Second level education and the decline in popularity of engineering within an Irish context

This paper examines the obligatory but often contentious relationship that exists between contemporary second level education and undergraduate student course choice within an Irish context. A survey of 1,723 students from across four second level schools and all year groups was conducted asking students to elect a future career they would most like to pursue. The results of this survey served to highlight the declining allure of engineering as a future career for students as they progress through second level. Focus groups were held in all four schools in order to identify current motivations behind student course choice, as well as students’ perceptions regarding the decline in undergraduate engineering numbers. Students frequently highlighted future career prospects, as well as current matriculation requirements as mitigating factors in the uptake of undergraduate engineering degree programmes. Finally this paper also compares and contrasts the perceptions and motivations of current second level students with those of existing undergraduate engineers

Educational research, epistemology and the desideratum of doubt. Unpacking the complexities of the marshy divide

Operating across the ‘marshy epistemological divide’ created between schooling and academia, the role of pre-service teacher researchers presents a unique set of challenges and responsibilities. This paper reports on a follow-up study exploring the attitudes of a multi-disciplinary cohort of graduand teachers towards the use and conduct of educational research at the final stages of their initial teacher education degree programme. The findings of this study highlight the impact of the epistemological swale, born within the theory practice divide, on graduand pre-service teacher researchers prior to their entry into in-career service. A widespread commitment to consensualism and crystallisation of reductionist research pre-conception is evidenced within this study. The findings of thisfollow-up study also provide a concomitant mapping of pre-service teacher researcher identity maturation from the point of entry onto their programme of study to graduand stage. Arising from the research findings, the authors advance the desideratum of doubt in an educational context beset with the quest for certainty and outline the need for a multi-level response to enhancing pre-service teachers’ commitment to educational research across all career stages.</p

"I chose to become a teacher because". Exploring the factors influencing teaching choice amongst pre-service teachers in Ireland

This study investigated the suitability of the FIT-Choice scale for use within an Irish Initial Teacher Education setting with a cohort of first year pre-service teachers (n=143), from across five different subject disciplines. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to examine participants' motivations for choosing teaching as a career, as well as their perceptions about teaching. The results were found to be consistent with the original FIT-Choice structure thus supporting the validity of the FIT-Choice scale within this Irish Initial Teacher Education context. Prior teaching and learning experiences, as well as perceived ability, were found to be the strongest influential factors in participants' decision to become a teacher. These findings further highlight the prominence given to subject-based knowledge in Ireland. The relationships between participants' motivations for becoming a teacher and their satisfaction with career choice were also examined. Choosing teaching as a fallback career was negatively related to satisfaction, whereas a desire to work with children was found to be a significant positive predictor

Monopolising the STEM agenda in second-level schools: exploring power relations and subject subcultures

The ubiquitous and often pervasive expansion of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) agenda across global education systems has largely gone uncontested. Strategic efforts to build on perceived natural subject synergies across the separate STEM disciplines are promoted as central to supporting the growth of economies through the development of human capital and by ensuring the supply of suitably trained individuals for vocational roles in these areas. However, these efforts are predicated on the assumption that such perceived natural subject synergies can easily support pedagogical complimentary and in so doing, often fail to acknowledge the social histories of the subjects involved. In this paper the authors examine the divergence in treatment of STEM subjects within the Irish second-level context through the lenses of subject hierarchies and social class. The cultural capital associated with studying each of the respective STEM subjects in school is considered and the objectives of the STEM agenda are problematised

Negotiating subject hierarchies: neo-liberal influences on the comprehensive curriculum in Ireland

This article critically examines the relationship between recent educational policy and the advancement of second-level subject hierarchies in Ireland. The paradox of promoting an individual subject by means of the matriculation system, while also calling for a broad and balanced curriculum, is questioned. The apparent retreat from a commitment to comprehensive education is discussed with respect to a neo-liberal agenda in education and a modernist-vocational ideology of curriculum development. The article concludes with a discussion on the place of subject-based curricula and a call for more balanced debate around educational policy, which may result in the promotion of subject boundaries

Comparing the dialogue of experts and novices in interdisciplinary teams to inform design education

Design education has moved towards a collaborative practice where designers work in teams and with other disciplines to solve unstructured problems. Along with the cognitive skills involved in the execution of the design process, designers also need skills to work in teams, share information, negotiate common ground and reach consensus. Conversation is core to establishing successful collaborations and learning for students. In order to assess and facilitate collaboration skills, it will become necessary to understand what constitutes constructive and effective dialogue amongst students. The aim of this research is to compare expert versus novice interdisciplinary teams to understand how to better support teams to engage in constructive dialogue during educational design projects. Two cases were studied across different design domains during the problem definition, ideation and concept development phases of the design process. The cases involved a bio-medical fellowship project and an undergraduate product design project. The teams’ conversations were recorded and qualitative content analysis was applied to reveal the cognitive processing and conversation activity that enabled the teams to progress during team collaborations. The findings show that during team interactions design teams alternate between four main cognitive processes, supported by a further six conversation activities to execute the design task. Experts were found to use these cognitive processes and conversation activities more effectively than novices. Recommendations are proposed that can guide design educators to support students during team interactions when solving design problems. The findings have implications for how team work is facilitated and assessed in education

An evaluation of assessment for graphical education at junior cycle in the Irish system

Junior Certificate Technical Graphics was introduced in Ireland in 1991 and aimed to develop innovative problem solving aptitudes and knowledge of plane and descriptive geometry (NCCA 1991). Despite the philosophy of breadth and balance (NCCA 2004) associated with educational outcomes in the Junior Certificate curriculum, many subjects, Technical Graphics included, employ a summative assessment strategy (Griffin 1998). The summative measurement model portrays a limited view of student learning (Lin and Dwyer 2006, Williams 2011) and has been found to exert significant influence on teaching and learning throughout the course of study (Bloxham and Boyd 2007). This research study aims to evaluate the types of approach to assessment of two different year groups at different stages of the Junior Cycle. The core hypothesis being investigated is whether there is a more sophisticated approach to the assessment evident among the older year groups. In order to achieve this aim a visual protocol similar to Middleton (2008) and Lane et al. (2010) was employed to capture the approach in solving a prescribed graphical task among first and second year students in the Technical Graphics classroom. Findings indicate that the use of a traditional summative approach to assessment has significant  imitations within the subject of Technical Graphics. There are also notable trends occurring in students approach to the assessment, which seem to rely on a low level of graphical knowledge and problem solving skills. The findings confirm that the older year group adopted a more efficient approach to the assessment but displayed unsophisticated approaches to the application of graphical principles. Some limitations of the summative measurement model are supported by the results of this paper

The impact of task difficulty and performance scores on student engagement and progression

Background: This article considers the impact of differential task difficulty on student engagement and progression within an Irish primary school context. Gaining and maintaining student engagement during learning tasks such as homework is a significant and understandable on-going challenge for teachers. The findings of this study hold the potential to support teachers' decision-making processes regarding the development of student tasks. Purpose: The research study aimed to explore the impact of task difficulty on student engagement and subsequent progression in the computerised navigation task Pac-Man. The central research questions addressed in this article were; do subtle variances in task difficulty impact on student volition and consequently, will this result in a significant variance in students' levels of improvement? Sample: Sixty students from a large urban, coeducational primary school in the south of Ireland were identified as a suitable sample cohort. All students were in their final year of primary school within the Irish education system and were between 11 and 12 years of age. Design and methods: The study employed the use of the popular arcade game Pac-Man. In a test-retest approach, 60 primary school students completed the standard computerised navigation task with a seven-day interval. Between testing, participants were randomly subdivided into three cohorts. Each cohort of 20 participants received a different version of the Pac-Man game to practise with for one week. Cohort A received a version of the Pac-Man game of lesser difficulty, Cohort B received the standard Pac-Man game and Cohort C received a version of greater difficulty. A paired-samples t-test (repeated measures) was employed to compare the scores achieved by each of the three cohorts both pre- and post-practice. As an indication of the resulting effect size for each cohort the eta-squared statistic was subsequently calculated. In order to support any future meta-analysis, Cohen's d statistic is also provided in this paper. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to explore differences between groups with regard to progression scores and number of games played when practising. Results: The results of this small scale study found the cohort who received the easier version of the task presented the greatest overall improvement in performance between the pre- and post-tests. No statistically significant difference was found in the change in scores of the three cohorts - potentially due to the small sample size. However, paying attention to the size of the effect indicated that, over seven days, there was an 80% improvement in performance for Cohort A, 63% improvement for Cohort B and 26% improvement for Cohort C. The results highlight the negative impact of increased task difficulty on students' volition and consequently, on overall progress in the task. Conclusions: Further research with larger student populations would be needed to assess the generalisability of the results. However, the findings suggest that when designing tasks to promote student learning, particularly self-directed tasks such as homework, it is important that teachers afford ample opportunity for student success

How task conflict can support creative problem solving in teams by stimulating knowledge sharing, critical and creative thinking and meta-cognition

This study explores how task conflict can support creative problem solving in teams and the cognitive processes applied. As multidisciplinary teams can be diverse in nature, they may not always partake competently in the pooling of information, and as a result task conflict may arise due to differences in mental models. Under certain conditions task conflict is considered to be beneficial to creative problem solving because it stimulates knowledge exchange and integration and constructive criticism to reach co-created decisions and solutions. Four case studies were conducted to analyse the discourse of teams carrying out design and innovation projects. Task conflict was found to have a positive impact on creative problem solving in the application of four cognitive processes: knowledge processing, critical and creative thinking and metacognition (team self-reflection). Task conflict was positively related to creativity in the proposal of solution alternatives. The successful application of the cognitive processes was dependent on an awareness of when task conflict is appropriate and high level social skills. The findings have implications for managers of teams solving complex problems. They highlight how the cognitive processes can be constructively used to stimulate and manage conflict to effectively solve problems in teams

Problematizing spatial literacy within the school curriculum

Contemporary research is considering new forms of literacy that extend beyond the skills required to process alphanumeric data. The skills involved in visualising, reasoning, and communicating about 2D and 3D spatial information are commonly referred to as ‘Spatial Literacy’. Research has highlighted a positive relationship between Spatial Literacy and achievement across a diverse range of subject areas. Internationally, researchers have observed that students often have underdeveloped levels of Spatial Literacy on matriculation to third-level courses, particularly in the STEM area. In an attempt to better understand the potential reasons for this, this paper endeavours to unpack the complex nature of Spatial Literacy, its definition and associated metrics. Concerns are raised about the Spatial Literacy levels of Irish students based on international metrics and benchmarking against other jurisdictions. This paper seeks to problematize Spatial Literacy within the Irish educational context with a particular focus on dominant curriculum ideologies and education policy discourse