STEM Education (Non-peer reviewed publications)
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Item type: Item , Getting the balance right: the equals sign(INTO [Irish National Teacher's Organisation], 2011) Leavy, Aisling; Hourigan, Mairead; McMahon, AineMuch of the number work carried out in primary classrooms contains elements of algebraic reasoning. In fact, equals sign work in junior and senior infants underpins much of the algebraic reasoning used in later years. In the 1st class algebra strand, the Primary School Mathematics Curriculum (PSMC) refers to the need for children to ‘understand the use of a frame to show the presence of an unknown number (e.g. 3 + 5 = q)’. In order to address this objective and set appropriate foundations for later work in equations and inequalities, primary school children must develop a relational understanding of equality.Item type: Item , "ESRI research reviews new support programme for newly qualified teachers"(ESRI [Economic & Social Research Institute], 2016) Leavy, Aisling; Banks, Joanne; Conway, Paul F.; Darmody, Merike; Smyth, Emer; Watson, DorothyA new research report, ‘Review of the Droichead Teacher Induction Pilot Programme’, was published today by the ESRI and the Teaching Council,providing an in-depth examination of a new approach to teacher induction in primary and post-primary schools. Introduced in 2013, Droichead is a structured mentoring programme delivered by experienced teaching staff for newly qualified teachers, combining professional support with performance assessment. Undertaken for the Teaching Council, the report aims to guide policy in this area by drawing on surveys of, and in-depth interviews with, school principals in Droichead and non-Droichead schools, mentors, members of the Professional Support Team and newly qualified teachers.Item type: Item , Review of the Droichead teacher induction pilot programme (Working Paper)(ESRI [Economic & Social Research Institute], 2015) Leavy, Aisling; Banks, Joanne; Conway, Paul F.; Darmody, Merike; Smyth, Emer; Watson, DorothyThe Droichead pilot programme is designed to provide whole-school support for teacher induction. The programme is innovative in being led at school level, by a Professional Support Team (PST) consisting of the principal, mentor(s) and other member(s). This working paper presents preliminary findings from a large-scale study of the programme, placing them in the context of previous international and national research on teacher induction.Item type: Item , Using architecture as a context to enhance students' understanding of symmetry(AAMT [Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers], 2017) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, AislingWorking within the context of a contest to find the most beautiful tourist attraction in the world, Year 5 students investigate the most symmetric building from a short-list of three iconic buildings. This involves investigating both line and rotational symmetry in order to make an informed decision about the symmetrical nature of each building.Item type: Item , Identifying the mystery player: Comparing body measurement data of the Irish soccer and rugby teams(INTO [Irish National Teacher's Organisation], 2014) Leavy, Aisling; Hourigan, MaireadItem type: Item , Let infants’ knowledge of pattern grow(INTO [Irish National Teacher's Organisation], 2011) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, AislingItem type: Item , Having fun with functions(INTO [Irish National Teacher's Organisation], 2011) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, AislingItem type: Item , Using architecture as a context to enhance students’ understanding of symmetry(AAMT [Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers], 2011) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, AislingWorking within the context of a contest to find the most beautiful tourist attraction in the world, Year 5 students investigate the most symmetric building from a short-list of three iconic buildings. This involves investigating both line and rotational symmetry in order to make an informed decision about the symmetrical nature of each building.Item type: Item , Geometric growing patterns: what’s the rule?(AAMT [Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers], 2015) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, AislingWe explore several examples of the way in which to use geometrical growing patterns. Examples are situated within interesting contexts to elicit algebraic generalisations by working through a five-phase analysis process.Item type: Item , What’s a real 2D shape? Designing appropriate geometric instruction(AAMT [Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers], 2015) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, AislingMairead Hourigan and Aisling Leavy describe a range of teaching and learning activities focusing on the identification and classification of 2-dimensional shapes. The activities described are useful in highlighting students’ misconceptions regarding non-traditional and non-prototypical shapes.Item type: Item , Compairing means(INTO [Irish National Teachers Organisation], 2012) Leavy, Aisling; McMahon, Aine; Hourigan, MaireadA classroom mathematical exploration of the mean In this article, we outline a series of explorations with data, spanning between 3 and 5 lessons, to develop conceptual understanding of the mean. These explorations were field tested with 5th class children in Limerick city schools. While various real contexts could be used, this article focuses on an activity which examines the accuracy of the assertion that a person’s foot is the same length as their forearm.Item type: Item , Children as data detectives(INTO [Irish National Teachers Organisation], 2012) Leavy, Aisling; Hourigan, Mairead; McMahon, AineTransforming the teaching of data Is your experience of teaching data less than exciting? Do you think there is more to teaching data than making bar charts of children’s favourite colours? And pictograms of modes of transport to school? Surely trend graphs can be used for reasons other than illustrating monthly rainfall? In this article we outline the latest exciting trends in teaching data handling.Item type: Item , Crime scene investigation in the classroom(INTO [Irish National Teachers Organisation], 2012) Hourigan, Mairead; Leavy, Aisling; McMahon, AineThe strand unit of Representing and Interpreting Data (Primary School Mathematics Curriculum, 1999) sets out objectives which emphasise the need for children to experience genuine data investigations. Investigations may take the form of a project/problem to be addressed over a number of lessons. The investigation presented here (and used in Limerick City classes) uses the PPDAC cycle (see Intouch, March 2012) as an organising framework. The investigation requires pupils to explore the characteristics of a distribution (set) of data collected as part of an investigation.Item type: Item , Counting creatures: Exploring data with infants(INTO [Irish National Teachers Organisation], 2012) Leavy, Aisling; Hourigan, Mairead; McMahon, Aine