SCIENCE FOUNDATION IRELAND ANNUAL REPORT 2015
CASE
STUDY
3
23
Modernising the Curriculum: Coding for the Next Generation
Clare McInerney, the Education and Outreach Manager at Lero, the Science
Foundation Ireland Irish Software Research Centre, is working on the rollout of a
Continuing Professional Development Programme for the first official 100-hour
Junior Cycle Short Course in Coding, in conjunction with Junior Cycle for Teachers
and Intel.
Over the last five years, Clare and Lero have been instrumental in bringing
software development to the primary and post-primary education system. They
are responsible for introducing Scratch, a visual programming language that
makes it easy to create digital content, to Irish schools and currently facilitate
the Scratch Competition for school students which has resulted in a staggering
increase in school participation in coding. In collaboration with PDST (Professional
Development Service for Teachers), over 3,000 teachers have completed Scratch
training.
Clare McInerney.
At secondary school level, Clare and her colleagues were commissioned by the
National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to write a 100-hour
course, the first official programming and software engineering course in the Irish
second level education system. They also host computing summer camps aimed
at young women from the age of 14 years to encourage more female participation
in IT. Clare’s extraordinary efforts in education and engagement earned her the
accolade of becoming one of 2015’s Google Rise Award winners, a prize supporting
organisations that encourage girls and underrepresented students in extracurricular
computer science programmes.
Key highlights from the SFI Discover-funded
projects in 2015 include:
Science Foundation Ireland entered a joint agreement
with the national broadcaster RTÉ to catalyse an
increase in science-related broadcast programming.
The objectives of the agreement are to encourage the
broader public, who normally don’t engage in STEM
conversations or programming, to tune in. This pilot
programme resulted in two joint commissioning calls
for programming to be broadcast in 2016.
In tandem, the Science Foundation Ireland Discover
programme call 2015 invited broadcast proposals
from other national broadcasters, film makers and
animators. This resulted in Science Foundation
Ireland supporting projects in production for 2016
including documentary film making with the Galway
Film Centre, a travel series to broadcast on TV3, and a
science in sport programme on Setanta. The Science
Foundation Ireland-supported programme, Brain
Freeze, picked up the Kid’s Choice Award for Best
Animated Series at the Irish Animation Awards.
The agreement with RTÉ also created greater
presence of science and technology across RTÉ 1
during Science Week 2015, with an explosive launch
on the Late Late Show and science topics featuring
in the weather broadcasts across the week. This
helped broaden the reach of the week which marked
its 20th anniversary in 2015. Science Foundation
Ireland supported eight regional science festivals
in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Sligo,
Mayo and the Midlands which ensured that Science
Week 2015 included a national programme of over
800 interactive events, lectures and activities for
young and old. Through the use of quirky themes and
digital content such as the viral Sminky short titled
‘Space Poop’, Science Week reached into the broader
popular media such as the Republic of Telly, Hot
Press, farming supplements and social media outlets.
Science Foundation Ireland enabled engagement
with the public through a diverse portfolio of projects
including support for Coderdojo, BEES – a theatre
project on bees and biodiversity, Tech Week and the
RDS STEM Learning project. The diversity of projects
ensure that there is an offering for a wide cross
section of society. The Science Foundation Ireland
Research Centre, AMBER, delivered the EngAGE
project. This was an intergenerational community
learning programme which brought primary school
students, teachers, researchers and older people
together. This supported life-long learning amongst
our older community while engaging young people in
this cross generational programme.
Science Foundation Ireland commissioned and
completed the Science in Ireland Barometer research
in 2015. The research sought to examine the Irish
public’s awareness and value of STEM in our society.
The results are informing Science Foundation
Irelands’ strategic development, and in particular
the education and public engagement programme.