-posing view, for human emancipation and connectivity to the common good of a democratic society and sustainability of the planet. There is a need for the researcher to interrogate and to share their positioning and to have an identifiable theoretical framework for the study. Geraldine and Michelle share some theorists they like to think with, including Pierre Bourdieu, Paulo Freire, Kathleen Lynch, Stephen Ball and Maxine Greene.
The musical selection is from Liam Broderick. Liam is a singer and guitarist from Abbeyfeale in Co. Limerick. Liam is a fourth year student in the BA in Irish Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Here Liam performs a beautiful rendition of the traditional song Siúil a Rún, which means ‘Walk my love’ or ‘Come with me my darling’ with origins in the late 17th century.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 6, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD chat with Associate Professor Regina Kelly. Regina is a Lecturer in Science Education, a Course Director of Initial Teacher Education science programmes in the School of the Education and an Affiliate of EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education. Regina shares her passion for all things physics, looking at everyday phenomena to develop an understanding of physics concepts, moving away from just rote learning a set of formulas and definitions. Regina delves deeper into her research interest in the gender gap in STEM education, the lower participation rates of girls in senior cycle physics and of women in STEM related careers.
We hear about WiSTEM2D and Regina’s research into the perceptions of female students enrolled in STEM courses at UL, a project funded at EPI•STEM by a local enterprise, Johnson & Johnson.
Regina reminds us that while the ‘gender gap’ in the science disciplines tends to be viewed in terms of participation and performance, it is a complex multivariate problem and it is also important to be aware of more subtle, gender-based differences in the perceptions, experiences and aspirations of females in the science and STEM domain.
The musical selection is from Ben King, a songwriter and guitarist from Nenagh in Co. Tipperary. Ben is a first year student, in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Here Ben performs his own Reggae composition called Warm.
In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 5, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD chat with Emma King from the Hunt Museum about the workshop the museum is providing for the STEAM Education partnership project with EPI•STEM and the Limerick Education Support Centre.
Emma shares how cultural practices from the past can inspire TY students’ vision for sustainable living, including the museum’s Georgian architecture and its transformation from a customs house.
We share how the scarcity of resources led to a culture of reuse, repair, and redesign—sharply contrasting with todays’ disposable society. Students’ consider Sybil Connolly’s iconic dresses, providing inspiration for sustainable fashion practices in preference to fast fashion.
Finally, we explore past innovations such as the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme at Ardnacrusha. Students will consider how Irish society was initially hesitant but now finds it difficult to imagine life without electricity. It points to the current crossroads in relation to sustainable energy solutions.
The musical selection is from Eoghan Waters, a songwriter and guitarist from Clarina in Co. Limerick. Eoghan is a third year student in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Here Eoghan performs his own composition called Bad News.
