Dublin Commuters get 'on-board' with DARTofPhysics

Official Journal of the Irish Science Teachers’ Association Eol-Oidí na hÉireann, Volume 49, Number 3, May 2014

SCIENCE

SCIENCE Vol. 49, Number 3, May 2014 1

Contents

Canada geese in formationThe Canada goose is not regarded as ‘resident’ in Ireland. As the name implies it comes originally from North America and is the largest of all geese commonly found in Europe. Since their introduction to England in the 1600s they have become widely resident there. In parts of Britain they are regarded as pests because of the damage they cause to farmland, parks and lakes. The white ‘chin strap’ on its otherwise black head and neck make the Canada goose easy to distinguish from the brent goose, which has a largely grey head and neck, and the smaller barnacle goose with its white face.

Outgoing Chairperson’s Report Mary Mullaghy 3Incoming Chairperson’s Report Stephanie Leonard 7Report on the meeting with NCCA Stephanie Leonard 8President’s Letter Charles Dolan 9Dates for Diary Mary Mullaghy 10ISTA Corporate Members 10The Hyland Report – Implications for Science Education... Dr Declan Kennedy 11Mags’s Conference Musings Mags Amond 14L.C. Biology: Update on draft specification Úna Moroney 16L.C. Chemistry: Update on draft specification John Daly 17L.C. Physics: Update on draft specification Seán Finn 19Junior Cycle Science: Subcommittee Convenor Report Yvonne Higgins 20Leaving Certificate Sciences: the next generation Anne Looney 21IBSE Workshop in UCC Ryan Gallagher 22A resonance demonstration Randal Henly 22TY students bring the chemical safety message to the HSA Yvonne Higgins 23Discussion forums for Science Teachers Noel Cunningham 24Frontiers of Physics 2014 Paul Nugent 25New Science-on-Stage videos Paul Nugent 25PDE night in Dublin Branch Seosamh Ó Braonáin 25Can Sat Ireland competition – a teacher’s perspective Anne O’Dea 26Dublin Commuters get ‘on-board’ with ‘DARTofPhysics’ Dr. Shane Bergin et al 27Assessment for Learning (AfL) in the science class Maria Sheehan 29Every Lab should have ... a Vacu-Vin Richard Fox 34Student-2-Scientist 34New Resource for Teachers from SEAI Aoife Cannon 35Junior Science Presentation Workshop Yvonne Higgins 35The 3rd annual Robert Boyle Summer School Eoin Gill 36The State of Chemical Education in Ireland (extracts) Dr Peter Childs 37 Dreadful dawn Paul Holland 39Insights into ‘Chain Reaction’ Louise Lehane and John O’Reilly 40The difference in learning for male and female students... Claire Singleton 41Supersonic car! Paul Holland 43CROSSWORD Randal Henly 44

www.ista.ie2

Council Executive Association President: Charlie Dolan, Senior Personnel Representative, Eli Lilly, Cork [email protected] Chairperson: Stephanie Leonard, Intermediate College, Killorglin, Co. Kerry. [email protected]chairperson: Sean Fogarty, Rocklands, Hempfield, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. [email protected] Secretary: Maria Sheehan, St Caimin’s Community School, Shannon, Co. Clare [email protected]: Mary Mullaghy, 26 Bailis Manor, Athlumney, Navan, Co. Meath. [email protected]: John Lucey, ‘Copsewood’, Rock Road, Mallow, Co. Cork. [email protected] Treasurer & Web Liaison Officer: Joe Griffin, Intermediate School, Killorglin, Co. Kerry. [email protected] Secretary: Dr Declan Kennedy, Department of Education, UCC [email protected]: Mary Mullaghy [email protected] Editor of SCIENCE: Rory Geoghegan, 49 Seamount, Booterstown, Co Dublin [email protected] Science Quiz Coordinator: Mary Mullaghy [email protected]

Branch RepresentativesCork: Sarah Downey-Fogarty, Coláiste Muire, Crosshaven, Co Cork [email protected]: Sean Finn, 32 Old Avenue, Glanmire, Co. Cork. [email protected]: Mary O’Brien, 16 Clachan Mór, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. [email protected]: Seosamh Ó Braonáin, Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin 16 [email protected]. Dublin: John Daly, 13 Valeview Ave., Cabinteely, Dublin 18. [email protected]: Brian Smyth, 53 Weirview Drive, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. [email protected]: Rory Geoghegan, 49 Seamount, Booterstown, Co Dublin [email protected]: Aine Clarke, Calasanctius College, Oranmore, Co. Galway [email protected]: Una Moroney, Intermediate College, Killorglin, Co. Kerry. [email protected]: Stephanie Leonard, Intermediate College, Killorglin, Co. Kerry. [email protected]: Dorothy Fox, Scoil Conglais, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow. [email protected]: Aodhagán Ó Súilleabháin, Heywood Community School, Ballinakill, Co. Laois [email protected]/Clare: Maria Sheehan, St. Caimin’s Community School, Shannon, Co. Clare. [email protected]: Catherine Murphy, Loreto College, Cavan [email protected] Midlands: Irene O’Sullivan, Moate CS, Moate, Co .Westmeath [email protected] Midlands: Seamus Ó Donghaile, Lios Dubh, Cluain na gCloidhe, Co. Roscomáin [email protected]: Lorna Davey, Na Caisil, Drumiskabole, Ballisodare, Co Sligo [email protected]: Paddy Daly, 9 The Spa, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. [email protected]: Paula Hewison, De La Salle College, Waterford City, Co. Waterford. [email protected]: Sean Fogarty, Rocklands, Hempfield, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford. [email protected]

Editorial TeamEditor: Rory Geoghegan, 49 Seamount, Stillorgan Road, Booterstown, Co. Dublin [email protected] Editor for Biology: Siobhán Sweeney, Blackrock College [email protected] Editor for Chemistry: Mary Mullaghy, Eureka Secondary School, Kells [email protected] Editors for Physics: Richard Fox, Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin 16 [email protected] Seosamh Ó Braonáin, Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin 16 [email protected] Assistant Editors for Primary Science: Dr Maeve Liston, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick [email protected]

Eol-Oidí na hÉireannIRISH SCIENCE TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION


Outgoing Chairperson’s Report

Mary Mullaghy

Dia daoibh a chairde,As I sit here on yet another Bank Holiday weekend writing my last report as

Chairperson, I can sense the taste of freedom and look forward to reclaiming my life!

Despite best intentions I still struggle with the skill of time management. This weekend is particularly poignant for me as it is just one year since my father died. I was grateful for the extra work that came with the role of Chairperson, as it helped to give life structure and get me through a difficult time, which no doubt everyone has to experience at some time in their lives. I was fortunate to have a great team to support me at Council and for that I am grateful. In fact the Association is lucky to have such a committed executive (Charlie, Declan, John, Maria, Paddy, Rory, Stephanie and last but certainly not least Yvonne), who give freely of their time for the good of science education in Ireland.

Annual Conference 2014 GalwayThanks to the team that helped me organise the annual conference in my alma mater, NUI Galway this year. The tagline was ‘Inspiring

Science from Ireland’s Silicon Valley’ and the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn had some inspiring words to say at the opening, as did the President of the College, Dr. Jim Browne. We had a spectacular line up of internationally renowned speakers, including Prof Jim Al Khalili, Dr. Mark Foley Prof Elaine Fox, Keith Gibbs, Prof David Grayson, Fergus McAuliffe, Prof Donal O’Shea, Prof Martyn Poliakoff and Prof David Smith.

We must not forget the teams who carried out the workshops: PDST, SCIENTIX, TEMI, Chain Reaction and Dr. Maeve Liston who did a Primary Science workshop.

We also welcomed our guests from overseas from the Association of Science Education in the UK, Pete Robinson, ASE Scotland, Stuart Farmer, and ASE Northern Ireland, Edwin Mitchel, and from the USA representing the International Council of Association for Science Education (ICASE), Prof Teresa Kennedy, Dr Michael Odell and Prof Dianne Robinson.

It was delightful to have one of the founding members of the association, Sr Mercedes Desmond, attend the conference dinner. Next year the conference will be in her home city of Cork.

AGM CommitteeThe team of younger teachers from the Galway Branch (James Stephens, John Loughlin, Orla Bergin and Roisin Ni Bhriain) were outstanding over the weekend. Our incoming Vice-Chair Sean Fogarty from the Wexford Branch ably assisted them with registration.

Maria Sheehan from Clare/Limerick helped with airport pickups and Paddy Daly from the Tipperary Branch helped with banking issues. Rory Geoghegan took care of the production of the

conference brochure and our other publications. Siobhan Sweeney and Philippa Moran from the Dublin Branch helped look after our American guests.

Orla Bergin, John Loughlin,

Roisin Ní Bhriain and

James Stephens

www.ista.ie4

Constitution & Rules of the AssociationIt should be noted that Council determines the location of the annual conference, and individual Branches do not have the choice of opting out. There is also a limit to the number of years that people can occupy positions on Committees and again this is something that people should consider before taking on the various roles. A committee will be set up by Council to review the Constitution and to update the Rules. The current Constitution and Rules is still available to download from the website and all officers holding various positions in the association need to familiarise themselves with the fundamentals.

The Hyland ReportThe Hyland Report on International best practice in the drafting of syllabi for second-level curricula was launched and should interest all teachers of science in Ireland. Thanks to Prof Áine Hyland for her insight and Rory Geoghegan for his assistance with the production. A hard copy will be available at your local Branch events.

A meeting was held with NCCA during the Easter Holidays. For further details see the report of the incoming Chairperson, Stephanie Holden, on page 9.

Assessment & Teaching of 21st Century SkillsThe NCCA is inviting

Science teachers to

take part in a project to

investigate and research

assessment using

collaborative models.

The outline of the project is for schools and teachers to

design collaborative assessment tasks that will happen

in pairs and online. All that is needed is a little interest in

technology and some imagination. Schools and teachers

who wish to take part can ind out more information on our website or alternatively email [email protected] directly.

Awards at the Annual ConferenceTwo very deserving winners of awards again this year, both

forming the bedrock of the Association. Rory and Declan

are constantly giving

unsel ishly of their time and expertise,

teaching science to

generations. Sincere

congratulations from

all of us.

Rory Geoghegan

receiving the Science

Educator of the

Year award from

Dr Oliver Ryan. The

award is sponsored

by PharmaChemical

Ireland

Dr Declan

Kennedy being

presented with

the George

Lodge Award by

Charlie Dolan,

ISTA President

Loreto Balbriggan represented by Cathlyn Hennelly and Niamh McNally with Charlie Dolan (ISTA President) and (right) Christine Campbell (PharmaChemical Ireland)

PharmaChemi-cal Ireland Science Teaching Awards 2014

Scoil Chonglais Baltinglass represented by Dorothy Fox and Damien Allen


ICI Chemistry Newsletter CompetitionThe topic for this year’s competition was ‘Teenagers’ Perceptions of Chemistry’ and first place went to Thomas Donaldson and Chris Hogg, The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, Belfast. Second place went to Ruth Murphy, Tanna Tan, Camilla Kelly and Caoimhe O’Maonaigh. Rathdown School, Glenageary, Co Dublin. And the joint highly commended were, Keeva Madden, Paula O’Neill and Alisha Toner, St. Mary’s Grammar School, Co Derry and Ella Reilly with Ciara Walsh, Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Co Meath.

Photo: Ruth Murphy, Tanna Tan, Camilla Kelly and Caoimhe Ó Maonaigh, with Joy Rice (Chemistry Teacher) and Pat Hobbs FICI (Institute President).

Top Leaving Certificate Chemistry Student 2013 Congratulations to Kyle Frohna from St Andrews College, Blackrock, Co Dublin, pictured here with his teacher Hilary Rimbi, and Pat Hobbs, Institute President, on winning the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland Medal for the best results in the Leaving Certificate Chemistry 2013.

Invent Nano Competition Invent Nano is a national competition run by AMBER at Trinity College, which challenged secondary school students to come up with their vision of the future using nanotechnology.

First prize went to Laura Barrett for her car of the future design. Laura’s car had the ability to change colour, a solar and hydrogen powered engine, was self-cleaning and had Gecko tyres - a feature made from graphene which allowed the tyres to have extra grip in difficult conditions. Second prize went to Jasmine Delaney of Ringsend College, Dublin 4, for her nanotechnology inspired ‘blind person’s cane’. Third prize went to Claire Reilly, Abbey Tully and Katie Byrne of Loreto, Navan, Meath for their ‘solar powered water meter’ design.

Photo: Jasmine Delaney, Ringsend College, Dr Shane Bergin, Trinity College and Laura Barrett from Loreto Navan.

UCD Science for SchoolsProf. Teeling’s bat lab at UCD, are organizing a 4-week long paid (€3000 minus taxes) research training opportunity for secondary school science teachers in July 2014.

During the ‘Science

for School’ programme teachers will develop a free online transition year programme available to all schools. They will also blog about their experience in Teeling’s lab and stimulate education in these areas, highlight what a career in Science is really like and what really goes on in science labs at UCD.

www.ista.ie6

Pint of SciencePint of Science is a festival that aims to make cutting-edge science accessible and fun by bringing current scientific research to the public through talks in the informal and relaxed environment of The Mercantile on Dame Street.

Some of Ireland’s top scientific researchers will give talks on their research and related areas. These events will give members of the public the opportunity to learn about current scientific research in a welcoming environment. Members of the public will also be encouraged to engage with scientists, asking questions about and discussing their research. The festival will run over three days with different pubs hosting talks from different fields. The Mercantile will host the Physics talks at which speakers from UCD, Trinity College Dublin, DIT and Met Eireann will speak on a variety of physics-related topics, including Nanoscience, Weather and Flooding, the Physics of Sport, Astrophysics and Quantum Science.

EXCITED EXCITED is The Digital Learning Festival which will bring together digital learning trailblazers from Ireland and abroad to celebrate and learn from past achievements. In consultation with teachers, young people and leaders in enterprise and academia we will chart the way forward for the future of technology in education. It will take off on May 30th & 31st in Dublin Castle.

SEC Subject ReportsAny ISTA members wishing to comment on this year’s state examination papers may contact the relevant subject subcommittee convenors:

Junior Science: Yvonne Higgins [email protected]

LC Biology: Úna Moroney [email protected]

LC Chemistry: John Daly [email protected]

LC Physics: Seán Finn [email protected]

End of Year ThanksI have enjoyed my tenure as Chairperson and made lots of new friends. Although I achieved some of my goals, there was not enough time to fulfil them all. On reflection my poor time management might be due to not having mastered the art of distributed leadership. The Association has maintained its highest membership as was evident by the large numbers attending the recent annual conferences, and we have had greater exposure and penetration into organisations that had not known that we existed. We also acquired new sponsorship from Industry and Colleges.

Through my involvement with SCIENTIX, which is the overarching umbrella for all the Horizon 2020 projects, we have enhanced our linked with Europe. Our communication tools (Website, Facebook & Twitter) have proved very successful. A case in point, we had a teacher from Poland attend the conference in Galway as he found out about it over the Internet. Thanks to Dr Declan Kennedy and our continued close alliance with ICASE, we were delighted to have the President of ICASE Prof Teresa Kennedy attend Galway.

There are lots of people that I need to thank. Firstly my close friends and family who are always there for me, my Principal, Caroline O’Reilly, who has been very supportive, as have all my colleagues at school. Our Honorary President Mr Charlie Dolan who has agreed to stay in situ for another year. Thanks to the Council Executive (Mr Paddy Daly, Mr Rory Geoghegan, Ms Yvonne Higgins, Dr Declan Kennedy, Ms Stephanie Holden Leonard, Mr John Lucey & Dr Maria Sheehan, a wonderful National Secretary), Council Representatives who have attended Council Meetings, and Local Branch Officers for their work on the ground. Thanks also to the Subject Convenors (Ms John Daly, Mr Seán Finn, Ms Úna Moroney & Ms Yvonne Higgins). A special thanks to Dr Declan Kennedy who not only acts as Membership Secretary but also visits all the Branches to give talks on request. A penultimate thanks to the personnel in Trinity College and NUI Galway, with whom I liaised with for the annual conferences, and a final thanks to all the contributors to our Science Journal and to Rory Geoghegan, our editor extraordinaire, for putting it all together.

I would like to wish my successor, Stephanie, all the best in her new role.

My final quote

“What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make”.

(Jane Goodall)

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Mary Mullaghy. (ISTA National Chairperson 2012-14)

Hi Rory,

I think that I’ll leave mine as is as there isn’t huge overlap and mine is illustrated with photos.

I spotted two typos in my last section End of Year Thanks - in the second paragraph

‘links’ instead of ‘linked’

‘attended’ instead of ‘attend’

Stephanie has left out an apostrophe in Irish Science Teachers’ Association

I think it would be best to have Outgoing Chairpersons’ Report before Incoming Report but I’ll leave that to you to decide! Please don’t forget Diary of Events.

Thanks,

Mary.


Incoming Chairperson’s ReportStephanie Leonard

Firstly I would like to thank the branches and members of the Association for the honour of nominating me for Chairman. It is truly

a privilege to represent such an active and vibrant group of professionals. I hope during my term I can justly represent the Association and work towards addressing the needs of the members.

Vote of ThanksI would like to thank the outgoing Chairman Mary Mullaghy. Mary has done an outstanding job raising the profile of the Irish Science Teachers’ Association. She has worked tirelessly over the past two years to ensure that everyone with any link to either Science or Education was made aware of the work of the ISTA. She also ensured that members were kept up to date with all of the activities of the Association by her diligent updating of the website. We are delighted that Mary is going to continue to support the Association as Website Administrator and Senior Science Quiz Co-ordinator.

I would also like to extend a vote of thanks to Paddy Daly. Paddy’s absence from the Annual Conference in Galway was notable and he was greatly missed. At a recent SARG (Subject Association Representative Group) meeting I realised that we were the envy of every other subject association for having Paddy as our Honorary Treasurer. We are delighted that you are recovering well and look forward to seeing you soon.

Congratulations to John Lucey on his appointment as Honorary Treasurer. John has done tremendous work as Assistant Treasurer over the past few years, particularly with TPN related material. I also wish to welcome Joe Griffin to his position as Assistant Treasurer. Joe is a very experienced treasurer at branch level and we are delighted to welcome him to Council.

It is a great reassurance to the Association that Charles Dolan has agreed to continue as President for another year. Charles is a great friend of the Association and is always willing to offer support and assistance. He has been instrumental in conducting and analysing the Going Forward Survey of members and we look forward to working with him to address the needs identified by members in the survey.

CongratulationsThose of you that attended the Annual Conference will, I’m sure, share my delight in Rory Geoghegan receiving the Science Educator of the Year award. It could not have been awarded to a more worthy recipient. Rory puts in remarkable work in his role as Editor of Science as well as preparing the conference booklet. Rory has also been elected Chairman of the Dublin branch and so it appears he will be busier than ever!

Dr Declan Kennedy was also presented with the prestigious Lodge Award. Declan, aside from his work at Council, has revived many branches with his Junior Science Coursework B presentations.

Annual ConferenceWell done and congratulations to all involved in the Annual Conference in Galway. It was a huge success due to the hard work of the organising committee. The programme of lectures and workshops was remarkable and there was truly something for everyone. The venue and accommodation were exceptional. The event rivalled the Academy Awards with the number of tweets and selfies that were taken over the course of the weekend!

I would also like to reiterate the thanks of the Association to the sponsors, without whom the Conference could not take place.

EBMAt the Annual Business Meeting there was a motion made to hold an Emergency Business Meeting. This was in response to the Convenors’ reports on the draft senior science syllabi. Seventy five members signatures are required to pass such a motion and only fifty six signatures were received. There is an obvious need for further discussion on these draft syllabi and the issue will be discussed at the next Council meeting. Members will be emailed informing them of any arrangements and the website and facebook page will be updated regularly.

NCCAOn the 25th April, a representative group of the ISTA met with members of the NCCA to discuss the findings of the Hyland Report. A full account of this meeting is on page 8 and is of importance to all members. It was evident from this meeting that we are entering a significant time of change in Science Education and therefore, I would ask you to encourage your colleagues that are not members of the ISTA to consider joining.

A great deal of preparation was required for the meeting with the NCCA and I would like to thank Mary Mullaghy, Una Moroney, Sean Finn and John Daly for all of their hard work.

FinallyAs you face into the final term of this school year, I would like to remind you that a number of branches are still busy organising activities for teachers and students. Please continue to check the website for all details. Many branches have arranged sessions to review examination papers. Comments from these sessions are forwarded to the State Examinations Commission. If you are unable to attend one of these sessions, you should forward your comments to the appropriate subject convenor.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of your students the very best in the Leaving and Junior Certificate Examinations. I wish you an enjoyable and relaxing summer vacation after an eventful school year.

Stephanie Leonard

ISTA Chairperson

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Report on the meeting with NCCAStephanie Holden

On the 25th April a representative group consisting of the Chairman, Past Chairman, Biology, Chemistry and Physics Convenors

met with Dr. Anne Looney (CEO) and John Hammond (Deputy CEO) from the NCCA. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the lack of ‘depth of treatment’ in the three draft senior science Subject Specifications. We also wished to discuss the outcomes of the Hyland Report commissioned by the ISTA.

Depth of Treatment and Support MaterialsThe first issue raised at the meeting was lack of depth of treatment in the draft Subject Specifications. The NCCA do not envisage reviewing these draft Specifications to include depth of treatment. The Subject Specifications will consist solely of a list of learning outcomes. Further clarifications on these learning outcomes will be provided to teachers by way of support materials. These support materials will be delivered through Curriculum Online (www.curriculumonline.ie).

The learning outcomes will be presented interactively on Curriculum Online. Teachers will be able to click on each learning outcome and this will present the support materials needed to teach that specific learning outcome. The support materials will contain extensive examples of examinable material. Examinable material will also be clearly identified from non-examinable material by use of icons. Curriculum Online will contain some dynamic aspects e.g. if in a particular year there is a difficult exam question then similar styles of questions may be uploaded into the support materials. When new material is uploaded on Curriculum Online, the status of the material, i.e. whether it is examinable of not, will also be clearly identified. The NCCA gave a guarantee that all support material will be available to teachers before the proposed implementation date of September 2018. ‘Examinability’ of material was a major cause of concern for the ISTA representatives and the NCCA and State Examinations Commission will provide full clarity on this for the benefit of teachers, pupils and parents.

Development of Support MaterialIt is the responsibility of the NCCA Executive to develop the support material. The ISTA were assured that this material would be produced by a consultative process. The consultation will involve the NCCA, State Examinations Commission and Department of Education and Skills. The NCCA were also eager for the ISTA to have an input into the development of the support material. It is planned to reconvene the development groups (of which the ISTA convenors are members) in October 2014 to begin working on the support material.

Other ConcernsEach of the subject convenors expressed concerns regarding the vagueness of some of the learning outcomes in the draft specifications. These concerns were noted and the convenors were asked to compile a list and email them to John Hammond. The ISTA representatives also raised a query regarding the suitability of some of the proposed new material for Ordinary Level students. The convenors will also send this information to John Hammond. Dr. Anne Looney gave an assurance that these concerns would be addressed.

At the time of this meeting, the NCCA had not had an opportunity to discuss the Hyland Report. This discussion was to take place at the NCCA Council meeting on 1st May. They will formally respond to the report following this. At the time of going to print, this response has not yet been received.

ISTA Council will discuss the outcomes of this meeting on May 10th and members will be kept updated through email and the website.

Stephanie Holden


President’s LetterCharles Dolan

Dear Member,I hope that those of you who attended the annual conference returned home refreshed and enthused

in both your science education and in terms of your personal learning. I firmly believe that seminars of the calibre that were presented in Galway, stimulate the mind both personally and professionally. In turn, we bring this information with us and it makes us much more aware of broader issues (both science related and beyond) and the deeper implications when we hear them being discussed in the media and other forums. The commissioning and launch of the Hyland report at the conference attracted a lot of worthy attention both during and following the event and as you will read in this edition, it will add valuable academically based knowledge to all involved in the setting of new syllabi into the future.My personal thanks to the Galway organising committee for their hard work in staging this excellent event, it was great credit to your efforts. Special thanks goes to Mary Mullaghy for her trojan work both with the AGM and especially on behalf of the ISTA during her period as Chairperson. Similarly, Paddy Daly who has stepped down as treasurer has been a stalwart of the ISTA and thanks to you Paddy for your long service in such an important role.As you may be aware last year, Minister Sherlock set up the STEM Education Review Group and it held a Public Dialogue event in the Royal Irish Academy on April 17th. It was very well attended by many of the stakeholders in Irish education and there was ample opportunity for a dialogue among both speakers and attendees. It is planned that the presentations given there, will be made available in the near future for interested parties as well as informing the final report which the group will submit to the Minister, once their work is completed.

A call was issued for educational providers to seek funding for various courses under the Springboard initiative in March of this year. A very large number of submissions were made for a wide range of courses and the outcome of the deliberations will be made known in the 2nd week in May. Once again, the needs of the ICT sector feature strongly in terms of both numbers of courses submitted and it was notable that a high skill level in Maths is needed especially for data analytics roles. The figures regarding the number of employees that continue to be needed by the ICT sector both in Ireland and by the industry globally are staggering, with global estimates of a need for 8.1 million employees in 2018 and a predicted shortfall of 60%. In Europe it is estimated that there will be a shortfall of 2 million healthcare workers by 2020. Currently in Ireland, the large ICT companies cannot meet their employment needs and there are shortages in the region of 1000 unfilled jobs within some of the larger companies, despite them having carried out aggressive recruitment campaigns both here and abroad.

On a positive note May has arrived and the weather is starting to get somewhat warmer. For some students the smell of fresh cut grass heralds the up-coming exams, while for others it is the anticipation of the eagerly awaited holidays. Once again this past year has brought many challenges to the whole arena of education and teaching with lots of media activity and negativity, which inevitably creates uncertainty within individuals. Holidays are a good opportunity to recharge the internal batteries.

I wish you all an enjoyable and relaxing summer holiday.

Charles Dolan, President ISTA

Charles Dolan with Prof Áine Hyland

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Funding STEM Education Research to Ensure Economic Competitiveness (One-day workshop)

Wed. May 28thDITContact: [email protected]

EXCITED May 30th - 31st Dublin Castlewww.excited.ie

ESOF 2014 June 21st - 26th Copenhagen http://esof2014.org

8th Chemistry Demonstration Workshop June 23-27, 2014

University of Limerick

Fee: €150 for 4 nights B&B, all meals and tuition and materials.

This is a residential course and runs from lunchtime on Monday to lunchtime on Friday. The workshop gives the opportunity to develop your demonstration skills and add to your repertoire of demon-strations, and to gain practice in developing and presenting a science magic show. Contact: [email protected]

http://www.sspc.ie/8th_Chemical_Demonstrations_Chemical_Magic_Shows_Workshop

“Chemistry for Non-specialists” professional development courses in Dublin (17th & 18th June) and Limerick (24th & 25th June)Both courses are full and have lengthy waiting lists.

3rd Robert Boyle Summer SchoolJuly 3rd - 6th Lismore, Waterfordwww.robertboyle.ie

GIREP-MPTL Conference (for physics teachers)

July 7th - 12th Palermo, Sicily, Italyhttp://www.unipa.it/girep2014/

Frontiers of PhysicsSeptember 27th DCUwww.iopireland.org

33rd ChemEd-Ireland October 11th DIT

Maths Week IrelandOctober 11th - 19th

Science Week IrelandNovember 9th - 16th www.scienceweek.ie

ISTA Senior Science QuizRegional Finals: Thursday November 13th at 7.30pm nationwideSubmit questions to: [email protected] if you wish to have them included

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition January 7th - 10th RDS

ISTA Annual Conference 2015March 27th - 29th

UCCwww.ista.ie

Dates for DiaryMary Mullaghy

ISTA Corporate Members


The Hyland Report – Implications for Science Education in Ireland

Dr Declan Kennedy

In this article Declan Kennedy discusses the implications of the Hyland Report for science education in Ireland and argues that this report is the most important report for science education ever published in Ireland. Declan is the author of the book “Writing and Using Learning Outcomes – A Practical Guide” which, to date, has been translated into 12 languages.

Introduction

When the history of science education in Ireland is written, the commissioning of the Hyland Report will stand out as one

of the most important milestones. It was the first time that the ISTA commissioned a report by an internationally recognised expert in Education. The report is a perfect example of how to carry out an educational research project, analyse the data, draw clear conclusions and make comprehensive recommendations. It is refreshing to read a report that is written with such clarity and I encourage every ISTA member to read the entire report since it had direct relevance for the teaching of Leaving Certificate biology, chemistry and physics in our schools.

What is the background to the commission-ing of the Hyland Report by the ISTA?The background to the Hyland Report lies in extensive correspondence and communication between the ISTA and NCCA regarding the proposed new Leaving Certificate biology, chemistry and physics syllabi. This correspondence took the form of written correspondence between the ISTA and NCCA as well as communication between the ISTA representatives on NCCA syllabus committees (development groups) and NCCA representatives on these committees.

One of the major problems identified by the ISTA was the lack depth of treatment included in the proposed new syllabi. The situation was summarised in a letter sent by ISTA to NCCA on 6 October 2013:

“In terms of structure and clarity of depth of treatment, the Leaving Certificate syllabi in Biology, Chemistry and Physics currently being taught in schools are far superior to the proposed draft syllabi recently circulated. The essential problem with the proposed draft syllabi is that they simply contain a list of learning outcomes with no indication regarding depth of treatment or range of subject knowledge associated with these learning outcomes. We request that this depth of treatment and range of subject knowledge be integrated into the draft syllabi (as is the case with the syllabi currently being taught) before they are finalised by NCCA Council. It is vital that this important material is embedded into each of the syllabi and not made available as separate documentation at a later stage. Even highly experienced science teachers at our ISTA Council meeting found problems with interpreting many of the learning outcomes. It is clear that there is still a considerable amount of work to be done in order to

reduce the “fuzziness” of these draft syllabi and thus bring them up to the standard of the current Leaving Certificate Biology, Chemistry and Physics syllabi.”

However, the request for the inclusion of depth of treatment in the proposed new syllabi fell on deaf ears as Dr Anne Looney stated in a letter to ISTA on 25 October 2013 that “We don’t intend to include ‘depth of treatment’ and/or ‘range of subject knowledge’ in the new specifications for the sciences or for other subjects in senior cycle. However, as was discussed at a recent round of development group meetings, we will be including some examples of teaching, learning and assessment approaches that will support teachers in classroom planning”.

This letter was discussed by ISTA Council and a detailed response was sent to the NCCA by ISTA (p. 70 – 71 Hyland Report). This response was also circulated at NCCA syllabus committee meeting by ISTA representatives but no progress was made in convincing the NCCA to include depth of treatment within the Leaving Certificate syllabi. As no progress was made with the NCCA, it was decided by ISTA Council to ask for independent advice from an expert in the area of curriculum design and assessment.

Why was Professor Áine Hyland chosen by ISTA to conduct this research?Professor Hyland is Emeritus Professor of Education at UCC, former Vice-President of UCC and is a former secondary school teacher. She chaired the Commission on the Points system, was a member of the Interim Curriculum and Examinations Board and has already written a huge number of reports, articles and papers, including some landmark reports in recent times e.g. Entry to Higher Education in Ireland in the 21st Century (2011) and A Review of the Structure of Initial Teacher Education Provision in Ireland (2012). In view of the fact that she is recognised as a national and international expert in the area of education and had no previous involvement with ISTA, it was felt that she would be the ideal, independent expert to carry out this research project.

What was Professor Hyland asked to do?Professor Hyland was asked to address two fundamental research questions:• What is international best practice in the drafting of syllabi

for second-level curricula?• Is the current reform of Leaving Cert syllabi in Ireland in

line with international best practice?

In order to address the above research questions, Professor Hyland examined a wide range of science syllabi for a similar age group as the Leaving Certificate and a centralised (i.e. not school-based) mode of assessment (similar to the Leaving Certificate) at international level. Great thanks are due to Rory Geoghegan who assisted her in gathering a huge amount of data on science syllabi throughout the world. From the data gathered, she identified the characteristics of international best practice in the design of science syllabi and focused on Scotland, Australia and also on the International Baccalaureate system as exemplars of good practice.

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What important conclusions are drawn in the Hyland Report?On reading the Hyland Report it is clear that there are a number of key conclusions which may be summarised as follows:

1. Depth of treatment. It is clear that the lack of depth of treatment in the Leaving Certificate biology, chemistry and physics syllabi is not in keeping with best international practice. After carrying out her analysis of syllabi at an international level Prof Hyland states that “in every public examination system identified for this report, the syllabi for the end of senior cycle examinations include considerable detail about depth of treatment, examination specification, practicals and laboratory experiments and other advice for teachers and pupils. While learning outcomes are specified in all the syllabi, they are only one element of the detail provided. (p. 5 Hyland Report).

The problem with lack of depth of treatment is highlighted in Table 1 (p. 21 Hyland Report).

Table 1 Comparison of syllabus lengths

Current syllabus Draft syllabusBiology 38 pages (p.7 – 44) 13 pages (p. 19 – 30)Chemistry 35 pages (p. 37 – 71) 18 pages (p.20 – 37)Physics 20 pages (p. 25 -- 44) 12 pages (p. 21 – 33)

2. More work required on the draft syllabi. Professor Hyland points out that more work is needed on the draft syllabi in biology, chemistry and physics in order to bring them up to international standard: “While the current NCCA draft specifications may be a valid first step in outlining the syllabi, this researcher agrees with the ISTA it is not sufficient to describe a high-stakes examination programme in terms merely of topics and learning outcomes. More detailed information about the depth of treatment of subjects and the requirements for examination must be provided at national level in Ireland to bring the syllabi into line with international good practice.” (p. 42 Hyland Report)

3. Fundamental flaws in template being used by NCCA for syllabus design. It is clear from the reports of the ISTA representatives working on NCCA syllabus committees that considerable frustration was experienced as a result of all three science syllabi being forced into a template consisting of nothing more than a list of learning outcomes. The fundamental flaw in the template being used by the NCCA is highlighted in the Hyland Report. Professor Hyland points out that the practice of the NCCA in designing syllabi that consist solely of a list of topics and learning outcomes is not good practice in syllabus design and that “this researcher has not come across any centralised or public examination syllabus at this level which provides only a list of topics and learning outcomes. (p.5 Hyland Report). In addition, Professor Hyland points out that “while learning outcomes are a very valuable tool for identifying what learners should know and be able to do at the end of a course or programme, it is not appropriate to use learning outcomes alone to define a syllabus and its assessment.” (p. 5 Hyland Report).

4. Problems identified in NCCA benchmarking exercise. Professor Hyland expresses concern with the benchmarking exercise carried out by the NCCA in designing the Leaving Certificate Science syllabi: “It would appear that for international benchmarking purposes, the NCCA has used the curriculum framework Curriculum for Excellence of Education Scotland, and the national curriculum framework for the whole of Australia, set by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), rather than the examination syllabi provided by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment

Authority (VCAA), which in the view of this researcher are the more relevant benchmarks.” (p. 41 Hyland Report). Having expressed concern at the benchmarking exercise, Prof. Hyland provides very good evidence to support her concern at the quality of the benchmarking exercise carried out by the NCCA. She compares three chemistry syllabi (Scotland, Australia and International Baccalaureate) with the NCCA draft Leaving Certificate Chemistry syllabus: “Comparing these three chemistry syllabi with the NCCA draft specification for Leaving Cert chemistry, one notes a significant difference in approach between the three systems chosen and the approach of the NCCA. While the NCCA document resembles, to some extent, the national curriculum and assessment guidelines of Education Scotland, or the curriculum and assessment guidelines of the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Authority it does not resemble the detailed examination syllabi provided by the examining and awarding bodies in Scotland (the Scottish Qualifications Authority), in Victoria, Australia (the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority) and the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO).” (p. 41 Hyland Report).

5. Fall in standards of science syllabi. Professor Hyland warns of the dangers of writing syllabi solely in terms of a list of topics and learning outcomes as this could lead to a fall in standards: “Learning outcomes are statements of essential learning, and as such they are written at minimum acceptable or threshold (pass / fail) standard. If teachers focus only on learning outcomes, there is a real risk that the teaching and learning targets will be at a minimum rather than a maximum level, that the bar will not be set high enough for student learning, and that as a result, standards will fall” (p. 5 Hyland Report). Prof. Hyland also points out that the design of the Leaving Certificate biology, chemistry and physics syllabi currently being taught in schools are of a high standard with a format that is “consistent and clear across subjects” (p. 12 Hyland Report). The report also states that “the current Leaving Certificate physics, chemistry and biology syllabi, which have been implemented since the early 2000s, are highly regarded by teachers and have contributed to a reversal of the decline in the numbers of pupils taking science subjects at senior cycle” (p. 40 Hyland Report).

6. No justification for keeping syllabi vague. One of the reasons put forward by NCCA representatives at NCCA syllabus committee meetings for not including depth of treatment was that over-specification of syllabus design contributes to rote learning. In Chapter 4 of the Hyland Report, it is made very clear that there is no link between giving detailed depth of treatment and rote learning: “The international comparisons in Section 2 of this report show that it is possible to provide syllabi or examination programmes which include detailed guidelines; teachers’ notes; assessment specifications etc. while at the same time devising an approach to assessment which does not reward rote-learning and ensures that higher order skills are recognised and rewarded. To my knowledge, it has never been suggested that the detail provided by the IBO Diploma syllabi or the Scottish Highers or the Victorian Certificate of Education has led to or leads to rote-learning.” (p.39 Hyland Report).

What are the main recommendations of the Hyland report?1. Syllabi need to be brought up to international standard. Prof Hyland points out very clearly that “more detailed information about the depth of treatment of subjects and the requirements for examination must be provided at national level in Ireland to bring the syllabi into line with international good practice.” (p. 5 Hyland Report). Professor Hyland also recommends that the depth of treatment of the draft Leaving


Certificate Biology, Chemistry and Physics syllabi should at least be brought up to the standard of the current syllabi being taught in schools at present: “It is the considered view of this researcher that the final versions of the proposed new syllabi for physics, chemistry and biology, should contain at least the same depth of treatment as is available in the current syllabus documents, as well as detailed examination specifications and Teachers’ Notes. When approved by the Minister, the full range of documentation in relation to each syllabus should be published online and in hard copy under the logo of the Department of Education and Skills, prior to the implementation of the syllabi.” (p. 44 Hyland Report).

2. Full range of documentation available before implementation of the syllabi. Prof. Hyland recommends that “the full range of syllabus documentation (including teachers’ notes, examination specifications etc.) should be officially published at the same time as the syllabus itself, under the logo of the DES as has been the case in the past. This elaborated documentation should be available well before the syllabus is due to be implemented, to enable teachers to become familiar with the new material and to undergo appropriate professional development and up-skilling” (p. 5 Hyland Report). Details of examples of syllabi documentation in Scotland (200 pages approx), Australia (200 pages approx.) and the International Baccalaureate (150 pages approx) are included in the report (see p. 26 -36 and p. 40-41).

3. Depth of treatment embedded within the syllabi. Professor Hyland points out the importance of having depth of treatment embedded within syllabi developed by NCCA: “From 1989 to date, the advice provided by the NCCA to the Minister has included the level of detail that teachers expect and need to enable them to prepare their students for the Leaving Certificate public examinations. That level of detail has also been used and will continue to be required by the SEC to enable them to set and mark the Leaving Certificate examination papers. It is the considered opinion of this researcher, that the issue of depth of treatment and clarity of examination specifications will become an issue for all Leaving Certificate subjects as the revision of Leaving Certificate syllabi proceeds. It is almost inevitable that the concerns raised by ISTA will be echoed by other subject teachers and associations as well as by third level representatives if the matter is not addressed now.” (p. 43 Hyland Report) .

4. Continuation of syllabus committee structures. The Hyland report recommends that the present structure of syllabus committees (recently re-named by the NCCA as “development groups”) should continue: “The syllabus committees /development groups should continue to be involved in the identification and where relevant, the development of resources to support the new subject syllabi. Members of development groups contribute invaluable expertise and experience, on a pro bono basis, to Irish education. They help to bridge the gap between theory and practice, between the ideal and the possible. Teachers, in particular, have an important role to play as they are at the chalk-face on a daily basis and bring knowledge of the on-the-ground constraints to the discussion. Third level representatives and employers help to ensure that the revised syllabi prepare future pupils appropriately for further learning and for work. The partnership model has served Irish education well in the past and will hopefully continue to do so in the future” (p. 44 Hyland Report).

5. Sharing of syllabus documentation from other countries. Professor Hyland makes a very interesting suggestion that consideration be given to national and international collaboration in the sharing of syllabus documentation:

“In coming to a decision about the detail to be provided for the Leaving Cert examination syllabi, consideration might be given by the Minister to collaborating with other bodies, either nationally or internationally to provide appropriate state-of-the art materials thereby avoiding unnecessary and expensive duplication or “re-inventing the wheel”. As science subjects are less culturally bound than some other subjects, resources developed for science teaching in one country are likely to be relevant and suitable for teachers and learners in another country. All the documentation accessed for this report is in the public domain, and is accessible for anyone (teacher or pupil or member of the public) who wishes to use it.” (p. 44 Hyland Report).

Charting the way forwardWe are at a cross roads in science education in Ireland. One road is signposted with flawed syllabi that do not measure up to international best practice. There is a real danger that the “dumbing down” of standards by writing syllabi simply as a list of learning outcomes could lead to lack of recognition of the Leaving Certificate science subjects for entry to universities in Ireland and abroad. In addition, it is possible that schools could move away from the Leaving Certificate examination and enter their students for the International Baccalaureate examinations or examinations set by the UK examination boards. The concerns of science teachers were clearly stated in a letter sent by the ISTA to the NCCA in November 2013:

“We do not wish to see the situation repeated as occurred in the draft Junior Cert. Science syllabus where a syllabus document of only 19 pages of Learning Outcomes was sent to schools and teachers were expected to teach the entire Junior Certificate programme based on this very unsatisfactory document. As outlined in our submission to the NCCA on 6th October 2013, it took the ISTA three years (2003–2006) to obtain clarification on the depth of treatment of the learning outcomes. It subsequently transpired that this clarification had little relevance or official standing as the clarification documentation was not embedded in the syllabus. It is not acceptable to the ISTA that depth of treatment should be covered in Teachers’ Guidelines – it must be an integral part of the syllabus.”

The Hyland Report dispels the “fuzziness” about the design of the Leaving Certificate science syllabi and provides clear guidelines on the correct path to take. The Hyland Report is the most important report every published in the area of science education in Ireland. Science teachers and Leaving Certificate students of biology, chemistry and physics have every right to expect that the syllabi being taught in our schools are of international standard. Therefore, the recommendations of the Hyland Report must be implemented in full.

Dr Declan KennedySenior Lecturer in Science Education, University College, Cork.ISTA Membership Secretary and ISTA representative in ICASE

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It just took one view of the striking hot pink livery of the Folens stand (at the launch of Declan Kennedy’s new Chemistry book) to

make me wonder – out loud as it happens – what Ian McCullough would make of it all.

I proudly admit to being a fangirl of Ian’s column, turning first to the latest episode of his ‘musings’ each time my copy of Science arrives. This wondering out loud brought forth the information from John Daly that Ian was at one of his ‘ancient car’ rally events. Hence my humble contribution here – a brief musing on this year’s ISTA conference in NUIG.

I could only attend for the Saturday afternoon events, but how happy I am that I did so. From the moment I was welcomed at registration by Sean Fogarty, a former Junior Science Support Service colleague (and now a future ISTA leader as I learned later), I got the sustaining buzz that comes from meeting friends and hearing inspiring teachers from the world of science. Before I’d even got in the door I met with Kathlyn Hennelly from my college days in UCG. She and colleagues from sister school Loreto Balbriggan had been shortlisted for an award so it was all Loreto fingers crossed for the day!

At the exhibitors stands I got to catch up with friends - Stephanie O’Neill from Science Foundation Ireland, my former colleague and leader of the Discover Sensors team; my dear cousin Seamus Amond of Shaw Scientific;; Willie McTiernan, an esteemed colleague from my edtech world, now representing the Scientix project;; Sheila Porter and George Porter sailing the rebranded SciFest ship.

And so to the back rows of the D’Arcy-Thompson theatre for the afternoon – unusually for a weekend conference, the entire afternoon’s business was taking place in the one large theatre. Not a bad idea, as it turned out – the short comfort breaks between sessions allowed time to chatter to neighbours instead of rushing off to another venue.

What a surprising treat it was to find myself listening, live for a change, to Prof Martyn Poliakoff! Yes, him of YouTube Periodic Table of videos fame, him with ‘the hair’. He was genial, humble, gentle, funny. He introduced himself as the current Foreign Secretary (!) of the Royal Society. He spoke

with pride as he showed us a photograph of himself greeting our Michael D. Higgins just three days beforehand during our President’s State visit to the UK. His story of the evolution of periodicvideos.com was beautifully told. This resource ticks all boxes for excellent integration of ICTs into science education. If you have not introduced it to your students, do so immediately! I cannot wait to meet my 1st Years after the Easter holidays and tell them who I met. (Each September, I ask my new science students to ‘draw a scientist’. Invariably, the majority draw an Einstein-like figure, which I use to prompt a conversation on stereotyping in science. Mmmm...I am going to have to re-think that exercise now.) All-in-all, a privilege for me a teacher to be taught a lesson by one who so obviously still loves his subject, and his students – and still loves learning.

Then we had the delivery of Prof Áine Hyland’s ISTA-commissioned report on the design of Leaving Certificate syllabi in Ireland. Professor Hyland gave a clear overview of her research in her trademark matter-of-fact style. There was not a lot of time built in for discussion, but copies were distributed to all attendees. All science teachers in Ireland should read it. A copy is available for download from the ISTA website.

The Annual Business Meeting, with a much larger attendance than many I remember, then took place at the speed of light. There was the usual round of reports, nominations, secondings and reconfiguring of the office holders. Most attention and interest was focussed on the three lightning-fast presentations updating us on the recent work of our Leaving Cert. subcommittees. There were (can I say ‘the usual’? - it just seems many of us oldsters have been at this point more than once before) the usual mumblings and grumblings from folk present, and a popular call for an EGM to discuss the rollout

Mags’s Conference Musings ... with apologies to Ian McCullough!

Mags Amond


of these new syllabi. Well done (and further good wishes) to our ‘Passionate Physicist’ Sean Finn, our ‘Cool Chemist’ John Daly and our ‘Brilliant Biologist’ Úna Moroney, under the leadership of our incoming chair Stephanie Holden, for the ongoing high level work they do on our behalf with the subcommittees and with the NCCA, all of which can be followed at branch meetings and online.

After a short oxygen break, we reconvened for the main event - the deciding factor that had drawn me to Galway for the afternoon - the closing Keynote lecture by Prof Jim Al Khalili. He is @jimalkhalili to those who follow him on Twitter, the ‘say it in plain English’ TV presenter, and the author

of Quantum: A Guide for the Perplexed. He presented his story, a sort of quantum physics-biology mash-up, in terms that helped the rest of us get a hook into understanding them. (I was reminded of a remark by another physicist, Leon Lederman, in DCU several years ago - first teach children Physics, then Chemistry, and only when they have mastered those, let them try Biology. This remark was greeted with hilarity at the time.) Jim explained very difficult, very spooky science with humour, and passion. And dealt with audience questions in an inclusive and reflective manner. Another example of great teaching. (I couldn’t help wondering as he spoke about quantum tunnelling - perhaps it could be used to explain how our outgoing Chair Mary Mullaghy has seemingly been everywhere at once during her tenure?)

One thing that was lovely to watch during the afternoon in the lecture hall was that each of the two overseas speakers sat in on the other’s session, even though they took place hours apart. Each also referred graciously to each other’s knowledge during their presentation.

And then suddenly it was time to go home. My apologies for not attending the whole conference, and my thanks to all organisers for a wonderful afternoon and a lifetime of thoughts taken away...and now it’s back to you, Ian!

Mags Amond, Loreto College, Cavan.

Top: Part of the attendance at Prof Martyn Poliakoff’s lecture

Middle: Prof Áine Hyland with Mary Mullaghy (Chair) and Charlie Dolan (President)

Bottom: Dr Maria Sheehan (Hon. Sec.) with Prof Jim Al Khalili

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The Leaving Certificate Biology specification has been further revised and modified following meetings with the

NCCA held in October/December 2013.

StructureThe draft specification is structured into five units of study: Unit 1: Scientific Practices. Unit 2. Biological diversity and evolution. Unit 3. Fundamental cellular processes and biotechnology. Unit 4. Ecology. Unit 5. Plant and animal biology.

The curriculum specification is presented in the form of learning outcomes. There are five skills identified in the syllabus as central to teaching and learning across the curriculum at senior cycle. These skills are (i) information processing, (ii) being personally effective, (iii) communicating, (iv) critical and creative thinking and (v) working with others. The key skills are embedded in the learning outcomes of the syllabus and will be assessed in the context of learning outcomes.

Specified practical activitiesLearners are required to complete and report on a number of specified practical activities. There is no particular method specified for these activities. The activities are planned and carried out in groups and reported on individually. Where appropriate, these reports should include video, audio, and electronic graphical analysis.

During the course of their study, as well as the specified practical activities, learners are required to research a topical issue in biology and plan and undertake a practical investigation related to the topical issue they have investigated. As of their investigation learners collaborate to gather and process data, evaluate evidence, and develop arguments. They read about current research and developments in science and relate their learning to the applications and implications of science for society and the environment. Learners collaborate to prepare and present a scientific communication describing the research question, methodology, results and conclusions of their open ended investigation. The reports on these practical activities are not directly assessed; however, the skills that learners develop as they carry them out and report on them are assessed in both the written and practical examination.

AssessmentAssessment for certification is based on the aims, objectives and learning outcomes of the specification. Differentiation at the point of assessment is achieved through examinations at two levels - Ordinary Level and Higher Level.

L.C. Biology: Update on draft specification

Úna Moroney, ISTA Biology Sub-committee Convenor

Assessment componentsThere are two assessment components at each level : Total marks 400 • written examination (70%) 280 marks• assessment of practical work (30%) 120 marks

Overview of assessment

Mode Section Style Marks % of marks

Written 280 70%

Section A

Short answer questions; 16 with no

choice80 20%

Section B

Structured, 3 from 4 150 37.5%

Section C

Synoptic, 1 from 2 50 12.5%

Practical Practical assessment 120 30%


Written examinationThe written examination will be assessed at Ordinary and Higher level. It will be made up of a range and balance of question types: short answer questions, open-ended answers and extended response questions.

The written examination paper will be 2.5 hours long and will have three sections – A, B and C.

Section A: (80 marks (16×5) will consist of 16 short questions that address core biology topics across the entire specification. There is no choice in this section. The short questions focus on concepts and skills rather than on the recall of facts.

Section B: (150 marks (3×50) will consist of four structured questions from which students choose three. Although drawn from one area of biology, the structure questions include a variety of scientific ideas in the context of one biological topic.

Section C (50 marks) will consist of two synoptic questions from which students choose one. These questions will require learners to create knowledge across a number of learning outcomes. The questions are based on a context but draw from across different areas of the biology specification.

Practical assessmentThe laboratory-based examination is a 90 minute performance assessment and is a combination of direct and indirect assessment. This will be assessed at common level but a differentiated marking scheme may apply.

Learners carry out a series of short tasks based on the specified practical activities. As they carry out their task, students are observed by an external examiner who will award 60 marks (15%) directly.

A further 60 marks (15%) is available for the indirect assessment of the tasks.

The indirect assessment will be based on the collected data and/or observations, which will be marked by the SEC alongside the written paper.

Úna Moroney,

ISTA Biology Sub-committee Convenor

L.C. Chemistry: Update on draft specification

John Daly, ISTA Chemistry Sub-committee Convenor

A new chemistry sub-committee (table below) has been appointed and

met for the first time on Sat 12th April 2014. Many thanks to the outgoing committee for their work for the past five years.

Name School BranchJohn Daly

Blackrock College (retired)

Dublin

Lisa Darley

Loreto Sec. Sch., Navan

Dublin

Update on draft specificationThe Leaving Certificate Chemistry Specification has been further revised and modified following meetings with the NCCA held in October/December 2014. The ISTA remain very unhappy regarding the depth of treatment of the learning outcomes and have made numerous efforts to engage in dialogue with the NCCA to address these concerns. After much correspondence the NCCA finally agreed a date – Friday 25th April 2014 – to meet with ISTA representatives. In the interim the ISTA commissioned a report by Professor Áine Hyland (UCC) to compare the depth of treatment of specific topics on the senior science specifications with international specifications. The report was launched at the AGM in Galway and makes interesting reading. The ISTA requested that a final decision by NCCA council on approving the specifications be postponed until after the launch of the Hyland report. However, at its meeting of March 20th 2014 the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment approved the draft specification. This is to be sent to the Minister for Education and Skills.

StructureThe draft specification is structured into five units of study: Unit 1: ‘Scientific practices’ sets the context for the four units that follow. Unit 2. Properties, structure and bonding. Unit 3. Chemicals in action. Unit 4. Organic chemistry. Unit 5. Environmental chemistry

The curriculum specification is presented in the form of learning outcomes. The outcomes are statements of what the learner should know and be able to do having completed the unit of

study. There are five skills identified in the syllabus as central to teaching and learning across the curriculum at senior cycle. These skills are (i) information processing, (ii) being personally effective, (iii) communicating, (iv) critical and creative thinking and (v) working with others. The key skills are embedded in the learning outcomes of the syllabus and will be assessed in the context of learning outcomes.

Specified practical activitiesLearners are required to complete and report on a number of specified practical activities. These activities are included as learning outcomes in the specification and are denoted by an asterisk. There is no particular method specified for these activities. The activities are planned and carried out in groups and reported on individually. Where appropriate, these reports should include video, audio, and electronic graphical analysis.

During the course of their study, as well as the specified practical activities, learners are required to research a topical issue in chemistry and plan and undertake a practical investigation related to the topical issue they have investigated. As of their investigation learners collaborate to gather and process data, evaluate evidence, and develop arguments. They read about current research and developments in science and relate their learning to the applications and implications of science for society and the environment. Learners collaborate to prepare and present a scientific communication describing the research question, methodology, results and conclusions of their open ended investigation. The reports on these practical activities are not directly assessed; however, the skills that learners develop as they carry them out and report on them are assessed in both the written and practical examination.

TechnologyTechnologies should be included in activities whenever it enhances student learning, for example by enabling students to complete work more efficiently or to complete work that could not otherwise be done. It should be used to collect, record, analyse and display data and information. Software simulations, virtual laboratories and games offer access to contexts for problem-solving and science investigations that are difficult to illustrate in other ways.

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AssessmentAssessment for certification is based on the aims, objectives and learning outcomes of the specification. Differentiation at the point of assessment is achieved through examinations at two levels — Ordinary Level and Higher Level.

Assessment componentsThere are two assessment components at each level: Total marks 400 • written examination (70%) 280 marks• assessment of practical work (30%) 120 marks.

Both components of assessment reflect the relationship between practical work and the theoretical content of the specification.

Overview of assessment

Mode Section Style Marks % of marks

Written 280 70%

Section A

Short answer questions; 16 with no

choice80 20%

Section B

Structured, 3 from 4 150 37.5%

Section C

Synoptic, 1 from 2 50 12.5%

Practical Practical assessment 120 30%

Written examinationThe written examination will be assessed at ordinary and Higher level. It will be made up of a range and balance of question types: short answer questions, open-ended answers and extended response questions. The questions will require learners to demonstrate knowledge, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating, and creating to an appropriate level. The key skills are embedded in the learning outcomes and will be assessed in the context of the learning outcomes.

The written examination paper will assess:• knowledge and recall of science facts, principles and methods• application of chemical knowledge and understanding from

different areas of the specification to familiar and unfamiliar situations

• scientific inquiry, formulation of hypotheses and design of investigations

• critical thinking, the ability to analyse and evaluate information and to form reasonable and logical argument based on evidence

• problem solving based on integration, analysis and evaluation of qualitative and quantitative information and data

• understanding the ethical, historical environmental and technological aspects of science, and how science contributes to the social and economic development of society

The written examination paper will be 2.5 hours long and will have three sections – A, B and C.

Section A: (80 marks (16x5) will consist of 16 short questions that address core chemistry topics across the entire specification. There is no choice in this section. The short questions focus on concepts and skills rather than on the recall of facts.

Section B: (150 marks (3x50) will consist of four structured questions from which students choose three. Although drawn from one area of chemistry, the structured include a variety of scientific ideas in the context of one chemical topic.

Section C: (50 marks) will consist of two synoptic questions from which students choose one. These questions will require learners to create knowledge across a number of learning outcomes. The questions are based on a context but draw from across different areas of the chemistry specification.

Practical assessmentThe laboratory-based examination is a 90 minute performance assessment and is a combination of direct and indirect assessment. This will be assessed at common level but a differentiated marking scheme may apply.

Learners carry out a series of short tasks based on the specified practical activities. As they carry out their task, students are observed by an external examiner who will award 60 marks (15%) directly.

A further 60 marks (15%) is available for the indirect assessment of the tasks.

At points indicated in the examination, students call the examiner over, at which time the examiner awards marks directly according to a marking scheme. The indirect assessment will be based on the collected data and/or observations, which will be marked by the SEC alongside the written paper.

Glossary of TermsAn appendix to the syllabus document contains a glossary of terms designed to clarify the learning outcomes throughout the specification. The action verb is described in terms of what the learner should be able to do. This glossary will be aligned with the command words used in the assessment.

Brief remarks from the ConvenorThe syllabus has many good points but is structurally flawed as it stands as has been clearly shown in the Hyland report.

With reference to the “Depth of Treatment” issue, the NCCA has had great difficulty taking on board more than two years of professional guidance and suggestions offered by the ISTA and other interested parties. It was hard to know if this was due to ideological reasons.

The latest hope is that the teacher guidelines that will attach to the learning outcomes on the electronic form of the syllabus will be acknowledged by the NCCA and the SEC as setting clear boundaries for required learning and for assessment.

It has also been made clear recently that the support material for the learning outcomes will be in place before the new syllabus specifications are introduced to schools.

The exact form of the second mode of assessment has to be determined and is to be trialled. The ISTA is pleased to learn that there will be an external oversight of the NCCA trialling. John Daly

Any comments can be submitted to John Daly (ISTA Chemistry convenor)

E mail: [email protected]


L.C. Physics: Update on draft specification

Seán Finn, ISTA Physics Sub-committee Convenor

As you may be aware, over the past five years the NCCA has been convening meetings of the physics course committee to work on

a revised draft of the Leaving Certificate physics syllabus or as they are now called ‘specification’. Two years ago a process of consultation took place. You may have contributed directly or via the ISTA. In light of the public consultation some changes were made to the specification. After the consultation the status of the committees changed and changes were made to the specification in advance of any meetings. A new group was formed called the physics subject development group Minutes of many of these meetings were not taken.It became clear to the convenor that our concerns with the lack of depth of treatment were not being listened to and resisted. In later meetings when minutes were being taken our concerns were not even registered in the minutes. After some debate these views were recorded. In any case it was made clear to me that if I did not approve of the syllabus that it did not really matter. There remains a concern that the physics syllabus it unclear in terms of depth of treatment.

The ISTA council has launched a concerted effort to make the concerns of the convenors of Biology, Chemistry and Physics listened to before we sleep walk into teaching these syllabuses. It is not until teachers have to teach these syllabuses that they will really engage in the lack of depth of treatment. In addition the simultaneous introduction of practical assessment in all three science subjects in parallel with Junior Cycle reform has not been thought through and will place overworked teachers under even more pressure considering that we do not have laboratory technicians. However due to the traditional nature of physics the specification is not as uncertain as in chemistry or biology.StructureThere has not been a huge change in the content in physics. The course is broken into five units. Unit 1: ‘Scientific practices’ sets the context for the four units that follow. Unit 2 Wave motion. Strings, pipes resonance and sound intensity are not mentioned on the proposed specification. Seismology has been removed . Unit 3 Electricity, Magnetism and Heat. Charles law is new to this section. There is no mention of capacitance or induction. Material that was previously in the option has been integrated such as the relay, d.c. motor and the induction motor. Unit 4 Forces and motion. Simple harmonic motion, moments and Archimedes principle removed. Circular motion is on the ordinary level course. ( I thought that this was a misprint and when I informed the NCCA about this in the final drafting process it remains higher level in the final draft). A section on the formation of galaxies stars and planets has been added. Unit 5 Modern physics. Particle physics is no longer an option. More detail on force communication between particles, Big Bang theory, life cycle of stars and how fusion in stars leads to the formation of heavier elements included . Again much of this material is on the course for ordinary level.

Specified practical activitiesLearners are required to complete and report on a number of specified practical activities. These activities are included as learning outcomes in the specification and are denoted by an asterisk. There is no particular method specified for these activities. The activities are planned and carried out in groups and reported on individually. Where appropriate, these reports should include video, audio, and electronic graphical analysis. There are 23

listed activities but as is the case of Junior Science the real number of activities is closer to 40. Learning outcomes that were most suitable to be carried out by simulation became mandatory students activities, such as frequency versus photocurrent for a photocell.

Assessment: Written examinationThe written examination will be assessed at ordinary and Higher level. It will be made up of a range and balance of question types: short answer questions, open-ended answers and extended response questions. The written examination will be assessed at Ordinary and Higher level. It will be made up of a range and balance of question types: short answer questions, open-ended answers and extended response questions.

The written examination paper will be 2.5 hours long and will have three sections – A, B and C. The table below shows the breakdown of the questions and the marks.Section A: The short questions focus on concepts and skills rather

than on the recall of facts.Section B: Although drawn from one area of physics.Section C: Synoptic questions which require learners to synthesise

knowledge across a number of learning outcomes. The questions are based on a context but draw from across different areas of the specification.

Assessment of PracticalThe laboratory-based examination is a 90 minute performance assessment and is a combination of direct and indirect assessment. This will be assessed at common level but a differentiated marking scheme may apply.

Learners carry out a series of short tasks based on the specified practical activities. As they carry out their task, students are observed by an external examiner who will award 60 marks (15%) directly. A further 60 marks (15%) is available for the indirect assessment of the tasks. At points indicated in the examination, students call the examiner over, at which time the examiner awards marks directly according to a marking scheme. The indirect assessment will be based on the collected data and/or observations, which will be marked by the SEC alongside the written paper.

Final word from the Convenor. There are many good points about the current draft of the specification. I personally would like to have removed more optics and retained some of the mechanics sections lost. Some material is not suitable for ordinary level candidates. There is a lack of clarity in the depth of treatment of topics. The Hyland Report has shown that we are out line with best international best practice in this regard. Having met with the NCCA it was clear that they did not engage with the contents of the report.

The current proposal in to enhance an online version of the specification with teachers guidelines which will have input from the subject developments groups and clarification will be issues about their status with the SEC and the DES. In addition the guidelines will be available before the teaching of the subject starts. The Council of the ISTA will meet on early May to discuss the matter.

The practical assessment is to be trialled in 2014-2015 which is welcome.

Seán Finn

www.ista.ie20

Junior Cycle ScienceSubcommittee Convenor Report

Yvonne Higgins, Junior Cycle Science Sub-committee Convenor

Subcommittee membersYvonne Higgins, Convenor Sligo Branch Elaine Doyle Dublin BranchDorothy Fox Kildare BranchDamien Allen Kildare BranchBarry Speight Cork BranchDeclan Kennedy (Advisor) Cork Branch

New Junior Cycle Science – an overview:Science is not a core subject in the new Junior Cycle and hence is allocated 200 hours of contact time. 200 hours over three years is equivalent to three class periods per week. Science as a non-core subject will be examined at a common level.

40% of the final assessment for the subject specification will be allocated to school-based coursework which will be marked by teachers in schools. The remaining 60% will be allocated to a final examination in 3rd year. Initially, this examination will be drawn up by the SEC; it is envisaged that teachers will design the final examination at a local level in later years.

The NCCA Junior Cycle Science Development Group has met seven times so far in this academic year. The following report outlines the work of the Development Group so far.

Meeting 1, 22nd October 2013The Background document to the new Junior Cycle Science was discussed. The groups represented at the meeting were: NCCA, ASTI, TUI, ISTA, JMB, Community Schools, ETB, National Parents’ Council.

Meeting 2, 25th November, 2013Dr Paul van Kampen, DCU, was installed as Chairperson of the subject specification development group.The Aims and Rationale for the new subject specification were drawn up. The NCCA provided the members of the committee with a number of options for the structure of the syllabus.

Meeting 3, 16th January, 2014Two new members joined the committee, representing IBEC and the Science Gallery. Feedback on the online consultation process carried out by the NCCA on the new Junior Cycle subject specification was provided.

The main order of business at Meeting 3 was the development of the subject specification details. It was agreed that ‘Nature of Science’ be included as an overarching strand of the new Junior Cycle subject specification. The new subject specification will contain the following four strands:

(1) Physical world (2) Materials (3) Biological world (4) Earth and space.

These strands will be designed under each of the following four elements:1. Building blocks and key ideas2. Systems and structures3. Energy4. Stewardship

Preliminary outlines for each of these strands were developed. There will be a link in Curriculum Online for annotated classroom activities. All links in the online curriculum will be included on hard copy PDF. There was a brief discussion of assessment.

Meetings 4, 5, 6 (11th February, 13th March and 8th April 2014)The Development Group worked on the Learning Outcomes for each of the strands and elements of the subject specification. Assessment was discussed.

Dr. Gerry Hyde of the State Examinations Commission provided the Development Group with sample questions that could be used to assess the new subject specification. These questions were designed to examine students understanding of key concepts in science and whether they could apply the knowledge they had gained rather than merely recall specific facts. The questions contained elements that would test students of different ability.

It is proposed that a performance assessment be held at the end of second year and that in February of third year, students would present two pieces of evidence of learning. One piece should be a scientific investigation and the other could be either an issues-based investigation or a ‘design and make’ project.

Meetings 7, 30th April, 2014Assessment of the school-based component was discussed at this meeting. Two alternative modes of assessing student practical work were discussed: (i) a terminal practical examination and (ii) assessment of students by their teacher on a continuous basis during 2nd year and 3rd year as students carry out their normal practical work. No agreement was reached on which mode would be adopted and this will be discussed at the next and final Development Group meeting scheduled for Friday, 9th May.

School-based assessment will account for 40% of the total mark awarded to students. This will encompass the marks allocated to student practical work and those for two pieces of evidence of a student’s work from 2nd year or 3rd year.

Yvonne Higgins, Junior Cycle Science subcommittee convenor

Any member wishing to forward comments may contact Yvonne at [email protected]


Leaving Certificate Sciences: the next generation

Anne Looney

Work has recently been completed on the next generation of Leaving Certificate Science courses. After seven years of

deliberation, consultation, debate (and contestation!) new specifications for curriculum and assessment in physics, chemistry and biology were recently sent by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to the Department for Education and Skills. As would be expected, ISTA nominees have played a key role in all phases of the work, and have been active participants in all phases of consultation. ISTA’s committed engagement to the development of science education is well-documented and highly visible. The practical realities of this – travel to meetings, participation in weekend and evening conferences, drafting and compiling documentation and engagement with colleagues– are not a little demanding on those already working full-time in classrooms and labs. For all of that professional – and voluntary –engagement, I want to express my thanks and those of the executive and members of the NCCA. I also want to avail of this opportunity to discuss recent debates about the new specifications and to bring you up to speed on the next phase of NCCA’s work. Importantly, the specifications were approved provisionally, pending work on trialling the proposed practical work and on the generation and publication of support material. We will again call on the professional experience and commitment of ISTA members in both of those strands of work. The State Examinations Commission will lead the work on trialling, and the NCCA will take the lead on support materials. However, both organisations will be working closely together, and with stakeholders, throughout the work ahead.

In recent years, the relationship between the development of curriculum and assessment by the NCCA and the development of the state examinations by the SEC has been strengthened through standing arrangements and joint research. Quality education systems feature strong alignment between the aspirations and objectives of curriculum and the examinations process, even in high stakes settings. This is particularly important in high stakes contexts such as the Leaving Certificate so that those ‘high stakes’ can have a positive impact in ensuring that the examinations support the kinds of learning experiences envisaged in the curriculum. Thus, in trialling the practical assessment proposed, SEC and NCCA will be looking at not just the logistics and support needed to run the practicals, but at student and teacher response and feedback on whether the tasks deliver that curriculum and assessment alignment needed. If they don’t, then we will need to revisit the design.

Quality needs alignment. Alignment requires clarity. In a recent meeting with NCCA, your executive emphasised that teachers too need clarity. Teachers need to be clear about what

students need to know and be able to do, and they also need to be clear that it is the knowledge and skills described in the learning outcomes that will be assessed in the examinations at the end of the course. There is some anxiety however, that support materials to be developed in the next phase of work to exemplify and support learning outcomes, or to suggest classroom approaches, might confuse rather than clarify, or, worse, might give rise to ‘content creep’ by adding ever more to what teachers need to ‘cover’ and what students need to learn and be able to do.

The next generation science specifications will be the first Leaving Certificate courses to be hosted on curriculumonline, the new interactive curriculum and assessment portal. Moving away from paper affords a chance to connect learning outcomes to support material where necessary and where relevant. Clicking or scrolling over the outcome will reveal the material beneath. Some of that material will be video, some text, or some may even be external links. It will be in place before teachers begin teaching the new courses. More importantly, given recent debates, some learning outcomes will be linked to additional explanation or comment relevant for teaching and learning, and for examination. Such material, which will be agreed with SEC, will clearly indicate that it can feature in the LC examination.

In developing the kinds of test items needed to support the innovations in the new courses, the SEC will draw on the latest research and practice in assessment and testing. We can expect new kinds of questions; these are new courses drawing on new approaches to science education. But they will be based on the course as specified and as published on www.curriculunonline.ie. Of that, the ISTA, parents, and students can be certain.

In publishing the new courses in this way, new ground is being broken, new processes developed and we have moved to a new chapter in curriculum and assessment design in Ireland. In line with international practice, as presented in Prof Áine Hyland’s recent review, teachers will have a chance to engage with learning outcomes and support materials. Unlike some other international practice, teachers have been and will continue to be involved in the development of those outcomes and support materials. In support of that engagement, the agencies involved are committed to providing the clarity and alignment that gives teachers the professional confidence to embark on the exploration and enquiry that is at the heart of these new courses. To embark on inquiry, teachers and students need to embrace something of the unknown. It is ironic, but true, that taking that step requires a sure sense of direction.

Anne LooneyCEO NCCA

www.ista.ie22

I took part in a workshop recently entitled ‘Enhance your Science Teaching with

Hands-on Science Inquiry Activities’ conducted by Rory Geoghegan and Jim Salisbury under the ESTABLISH project. I found the workshop to be excellent. The workshop was primarily maths and physics based. A variety of objects were made combining maths and physics together from moving carousels to flapping butterflies. Rather than be taught how to teach the activities, we were the students and simply given the materials and told to figure out how to make the required shape. Truth be told, I found it difficult initially but I picked it up quickly once I got into it. What I enjoyed most from it was the maths being used for a purpose. By going to the workshop we were given many new and interesting ideas to try out as well as templates for the day’s activities.

Having participated in the workshop I tried the activity out with my transition year students. The class was split into 10 groups of two. I showed them the desired product — a carousel. The task was then considered in sections, with a little guidance on the board to help make it more manageable: the base of the carousel, the middle section and the top of the carousel. The necessary information was given to the students and it was up to them to apply the

IBSE Workshop in UCCRyan Gallagher

information using various formulas, e.g. radius of circle for the conical top. The activity was hands-on and I adopted the IBSE approach to the lesson. I found I had little to do but assist the students now and then.

This activity is ideal for transition years as the maths and science would have been done previously in Junior Cert. The activity took two double lessons but could be stretched longer if desired. A great bonus is that you do not need a lab to do the activity — a normal classroom will suffice. The group I had were all girls and they loved it. So I have no doubt it would be ideal for all. Sourcing the material wasn’t difficult as the mini motors were already in the school and the rest were just household items and pieces of card. The activity is very cost effective for schools.

I found students were more interested in the maths as they could see its practical applications. The activity can be as good as the students make it, meaning all abilities are able to complete it. In fact I noticed one particular student who generally has little interest in maths take charge and make one of the better carousels of the day. The exercise also allowed students to see a more fun side of physics and maths. The girls were delighted that they got to use superglue and a saw to cut small pieces of wood. And of course there was great student interaction and teamwork taking place.

Ryan GallagherPDE Student, UCC

I have just received the Editor’s request for items for the next issue of SCIENCE. As well,

I have just been helping my granddaughter with some physics, with which she is struggling. I had been explaining resonance, which she didn’t quite understand, and we have just done the following experiment. (I might mention here that you need to be musical for success.)

Open up the top lid of a piano. Play say, middle C and retain the note in you mind. Now press and hold the piano’s sustaining (right-hand) pedal;; this removes the dampers from the strings leaving them free to vibrate. Now sing (loudly) middle C into the piano for a second or two. The piano ‘sings’ middle C back to you, as the strings with the same natural frequency resonate (i.e., vibrate with the same frequency) with the note sung to it. (Men singers are more likely to have greater volume by singing tenor C (an octave lower) and so the experiment will be more effective.)

Now I know that you’re not likely to find a piano in the lab but the experiment will work (though not so well) with a guitar or a violin. Use the lowest string on the instrument for maximum effect.

Alternatively describe the experiment to the class and those pupils who are interested can try it on a school or home piano.

Randal Henly, former science teacher at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, Dublin, and longtime Editor of SCIENCE.

A resonance demonstration

Randal Henly


Two Transition Year pupils from Presentation Secondary school, Tralee, Aoife Sheehan and Hannah O’Connor (pictured) met with

representatives from the Health and Safety Authority in their Dublin headquarters, to discuss the findings of their BT Young Scientist project, “The Dangers

of Household Chemicals to Young Children”. Representatives of the National Poison Information Centre of Ireland also attended the event. Senior Chemicals Inspector, Ms. Yvonne Mullooly said “Hannah and Aoife’s research is of interest to the Authority and the National Poison Information Centre as it has raised the very important issue of awareness levels around the dangers of household cleaners and detergents, particularly in relation to children between the ages of 0-5 years. There are a variety of potentially harmful substances that are often too accessible in the home to children – everything from cleaning products such as dishwasher liquidtabs (which the Authority, the National Poison Information Centre and the National Consumer Agency issued a joint safety alert on in 2013) to medicines with could have potentially lethal consequences for children.

Chemicals used in the home or in school can be potentially dangerous therefore they should always be handled with care and stored safely and securely. The packaging and labels of laboratory chemicals and household chemical products contains important information about their hazards and safe use so it is important to read the labels carefully.

Hannah and Aoife’s project highlighted the low level of awareness around the meaning of hazard symbols on everyday chemicals. Hazard symbols are images on a label that are intended to provide information about the damage a particular substance or mixture can cause to our health or the environment. With the introduction of the new symbols on labels, that is currently underway, it is hoped that it will be easier for teachers, pupils and consumers to know the dangers associated with chemicals. The new symbols called pictograms are in line with the United Nations Globally Harmonised System for labelling and by 2017 the old symbols should have completely disappeared.

TY students bring the chemical safety message to the HSA

Yvonne Higgins

Labels on products are there to make users aware of how to stay safe. The instructions should be taken seriously - they are there for the user’s safety! In saying that prevention is always the best approach and all chemicals, be they in the school, home, garden or farm should be kept in a secure area and away from children.”

The Authority has just launched its own on-line learning portal, http://hsalearning.ie which will host its current courses and all future e-learning courses. There are a number of courses hosted there aimed at post-primary teachers. The short course entitled, ‘Managing Safety in the Science Laboratory’ is free of charge and accessible 24/7. A certificate of completion is downloadable following on-line assessment.

Senior cycle students can also take the 90 minute on-line course ‘Get-Safe, Work Safe’, which is ideal for Transition Year, LCVP and LCA students as preparation for the world of work. Teachers can set up groups of students and monitor their progress on-line. The on-line course can be taken as a stand-alone module or as part of the wider Choose Safety programme and Transition Unit. A certificate of completion can also be downloaded following the on-line assessment.

For further useful aids and information on chemical safety, check out some of the following:

Old Symbols New Pictograms

Video: Dangerous Chemical Symbols: http://www.napofilm.net/en/napos-films/multimedia-film-episodes-listing-view?set_language=en&filmid=napo-012-danger-chemicals

Health & Safety Authority publications: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Publications_and_Forms/Publications/

Chemical and Hazardous Substances: Laundry Liquid Capsules alert: http://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Safety_Alerts/Chemical_Safety_Alert_for_Laundry_Liquid_Tablets_Capsules_Pods.html

Useful website links: http://www.poisons.ie/

Chemicals in our life: http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/chemicals-in-our-life/how-can-i-use-chemicals-safely

www.ista.ie24

Discussion forums for Science Teachers

Noel Cunningham

Sharingscience Sharingscience is an online discussion forum for science teachers at all levels in Irish education. It currently has between 300 and 400 members and the number is growing all the time. So whether you’re looking for marking schemes for old mock papers, advice on how to teach a specific topic or just want to have a rant about the Junior Cert Coursework B project booklet, make sure to sign up by passing your email address to [email protected] are also forums for all the leaving cert science subjects so be sure to mention which of these you want to join when signing up. And if you’re already on the SharingScience forum and find it useful, help spread the word!

Why do we hide the wonder in science?

Like many (most?) science teachers I am passionate about science. Students come in to secondary school all fired up about the subject and can’t wait to get stuck in. But by the end of third year many of them can’t wait to be rid of it. Why?

Doubtless the teenage years have a part to play, as does the fact that some of the material is counterintuitive. But there’s more to it than this. A passing glance at any science syllabus would suggest that this material is boring in nature, when we know the opposite to be the case. Why is this and why do we as teachers not kick up a fuss? I used to think that this only bothered me and to this day I know of very few other teachers who have raised it as an issue on any stage.

Which is why, when I come across others (invariably non-teachers) referring to the problem I tend to squirrel away their comments and use them as backup when the occasion calls for it.

With the science subjects at leaving cert level currently up for review, along with the proposed scrapping of the current junior cert program, I believe that this is just such an occasion:

We are deprived by our stupid schooling system of most of the wonders of the world, of the skills and knowledge required to navigate it, above all of the ability to understand each other. George Monbiot

Students today are often immersed in an environment where what they learn is subjects that have truth and beauty embedded in them but the way they’re taught is compartmentalised and it’s drawn down to the point where the truth and beauty are not always evident. It’s almost like that old recipe for chicken soup where you boil the chicken until the flavour is just . . . gone. David Bolinsky (creator of “Visualising the wonder of a living cell” – look for it on YouTube)

I devour popular science, finding its history and its wonder a constant delight. . . . It is a mystery how so many science teachers can be so bad at their jobs that most children of my acquaintance cannot wait to get shot of the subject. I am tempted to conclude that maths and science teachers want

only clones of themselves, like monks in a Roman Catholic seminary. Simon Jenkins writing in The Guardian newspaper

It was as if he [a science textbook author] wanted to keep the good stuff secret by making all of it soberly unfathomable. As the years passed, I began to suspect that this was not altogether a private impulse. There seemed to be a mystifying universal conspiracy among textbook authors to make certain the material they dealt with never strayed too near the realm of the mildly interesting and was always at least a long-distance phone call from the frankly interesting. Bill Bryson writing in the introduction to his best-selling popular-science book A Short History of Nearly

Everything.

How to solve the problem with Java not working on school computersJava is a program that is associated with a number of simulations useful when teaching Science. The latest version of Java caused a problem in that the security settings on our school computers wouldn’t allow the simulations to run.

The solution turned out to be very simple.

Click on the “Start” button and type “Java” into the search box. “Configure Java” should be in the list. Click on thisA window should pop up called “Java Control Panel”.Click on the ‘Security’ tab.Drag the slider down to the bottom (least secure setting).Click “Apply”.

Thanks go to David Hobson for helping me out with this.Noel Cunningham, King’s Hospital, Co Dublin

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On October 15th the ISTA hosted an evening for PDE students who are training

to teach science subjects. The event was held in Sandford Park School and gave the students the opportunity to learn from the experienced members of the Association. The evening was broken into two parts: the first was dedicated to Physics whilst the second allowed the group to focus on the Chemistry and Biology aspects of their teaching. Each session introduced the students to new styles of teaching which incorporated interactive, innovative and interesting ways to engage pupils with the syllabus.

For someone with a background in Biology, the Physics and Chemistry elements of the sessions were extremely helpful. By using engaging experiments the group was shown how to take the theory behind topics such as the light spectrum out of the text book and into the minds of the pupils. For the Biology and Chemistry sections the potential to ‘spark’ a new interest from material that is otherwise already known to most students proved popular amongst the PDEs. This section continued by highlighting new techniques to teach the more complicated elements of the course through the use of everyday items such as string to illustrate the length of the various parts of the digestive system.

The methods shown at this event proved immediately useful as the student teachers returned to the classroom the following day to captivate the minds of their pupils. An added bonus to the evening was that the event allowed the student teachers to network and share ideas amongst themselves.

Seosamh Ó Braonáin, Wesley College, Dublin

PDE night inDublin Branch

Seosamh Ó Braonáin

New Science-on-Stage videos

Paul Nugent

The Irish Science on Stage team have added another 65 videos to www.scienceonstage.ie. This brings the total to 194.

The videos are based on demonstrations and teaching ideas contained in the popular Physics on Stage and Science on Stage booklets produced by the Irish teams that attended the Physics on Stage (POS) and Science on Stage (SOS) european festivals from 2000 to 2013.

The videos are available in Gaeilge and English.

The production of these videos have been possible by the sponsorship of:

Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching & Learning (CASTeL) at DCU,

The Institute of Physics in Ireland (IoPI).

Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST).

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Institute of Physics Frontiers of Physics

2014

Annual Conference for Teachers of Physics,

including Junior Science Teachers

Saturday 27th September.School of Physical Sciences,

Dublin City University

This year’s Institute of Physics teachers’ Conference will take place in DCU. It will be a day of lectures, demonstrations, workshops, resources and networking for all teachers of physics.The keynote presentation will be delivered by Prof Frank Close OBE, FinstP, Exeter College, University of Oxford. There will be other guest presenters from UK, Canada and Ireland. A discussion will take place on the 2014 Physics papers and marking schemes, which will form the basis of the Institute of Physics report to the SEC.

Frontiers of Physics 2014

Paul Nugent

www.ista.ie26

Can Sat Ireland competition – a teacher’s perspective

Anne O’Dea

Little did I expect when I embarked on my teaching career that I would be taking a group of students to have their satellite fired upwards

1 km into the sky at a location 300 km into the Arctic Circle. Yet that is what now awaits us.While attending the Institute of Physics Conference last October I learned from Stephanie O’Neill, the ESERO Ireland manager (www.esero.ie), of the plans for the Irish Cansat Competition 2014. Following discussion with my colleague Frank Murphy, we decided to promote the idea to the Fifth Years since we believed that their limited knowledge of the physical sciences would be a significant advantage over the T Y students. The difficulty of course is that the project requires a major commitment from the students, teachers and mentors. Team meetings and planning were confined mainly to lunch time and after school although there were a few exceptions.

Computer programming and electronics are central to this project. Unlike my colleague Frank, I do not have programming skills, so while I helped coordinate meetings I basically had to place my trust in the students as they learned this new skill from Frank and the mentors Cathal Ó Lionaird and John Blake from ON Semiconductors. James Ryan and Eimear O’Sullivan who are past pupils of the school and also past participants in the competition also helped a great deal.

Progress was slow at the start as it was only just unfolding before the students knew exactly what was required of them. I had to be patient and try to promote this attribute in the team also. The whole idea of calibration of sensors and the subsequent testing is entirely new for any fifth year and in fact for many teachers also.

We participated in the Munster regional competition with the result that transport had to be organised for the various Friday evening workshops which took place in Cork. The support offered by Eamon Connolly and Brenda Cooper from Cork Electronics Industries Association at the workshops was of huge benefit.

Despite the difficulties, Cansat is the most exciting project at Second Level. Even at the Regional competition, there was a great sense of achievement when the quadcopter carried our cansat 50 m above the Astro Turf at Cork Institute of Technology and data streamed into the laptop. The venue for the National Final was perfect, set against the backdrop of the giant telescope at Birr Castle. While racing after the students to find their cansat which had been ejected from the rocket, as a teacher I had a real sense of satisfaction as this was actual science in action.

I have been amazed by the ability of the students to absorb the new concepts and to face up to the challenges posed by this project such as making a parachute, writing code, communicating effectively to an audience of 1000 students and constructing a working satellite.

This project promotes the sense of adventure in science, a sense which can get lost in the frantic race for CAO points.

There is now a greater interest and curiosity among all the school population in the physical sciences.

Finally, as we head to Norway, and carry the responsibility of representing our country I hope that we will do justice to all those other teams who competed in our own National Final. I hope that our satellite will fulfil its primary and secondary missions. I hope that other students will be inspired to take up the challenge just as Team Candroid has done and to expand and explore new horizons. My wish is that the entire adventure, since it started last October, will be a memory which our students will cherish for the rest of their lives.

Anne O’DeaCrescent College Comprehensive SJ, Limerick

For more information on CanSat 2015 please contact Stephanie O’Neill on 01 607 3014 or [email protected] www.esero.ie


From atoms being forged in stars to the forces that attract neighbouring Cheerios in

your milky cereal bowl, physics seeks to know the universe. A quest built on curiosity, fuelled by creativity, with results that have shaped and explained the world we live in.This is not, however, the common perception of physics.People see physics as ugly, unnecessary, and not for them – a specialist subject taken by a brainy few at school with topics that touch on the obscure and odd. For some, physics only means “a bad result in the Leaving Cert” [quote from a DART commuter].

DARTofPhysics is a science outreach programme whose aim was to change that perception by capturing the beauty of physics for DART commuters. From October to December 2013, twelve statements and challenges appeared in the advertisement space of Dublin’s DART trains and stations over an eight-week campaign. Each statement linked to our website (dartofphysics.ie) to zap commuters’ curiosities and start a city-wide conversation about physics.

On-board & On-lineDARTofPhysics was hugely successful. Up to 80,000 commuters saw the adverts every day on their journeys across Dublin. Social media, blogging, radio, TV and newspaper attention amplified our message that physics is interesting and accessible. On December 22nd alone, over 10,000 people visited dartofphysics.ie to ‘find out more’.

Dublin Commuters get ‘on-board’ with ‘DARTofPhysics’

Dr. Shane Bergin, Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield, Dr. Colette Murphy and Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin

There is a public appetite for physics that is sometimes suppressed by memories of learning off formulae at Junior and Leaving Cert. DARTofPhysics lifted many of the concepts learned at school from the two-dimensional pages of the book and brought them to the real world. Statements like ‘the Spire is colder when the weather is cool’ inspired commuters to visit the website and find out why that’s true – incidentally, over an average year the Spire’s height will vary by about 4.5cm! Asking ‘How many leaves fall in Dublin every autumn?’ provided a context for an arithmetic problem which encouraged people to hypothesise and

estimate the number of trees in Dublin, the number of branches on each tree and number of leaves on each branch. Posing the question ‘Why does the metal

pole feel colder than the seat?’ was a particular favourite with commuters who were inspired to visit the website to find out why. We wanted to show the real life context of our theoretical physics questions.

Other statements such as ‘We are all made of stardust’, ‘You are attracted to everyone on this DART...gravitationally’ and ‘A trip on the DART keeps you young’ were intended to motivate the commuter into thinking more deeply about concepts of astrophysics and general relativity, whilst arousing their curiosity in the science of the world around them.

Over the 8 weeks, the website dartofphysics.ie was a hub of the outreach project. Blogs were posted daily by people who use physics in their jobs on topics as diverse as the colour of peacock’s feathers, to weather forecasting, and working for NASA. We profiled undergraduates, engineers, teachers and researchers, keen to dispel the Sheldon Cooper image of what it’s like to be a physicist.

An Informed PublicIn the 19th century, people followed advances in science as they did the latest trends in literature, music or art. Faraday, Kelvin, and Darwin were household names and the person on the street regularly attended public science lectures. However, the public fell out of love with science as the perception of it changed from being an extension of curiosity to a weapon of war in the first half of the 20th century. Scientists no longer publicly aired their findings and views and in return, the public stopped seeing them as passionate mavericks with radical opinions but rather as war-mongers. A half century of bad press by both physicists and observers cut the public off.

In recent years however, we see a growing interest in science and physics with more research findings being shared publically and more media coverage of physics. Finding the Higgs boson at CERN (also the birthplace

www.ista.ie28

DARTofPhysics in ClassPre-service science teachers in Trinity College Dublin used the DARTofPhysics statements as the basis of lesson plans and students enjoyed experiencing another aspect of physics. We hope that other teachers will utilise the website as a creative resource within their classroom and we plan to share lesson plans incorporating the statements with science teachers on-line via www.dartofphysics.ie. Teachers have shared with us feedback from some of their post-primary students who were asked whether they now saw physics differently.

“Yes, I didn’t realize physics is used in the outside world”

“Yes, because when you think of physics it seems boring, but it’s actually interesting.”

What’s next? We invented DARTofPhysics to spark this conversation by putting simple, but beautiful, physics statements in a public space. It got Dublin talking, debating, and arguing about physics, bridging the divide between the Joe on the DART with the Josephine in the lab.

We are delighted with the campaign and would like to thank all of those who supported the DARTofPhysics initiative: Science Foundation Ireland, Metro Herald, Irish Rail DART, Intel, Institute of Physics, School of Physics and School of Education in Trinity College Dublin.

Dr. Shane BerginAoibhinn Ní ShúilleabháinDr. Cole e Murphy

Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield

of the Internet) was one of the defining international news items of 2012. The Higgs boson is a hypothesised particle which corresponds to the Higgs field (like the photon corresponds with an electromagnetic field) but which interacts with particles and contributes to the forces they experience by giving them mass. In two corroborating experiments at CERN, scientists found evidence of a particle with the predicted energy of the Higgs boson which fits the Standard Model. Stories like the recent observation of gravitational waves, ripples in space time which are likely to be remnants of the big bang, now make the morning headlines. More and more students are choosing to study physics according to ‘The Cox Effect’ following the success of television programmes such as Stargazing with Brian Cox and Dara Ó Briain.

Funding for science, and in particular physics, has grown at extraordinary rates. Governments are conscious that throughout history, technological advances have given nations economic advantages. Today we see governments investing enormous amounts of money into scientific research, but for the euros spent on research to truly make an impact on society, we need a more scientifically literate populace: a nation that talks about science and contributes to the conversation, connecting the professor to the factory manager, the teacher, the politician, and the parent.

Information DARTOn December 3rd, we held a ‘DARTofPhysics LIVE!’ day where over 100 physics undergraduate students spent the day at Pearse DART station interacting with DART users. By explaining the physics behind the statement and using physics instruments such as the van de Graff generator to investigate physics topics, these students brought DARTofPhysics to life for rail users. A competition was also held for rail users to tweet (@DartofPhysics) or FaceBook (DARTofPhysics) anything with #dartofphysics in order to win a new iPad.

In order to get feedback from DART users, we interviewed a number of commuters on their way home from work. While not everyone had noticed the cards, there was some very positive feedback on the “colourful” statements and “clever little questions”. People seemed very welcoming of seeing an educational campaign on their journey instead of the usual brand marketing and were generally positive about seeing visual science marketing.

It’s nice to see science that’s a bit

more current and a bit more in the media.

I think it was a really creative campaign, really

good for attention...to really get people thinking

about physics.

Even for kids sitting on the

DART it’s good that subconsciously things

might go in.


Assessment for Learning (AfL) in the science class

Maria Sheehan

The Assessment Reform Group (2002) gave this definition of assessment for

learning: ‘Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there’.

Figure 1: Summative assessment will not enhance the pupils learning in the manner formative assessment will. (‘You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it.’) There is a time and a place for both summative and formative assessment in the classroom. Assessment for learning and Assessment of Learning are interrelated and complementary approaches. Both approaches should be used simultaneously to give an overall picture of how the learner learns and what point they have reached in their learning. Table 1 highlights the main differences in Formative (Assessment for Learning) and Summative (Assessment of Learning).

Assessment for Learning is not something that is extra or “bolted on” that we have to do. Rather, it neatly integrates with our existing classroom practice.

Table 1: Summary of the differences between Formative and Summative assessment (Cruz, 2013)

Forma ve Summa veRelation to Instruction

Occurs during instruction Occurs after instruction

Frequency Occurs on an ongoing basis (daily)

Occurs at a particular point in time to determine what students know

Relating to grading

Not graded – information is used as feedback to students and teachers, mastery is not expected when students are first introduced to a concept

Graded

Students role Active engagements – self assessment

Passive engagements in design and monitoring

Requirements for use

• Clearly defined learning targets that students understand

• Clearly defined criteria for success that students understand

• Use of descriptive versus evaluate feedback

• Well designed assessment blue print that outlines the learning targets

• Well designed test items using best practice

Examples Examples include: interviews, evidence from work samples, paper and pencil tasks

Examples include: state assessment, end of unit assessment, common assessment

Purpose Designed to provide informa-tion needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are still occurring

Designed to provide infor-mation about the amount of learning that has occurred at a particular point.

Assessment for Learning involves the following key actions:• Sharing learning intentions;• Sharing and negotiating success

criteria;• Giving feedback to pupils;;• Effective questioning; and• Encouraging pupils to assess and

evaluate their own and others’ work.

(Northern Ireland Curriculum, 2012)

There are many strategies that the Science teacher can use to include Assessment for Learning (AfL) in their lessons; some of these strategies are outlined below.

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Table 2: Grouped strategies for implementing Assessment for Learning with examples of each type

Paper-‐based AfL strategies

Ques on-‐based AfL strategies

Gesture type AfL strategies

Reflec on type AfL strategies

Digital AfL strategies

∼ One-Sentence

Summary

∼ Graphic Organisers

∼ Exemplar Work

∼ Minute Paper

∼ Mid unit assessment

∼ Student marking

scheme

∼ Peer assessment

∼ Comment-only

marking

∼ X and Y

∼ Students Write/Ask

Ques ons∼ Invert the Ques on∼ Ques oning∼ Bouncing

∼ Wait-‐ me

∼ Traffic Lights∼ Thumbs Up

∼ Smiley Faces

∼ 2 stars and a wish

∼ Post It

∼ Feedback

sandwich

∼ KWL∼ Tell your

neighbour

∼ Muddiest point

∼ Socra ve (app)∼ Exam me

Paper-based AfL strategies

Strategy Type Descrip on

One-‐Sentence SummaryStudents write a sentence summarising their knowledge of a topic.

The sentence could have to include who, what when, why, how, where etc.

The sentences could then be peer-‐assessed and then re-‐dra ed.Graphic Organisers

Graphic organisers can be used to help your students clas-

sify ideas and communicate more effec vely.Example: A Fishbone

Many more graphic organisers can be found at: h p://www.pdst.ie/node/2827

Exemplar WorkApproach 1: When se ng students a piece of work, show them examples that make it clear what it is they are being asked to do – and what they need to do in order to meet the assessment

criteria.

Approach 2: Students could mark exemplar work using the assessment criteria. Students could

look at a poor , a medium and an excellent answer and recognise the features of the answer that

make one more powerful than the other. This will help model what is being asked for and how it

relates to the process of assessment

Minute PaperStudents iden fy the most significant (useful, meaningful, unlikely) thing they have learnt during the lesson or unit.

Mid unit assessment Having an assessment at the end of a unit may not provide me for you to go over areas students have struggled with, or in which there are general misconcep ons.

Timing assessment during a unit (i.e. lesson 5 of 7) allows me to review, reflect and revisit.

It also gives the teacher an opportunity to focus explicitly on areas of weak understanding

supported by evidence.

Student marking scheme

Ask students to produce their own mark-schemes either individually or in groups.

They can then peer- or self-assess work in accordance with these schemes.

By taking part in the process of assessment, students gain a deeper understanding of topics, the

process of assessment and what they are doing in their own work. This helps to make them more

aware of ‘what learning is’ and thus see their own learning in this way.

Peer assessment

Students mark each other’s work according to assessment criteria.

Encourages reflec on and thought about the learning as well as allowing students to see model work and reason past misconcep ons.Opportuni es to do this throughout individual lessons and schemes of work.


Question-based AfL strategies


Comment-only marking

Comment-only marking provides students with a focus for progression instead of a reward or

punishment. Comments should make it clear how the student can improve.

X and YAsk students why X is an example of Y

e.g. Why is Manganese Dioxide an example of a catalyst?

Ques oning in this way avoids factual recall and asks for the underlying reasoning to be made explicit.

Students Write/Ask Ques-ons

Students should write or ask ques ons. This can be done in a number of ways. For example –

About what they would like to know on a new topic

To ask the teacher or other students in order to assess their learning

To demonstrate their learning/misconcep ons/areas they would like to further exploreThe classroom could have a ques on box where students drop ques ons at the end of a lesson.

Invert the Ques onInstead of asking a ques on that requires factual recall, invert it to request explicit reasoning.e.g.

‘Is Gold an element?’ becomes

‘What does it mean for a substance to be an element?’

Ques oning

• Ask ‘open’ ques ons – to promote thinking• Increase ‘wait me’ • ‘No hands up’

• Allow students to confer

• Acknowledge and give feedback

• Have students formulate ques ons• Use of seen ques ons

BouncingBounce answers around the room to build on understanding and have students develop stron-

ger reasoning out of misconcep ons.e.g.

“Sean, what do you think of Sarah’s answer?”

“Colm, how could you develop Sarah’s answer to include more detail?”

“Fiona, how might you combine all we’ve heard into a single answer?”

Wait-‐ meWait me allows students me to think and therefore to produce answers. Also, not everyone in the class thinks at the same speed or in the same way – wai ng allows students to build their thoughts and explore what has been asked.

2 types of wait me – i) Teacher speaks and then waits before taking student responses.

ii) Student response ends and then teacher waits before responding. This gives the stu-

dent space to elaborate or con nue – or for another student to respond.

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Gesture type AfL strategiesStrategy Type Descrip onTraffic Lights

I don’t get it. I need some help understanding.

I think I understand but I need a li le support.

I understand and can try this on my own.

Thumbs UpCheck class understanding of what you are teaching by asking them to show their

thumbs.

Thumbs up = I get it

Thumbs half way = sort of

Thumbs down = I don’t get it

Smiley FacesStudents draw smiley faces to indicate how comfortable they are with the topic.

Ready to move on.

Understand some but not all.

Don’t understand and need to look at it again.

Reflection type AfL strategiesStrategy Type Descrip onPost It Use post-it notes to evaluate learning. Groups, pairs or individuals can

answer:

What have I learnt?

What have I found easy?

What have I found difficult? What do I want to know now?

Tell your neighbourStudents ‘tell their neighbour’ as a means of ar cula ng their thoughts.

Ask a ques on, give thinking me and then ask students to tell their neighbour their thoughts.

Tell students what the new topic is and then ask them to tell their neighbour

everything they know about it.

Muddiest point

Students write down one or two points on which they are unclear. This could

be from the previous lesson, the rest of the unit, the preceding ac vity etc. The teacher and class can then seek to remedy the muddiness.

2 stars and a wish For peer assessment, ask students to give two stars and a wish.

Two stars = two things that are good about the piece of work

A wish = something they can improve to make it even be er.

Feedback sandwich

Feedback can be delivered in different ways, two feedback ‘sandwiches’ are –

i) Posi ve comment Construc ve cri cism with explana on of how to improve

Posi ve commentii) Contextual statement – I liked….because….

Now/Next me… Interac ve statement e.g. a ques on based on the work.



KWL

What I KNOW about (the topic)What I WANT to know

What I have LEARNED

At the beginning of a topic pupils create a grid with three columns.

They begin by brainstorming and filling in the first two columns and then return to the third at the end of the unit (or refer throughout)

Digital AfL strategies (apps)


Socra ve*Socra ve is a student response systemSimilar to ‘clickers’ and ‘the ask the audience’ part of who want to be a millionaire

Exam me*Pupils can create electronic mind maps for individual topics

*These applications will be discussed in a future article

References

Assessment Reform Group (2002) ‘Assessment for Learning: 10 Principles’, University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.

Cruz, J (2013) ‘Informal vs. Formal Assessments: Tests are not the only end-all-be-all of how we assess.’ http://jeffreymdelacruz.wordpress.com/category/eds-113-principles-and-methods-of-assessment/ (accessed 21/10/2013).

Northern Ireland Curriculum, 2012 ‘Assessment for Learning for Key Stage 1 & 2’ http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/assessment_for_learning/training/afl-guidance-ks12.pdf (accessed 21/10/2013).

Dr Maria Sheehan

ISTA Honorary National Secretary

PDST Advisor

KWhat I KNOW

about (the topic)

WWhat I WANT to

know

LWhat I have LEARNED

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Every Lab should have ... a Vacu-Vin

Richard Fox

I am proposing to run a new series in “Science” that will give some suggestions to

teachers of relatively cheap apparatus that might demonstrate a phenomenon or promote discussion and imagination in the classroom. I would welcome emails of suggestions of apparatus to include in this series especially from Chemistry and Biology teachers.This time, to get the ball rolling I have chosen the Vacu-Vin, a device for keeping wine or food fresh, by using a technique perhaps first employed by Leighlinbridge’s John Tyndall in the 1800s. Apparently he prepared various concoctions of fish and meat and kept them in jars that had air and dust removed in an attempt to preserve them. I am told that some of Tyndall’s food is still on display in the Royal Institution in London. I purchased a fairly large Vacu-Vin on Amazon for the storage of coffee or tea. It cost about fifteen euro last year. It came with a suction pump to suck the air out of the container in order to help to keep things fresh.

Since then I have used it several times this year. It is not able to create as good a vacuum as a standard vacuum pump, however, they usually cost considerably more. The first use I found for it was to illustrate that sound does not travel through a vacuum. For this I used a buzzer, 9 V battery and I placed them in a small piece of sponge to minimize vibrations directly through the plastic of the Vacu-Vin. I switched the buzzer on, put it in the Vacu-Vin and connected the hand pump and pumped 20 or 30 times with the buzzer on. We could still

hear the buzzer, but only barely after the pumping and we did not have the noise of the vacuum pump to contend with.

The second experiment I tried with it was to illustrate that water boils at lower temperatures when the pressure is reduced. I can usually get water from the hot water tap to boil (about 50 ºC) if I place it in a small beaker with a thermometer in a bell jar, connect up to a vacuum pump and suck a lot of the air out, bubbling is clearly visible. With the Vacu-Vin, hot water from the tap would not work for me. I had to boil a kettle and use the water almost immediately (about 80 ºC). I placed it in a small beaker in the Vacu-Vin, pumped the air out and saw bubbling, not as vigorous as before, but it did work.

Lastly a nice one for five minutes at the end of a class sometime is to put a marshmallow in the Vacu-Vin and pump the air out. The marshmallow expands to almost twice its original size due to the decreased pressure in the container. This could also be done with a partially inflated balloon.

Richard Fox, Wesley College

Student2Scientist

Science Teacher workshops

open to ISTA members

Are you a science teacher in an

all-girls school looking for a way to

bring textbook science to life?

This might be just the thing for you. This summer, we are offering you a chance to partake in a free teacher development workshop that will help to train you to use computer science as a teaching tool. At the end of this one day workshop you will be able to create computer simulations to visualise scientific concepts. These simulations will be readily available on the Student2Scientist online portal for easy use in science classrooms across Ireland.

Workshop Dates: 27th June, 16th July or 13th August

Workshop Location: Trinity College Dublin

To sign up and for more information, please visit our website at student2scientist.org This initiative is kindly funded by: Google CS4HS project.

Student- 2-Scientist


Exploring our Energy — a programme for teaching energy in the primary science curriculum with supporting teacher workshopsPrimary School Teachers,

Bring renewed energy into your Science class with the new Exploring our Energy programme. It is designed to help primary school children learn about energy through the Science Curriculum and is now online http://www.seai.ie/Schools/Primary_Schools/Exploring_Our_Energy_Primary_Programme/

After school teacher workshops are available throughout the country to help you get started with the programme. To book a workshop for September 2014, email us [email protected]

The programme explores energy and science in a real world way, investigating how and why as a society, we need to develop new ways of looking at our energy resources. As with the Primary Science Curriculum, Exploring our Energy is based on a spiral approach, in which similar themes are explored at each class level. There are four programmes, one for each age group: Junior and Senior Infants, 1st and 2nd Class, 3rd and 4th Class, 5th and 6th Class. Each level has five chapters made up of lessons, interactive whiteboard resources and photocopiable masters (worksheets). There are PowerPoint slides for those teachers who do not have access to an interactive whiteboard.

Exploring our Energy has been developed by St Patrick’s College, Dublin.

Aoife CannonSEAI

Below: Teachers from St Declan’s, Ashbourne at SEAI workshop

New Resource for Teachers from SEAI

Aoife Cannon

A very enjoyable workshop was held in Summerhill College, Sligo on Wednesday the 5th February. John Daly, formerly of Blackrock College, presented a series

of twenty one exciting demonstrations.

These practical demonstrations dealt with a wide variety of topics including stoichiometry, bonding, pressure, diffusion, conductivity, combustion of gases, conservation of mass, electrolysis, catalysis, neutralisation reactions, levers, and energy levels and offered exciting ways of introducing such topics to the classroom. Furthermore, these thought provoking activities enable the teacher to address misconceptions commonly held by students regarding some of the above topics.

John presented each of the demonstrations in a way that teachers may easily reproduce in their own classrooms using basic materials readily available in an average school laboratory. Many of the demonstrations would also be very useful ‘open-day’ activities.

The first twenty people who registered for the workshop were provided with a Science ‘lucky-bag’ containing some of the resources relating to the demonstrations. This workshop proved to be one of the best attended activities organised by the ISTA in Sligo and it was great to see so many young teachers at the start of their careers present on the night. A number of the teachers commented that it was the most useful workshop they had ever attended! Everyone left thoroughly enthused by John’s dynamism.

John also presents a series of entertaining Science demonstrations as part of a ‘Science Magic Show’ to second level students. Should you wish to book John to present a similar workshop in your own locality or the ‘Science Magic Show’ in your own school, you may contact him at [email protected]

Finally, I wish to thank Mr. Tommy McManus, Principal of Summerhill College, for kindly allowing us the use of the gymnasium in his school for the running of the workshop.

Yvonne Higgins, Magh Ene College, Bundoran, Co. Donegal

Junior Science Presentation Workshop

Yvonne Higgins

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The 3rd annual Robert Boyle Summer School will run at Lismore, Co Waterford Ireland from 3rd – 6th July 2014.

The Robert Boyle Summer School is a four day retreat in the tranquil environs of Lismore heritage town. It will take place from 3rd–6th July 2013. A stimulating programme features leading speakers from around the world, panel discussions, a tour of Lismore Castle Gardens also a barbecue in the Castle Courtyard and a guided coach tour of West Waterford. It will attract people with an interest in history, heritage, philosophy and science. It is not a science conference, but a gathering where people of all backgrounds can meet and consider the place of science in our lives.

The school celebrates the life, work and legacy of Robert Boyle who was born in Lismore Castle. Boyle was a central figure in the development of modern science and ranks alongside Galileo, Descartes and Newton whose work ushered in the modern age. The school seeks to celebrate Boyle’s life and legacy and also to commemorate the place of science in the modern world. This year there will be a special focus on the relationships between science and religion and also talks by leading Irish scientists Lorraine Hanlon and Luke O’Neill.

Robert Boyle was born at Lismore Castle in 1627. The youngest son of Richard Boyle, the “Great Earl” of Cork, he was to become a follower of the “new experimental philosophy” and the greatest advocate of experimental science. He was initially attracted to alchemy and his book the Sceptical Chymist (1661) help set chemistry on course to become the scientific discipline we know today, earning him the title of the “Father of Chemistry”. Working in Oxford with his assistant Robert Hooke, he did the famous air pump experiments exploring air pressure and vacuum. Among other discoveries, he showed that sound needed a medium for transfer, that air was needed for combustion and essential for life. These phenomena are now considered so commonplace it is hard for the modern students to appreciate that they had to be once discovered. In 1662 he verified the relationship between pressure and volume of a closed volume of gas now known as Boyle’s Law. Boyle was deeply religious and felt

that science revealed the glories of God’s creation;; he also felt that science should be pursued to satisfy innate curiosity and to serve humanity. In his work on the Usefulness of Natural Philosophy (1663) he presents the potential benefits of science to mankind. Keenly interested in medicine he also did influential work in haematology and other areas of biology.

The Robert Boyle Summer School attracts teachers, academics, historians and people with a general interested in heritage and the development of ideas. This year the school will be addressed by leading experts and public commentators including Lawrence Principe (Drew Professor of the Humanities; Director, Singleton Center For The Study Of Premodern Europe and Chemistry Professor, Johns Hopkins University USA), John Hedley Brooke (Professor emeritus of Science and Religion, Oxford University), Terry Eagleton (Professor of Cultural Theory at the National University of Ireland) and scientists Luke O’Neill (Professor of Biochemistry TCD) and astrophysicist Professor Lorraine Hanlon UCD.

The fee for all talks is a remarkable value at €50.

There is a great deal to see in Lismore and the surrounding area where there is a rich heritage in science and great variety of beautiful landscape. A variety of accommodation is available in the area. More information can be found and booking can be made for all or individual events at www.robertboyle.ie

Eoin Gill is a lecturer at Waterford Institute of Technology and a director of Calmast (The Centre for the Advancement of Learning of Maths, Science and Technology)

The 3rd annual Robert Boyle Summer School

Eoin Gill


The State of Chemical Education in Ireland(Extracts)

Irish Chemical News is published by the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland. In the most recent issue (2014, issue 1, pp. 15 - 25) there is an excellent and wide-ranging article by Dr Peter Childs entitled The State

of Chemical Education in Ireland which should compulsory reading for chemistry teachers. Indeed there is much here that should be of concern to all science teachers, lecturers and state education authorities. Below are a few short extracts, with added highlights. (Ed.)

Primary Science“However, there are still concerns about the amount of time spent on science in primary schools, the poor science background of primary teachers, the limited time spent on science in the primary teacher training colleges, the poor liaison between primary school and junior secondary school, and the lack of science-based CPD for primary teachers. Several projects are running to encourage primary science (SciFest, BT Young Scientists, Discover Science etc.), and there is some excellent science teaching going on in primary schools.” (p. 16)

Junior Certificate Science“Most science teachers will teach Junior Science, but the majority of these have a Biology background and are not as confident in teaching Chemistry and Physics. This leads to an emphasis on Biology, which may explain the dominance of Biology in Leaving Certificate science. The RSC has just started (in 2012) courses in Ireland, based on a UK model, for non-specialists (mainly Biologists) to equip them to teach Chemistry more confidently and effectively.” (. 16)

Leaving Certificate Chemistry“The Chemistry course has the following components:• pure chemistry, 70%• applications of chemistry, 22.5%• chemistry for citizens, 7.5%

However, what is actually taught and how it is taught is often determined by the examination and reviews of the examination papers showed an inconsistent assessment of the 30% for applications and chemistry for citizens (often referred to as Science Technology and Society, STS) and that the examination papers also favoured lower order questions, with very few higher order questions.” (p. 17)

The proposed new Chemistry syllabus“There are a number of concerns about the new LC Chemistry

syllabus (which also apply to the other sciences):a. The level of detail in the learning outcomes with

respect to depth of treatment and the difference between the HL and OL course.

b. The level of CPD which will be provided to support the new approach and content;

c. The major issues surrounding the assessment of practical work, both the in-school assessment by teachers and the practical proposed examination;;

d. The impact of a change in the style and format of the examination on teaching;

e. The degree to which the new syllabus will mesh with the content and approach of the proposed new Junior Science course, as there is already concern about the large jump in demand and difficulty between junior and senior cycles.

f. The perennial question of adequate resourcing and suitable laboratory facilities, particularly if there are greater demands on practical work, and the lack of technical support in Irish schools.” (p. 18)

The Institute of Chemistry of Ireland

Irish Chemical

News Thiosugar Synthesis Prof Eoin Scanlan

The State of Chemical Education in Ireland Peter Childs

2014 Issue 1

Feature Articles:

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IRISH CHEMICAL NEWS

Research Article

2014, issue 1 | P a g e | 15

The State of Chemical Education in Ireland Peter E. Childs* Emeritus Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick E-mail: [email protected]

Introduction In this article I want to survey the state of chemical education in Ireland in 2014. This is a big topic as it covers all aspects of the education system from primary level to postgraduate (fourth) level, including the training of science teachers, and also includes consideration of the employment of chemists, particularly in Ireland’s successful pharmachemical sector, and the professional status of chemists. I reviewed the challenges in chemical education in the mid-90s in my Boyle-Higgins lecture in 1995 (Childs, 1995) and have more recently surveyed the situation in Ireland in the book Chemistry Around the World (Childs, 2010a) and also in Childs, 2010b. However, there have been so many changes since then and since we are currently in a time of rapid change, it is appropriate to review the existing situation and also look at some of the current and future issues. Chemical education is healthier at the moment at both second-level and third-level than it has been for many years; chemical research in third-level institutions (as well as the newly-emergent area of science education research) is flourishing; and the bio/pharmachem industry has weathered the recession well and continues to grow. It is probably true to say that Ireland now punches above its weight (i.e. its size and population) in both scientific research and also in its high-tech industry (pharmachem and ICT). The quality of chemical education in schools and third-level institutions is the key to sustaining these achievements, and this in turn depends on the quality of our second-level and third-level teachers.

Changes over the last 35 years I have been in Ireland since 1978: initially in Thomond College of Education and then in the University of Limerick, where I taught Chemistry to undergraduates and trainee science teachers and was also involved in chemistry pedagogy for pre-service science teachers (PSSTs). The chemical education scene has changed over that period in many ways and in the sections below I will review the changes and the state of play in each area. Figure 1 shows the structure of the Irish education system. A number of important reports have been published in Ireland and in Europe in the last 10-15 years, which are concerned with science education, particularly in schools. Some of these reports are listed in Appendix 1. One major issue is the demographic change in Ireland in the last few years, resulting in a bulge in

Figure 1. The structure of the Irish education system.

student numbers now working its way through primary schools. Table 1 shows the number of Irish births from 2006 to 2013 and the ~ date of entry into post-primary school. From birth it takes ~12 years to enter post-primary education and another 5/6 years to the LC exams. So the LC class of 2012 would have been born in ~ 1995 when the birth rate was 48,530. We have had a lot of immigration and more recently some emigration since then, but this figure is in line with this year’s LC numbers of 55,815. The birth rate figures jump around 2001, and from 2009 they have started to decline. The figures indicate an expansion of primary numbers from ~2006 until ~2014 and in post-primary from ~2014 to 2020, which will continue to increase from year to year, before starting to decline. These data have major implications for schools and third level institutions and more schools, more teachers and more places at third level will be needed in the future. Figures from the ESRI show that Ireland still has the highest birth rate in the EU – 15.6/1000 compared to the EU average of 10.4/1000. (http://www.esri.ie/__uuid/9495a3d4-7e97-4588-a1d3-c091fa1e7838/NPRS2012.pdf)

Table 1. Irish birth rates 2006-2013.

Year No. of births ~Date in post-primary

2006 64,237 2018 2007 71,389 2019 2008 75,173 2020 2009 75,554 2021 2010 73,724 2022 2011 74,650 2023 2012 ~71,986 2024 2013 <72,000 2025

A recent publication (July 2013) looks at ‘Projections of full-time Enrolment in Primary and Second Level, 2013 – 2031’ (available at http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/Projections-of-full-time-enrolment-Primary-and-Second-level-2013-2031.pdf), and is an update of one published in 2012; the data are shown in Table 2. These projections are more than those made a year earlier and are also probably out-of-date and

Grade inflation“Concerns have been expressed about grade inflation at both the Leaving Certificate level and at degree level (see www.stopgradeinflation.ie). The evidence shows that despite widening the ability range of pupils doing the LC, the % getting top grades have increased and the average CAO score has increased. Concern about this was raised in 2009 and 2010 by several business leaders and the Minister of Education and Skills initiated an enquiry. This confirmed the findings of an independent group that the % getting high grades has increased in all LC subjects. The same concerns have been expressed at third level where despite greater numbers of students (>60% of the LC cohort), with a wider range of ability entering the system, the % getting top grades (1 and 2.1 degrees) has increased. There is also considerable variation between institutions, despite similar intake. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of the external examiner system to monitor standards between institutions.” (p. 19)

Some recommendations for action and change: “a) The combination of growth in numbers in education

and the decreasing resources for education has serious implications for the future, at all levels of education. …

b) There is a need to rethink the purpose and nature of the school leaving examination to develop the skills and abilities needed for employment and for third level, as the system at the moment favours and rewards rote learning. There is little room for creativity, inquiry-based learning or problem solving in the Irish science curriculum. The inflation of grades is a result of the predictability of the examinations and teaching to the test. Teaching is often driven by the assessment and whatever the aims and objectives of the syllabus, these will not be achieved if the assessment does not test them.

c) Provision needs to be made for more innovation and experimentation in the school curriculum, outside the existing system controlled by the NCCA. Room needs to be given for groups to develop, test and evaluate alternative syllabuses with different approaches e.g. a like a Salter’s context-based syllabus. …

d) There has been a lack of joined-up thinking in curriculum development between the NCCA (who design new syllabi and formulate the overall programmes), the Department of Education and Skills (where the Minister signs off on new courses and their implementation, and also runs the Inspectorate which monitors standards in schools), the State Examinations Commission (which decides the format of examinations, designs and oversees the marking of the papers, and determines standards), and the Teaching Council (which decides the qualifications for teachers of particular subjects). …

e) … I suggest that these science based industries should be encouraged to set up a Science Education Trust Fund, based on a voluntary levy based on their turnover. The fund would then be used to fund curricular innovation, new teaching approaches, development of new materials, promotion of science, CPD for teachers etc.

f) Implement all the recommendations of the 2002 Task Force on the Physical Sciences (Task Force, 2002), which diagnosed the problems in relation to the physical sciences and made a series of important recommendations, most of which have not implemented. …

g) Develop a career-long, in-service programme of CPD to refresh and update science teachers, whereby they would be seconded out of school at regular intervals (for example, a minimum of 1 school term every 5 years) and replaced by newly graduated science teachers. (Such a scheme was recommended by the Wilson report in 1985 and never acted upon!) Such a CPD programme would be compulsory and linked to keeping their registration status. …

h) Continue and increase the support of science education research (SER), with the aim of improving the teaching and learning and science at all levels. The results of research need to be integrated into curriculum development, assessment and CPD, to ensure that teaching and learning become evidence based.

i) Improve links between schools and third level institutions, by more institutions developing school-focused initiatives like those from the Chemistry department in TCD. Third level lecturers need to be fully aware of what is happening in schools and the content of the science curriculum. More emphasis needs to be placed on easing the transition from school to university and in helping those students who have not done a particular science in school. …

j) More value and reward needs to be given for teaching at third level in regards to promotion, and a programme of CPD for third level teachers needs to be put in place. …” (pp. 23-24)

Childs, P.E. (2014) The state of chemical education in Ireland, Irish Chemical News, 1, 15-25 Available online at http://www.chemistryireland.org/docs/news/Irish-Chemical-News-2014-Issue-1.pdf


Dreadful dawnPaul Holland

Methylbenzylbromide can be described as methylbenzene (toluene)

with a CH2Br group attached to the ring, definitely not a compound on the Leaving Cert Chemistry course. In times past, it was called xylyl bromide. Liquid below 210 °C, it had the unenviable distinction in 1915 of being used in the first serious poison gas attack in warfare.The idea of chemical weaponry was not a new one. During the Crimean war, people had suggested reducing fortresses at Sebastopol by using sulphur gases. The proposal was rejected partly on the grounds that “no honourable combatant would use such means” (Panmure papers, 1908). However, the concept didn’t go away. In the early 20th century the French developed rifle grenades charged with irritant gas. The idea was that these grenades would flush an opponent out of a casemate or fort – it wouldn’t kill but would make him incapable of defence. These weapons were used in 1912 against the Bonnot gang when they holed up in a house in Choisy le Roi. When World War I began in 1914, people only wondered when, not whether, chemical weapons would be used.

Germany thought it had been the initial victim when soldiers under artillery bombardment were found to have died of asphyxiation rather than blast wounds – it was quickly determined that, in fact, the incomplete detonation of faulty explosives in cramped places like dugouts had generated carbon monoxide gas. For a while the Western media were alive with reports that the French army had employed “turpinite-filled” shells. Turpinite was in reality a pretty ineffective liquid explosive that was used only because of a severe shortage of better materials at the time.

Shortages were a problem for all the combatants. Germany was having trouble producing enough steel for shell casings – steel was vital because it had the strength to hold together during the shock of being fired. Shells could be

made of weaker cast iron which meant the casings had to be thicker, leaving less space for explosives, usually TNT. So reduced was explosive yield that shells often did little more than crack when they hit a target. Maybe, said somebody, these shells might be made effective if poison chemicals were mixed with the TNT. This project was quickly abandoned when a lab explosion severely injured two professors, one of them fatally. In October 1914, shrapnel shells containing bullets and a chemical irritant were used at Neuve Chapelle – nobody on either side noticed!

In Germany, Dr von Tappen had studied xylyl bromide for his research degree. It was a lachrymatory agent (causing tears) and also irritated the nose and chest. At high doses – generally unachievable over an entire battlefield – it was fatal. The chemical could be enclosed in a lead canister and surrounded with TNT in a 15 cm diameter shell. On impact, the TNT would detonate, smashing the canister and releasing chemical droplets which would evaporate. The gas would be inhaled by enemy soldiers – blinded, distressed and panicked, they certainly wouldn’t shoot straight. For protection, the attackers would wear cotton masks held in place by tape. Chemical solution would be poured on the cotton as required. History does not record how the attackers were to protect their eyes. Early tests in Germany showed promising results. Fritz Haber, later director of chemical warfare research, opined that mortars lobbing large canisters might be a better idea and somebody, now forgotten, suggested gas should be delivered by opening the taps of gas tanks when the wind was right. (That happened later.)

Now the scientists and leaders had to convince a sceptical military, reeling from horrendous losses in a

war that was not going to be a short one. Although all of the armies were frantically looking for something out of the ordinary to break the deadlock, they were reluctant – rightly – to risk attacking formidable enemies with unproven weapons. General Hindenburg was finally persuaded and, in January 1915, Germany used chemical shells in quantity against the Russians at the battle of Bolimow in Poland. The results were disastrous. Thermometers read as low as –200 °C and at that temperature, the xylyl bromide became too viscous to form fine enough droplets that could evaporate. A great deal of it probably fell harmlessly to the ground and strong easterly winds scattered any particle mists that might have formed. There is no report on whether the attackers used their masks which would have frozen anyway in the dreadful cold. Shells carrying poison canisters had a lot less TNT and this would have made the artillery bombardment less deadly. The German army lost twenty thousand men killed – and no ground was gained.

However, the Russians realised that chemical weapons had been used against them. Pandora’s Box was opened. Research gained ground everywhere. Lessons had been learned. The horrors of chlorine and mustard gas in Flanders lay ahead.

Paul Holland, formerly Presentation College, Galway

Reference: Purnell’s History of the First World War, weekly magazine published 1969 - 1972

Below: The ortho-, meta-, and para-isomers of xylyl bromide

www.ista.ie40

This article includes a call for teachers to express and interest in possible involvement in this programme from next September

IntroductionChain Reaction: A Sustainable Approach to Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) is a European Funded project involving 12 partner countries running from 2013-2016. The University of Limerick are the partners coordinating the project in Ireland, led by Dr. John O’Reilly. The aim of the project is to develop an understanding of IBSE as a community of learners focused on enhancing practice. It is believed that inquiry based practices can significantly increase students’ motivation, achievement and interest levels in science (Wilson et al 2010; Asay and Orgill 2010). Therefore, a focus internationally is on facilitating teachers in developing pedagogies and thinking centred round the inquiry based approach. Within this current project an emphasis is placed on giving the teachers a voice into how they wish to develop their practice; as such teachers are part of a Professional Learning Community (PLC). As teachers engage in professional development they can face uncertainties in a collaborative, supportive environment where uncertainty is valued and supported (Snow-Gerona 2005). Past endeavours to develop inquiry based practices have worked on the premise that teachers are “passive consumers of pre-packaged knowledge” (Lieberman and Woods 2002, p.316) and these PLCs have failed as a result. A large focus within this PLC is on engaging teachers in the process of inquiring into their own beliefs about real inquiry in a real classroom environment in order to break the gap that currently exists between theory and practice in science education. This is aligned strongly with the School Self Evaluation (SSE) process and all work from Chain Reaction will be included in a SSE folder.

Teachers will work on developing an awareness of how to better incorporate inquiry based approaches in their teaching. Each year ten different teachers from five different schools (two from each school) engage in this professional development. Participating teachers will firstly be briefed through

Insights into ‘Chain Reaction’A Sustainable Approach to Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE)

Louise Lehane and John O’Reilly

a dedicated workshop and will be provided with exemplars of the inquiry process contained within designed Pupil Research Briefs (PRBs) which have been adapted to the Irish context. Once teachers are confident in the inquiry process, they will be asked to either adapt the exemplar PRBs to their context or develop their own to be tried out in their classroom setting with a particular class group. In essence teachers are developing their own “living educational theory” as to what inquiry means to them in their own classroom.

Another aspect of this project is the inclusion of practicing scientists known as role models. These role models share their experiences with students of what it is like to be real life scientists. It is hoped that these role models give students an insight into what science is like outside of the classroom setting.

Each year of the project culminates in the students from each school sharing their experiences in a national “Express Yourself” conference held in the University of Limerick in March where one school will be asked to represent Ireland at the international conference.

All of this will take place in a supportive environment where scaffolding will be provided to teachers within this PLC as they work together to develop a sustainable approach to IBSE in their own classroom. A website is also available at the following address: www.ul.ie/chainreaction. This website allows for communication between the different parties and provides a repository containing helpful resources such as lesson plans, articles on scientific inquiry and presentations. Project coordinators are fully committed to facilitating teachers and will be available to visit schools as teachers work on developing their practice of inquiry in the classroom.

Reaction from Teachers and Students from Year One of the ProjectWe hope to provide more detailed analysis of teachers and students reactions in a later article. However, we can offer some insight presently into both teacher and students experiences. Teachers from this first year of the project have shared how involvement in this project has developed their

confidence, awareness and practice of inquiry based strategies in the classroom. Students also remarked upon how engaging they found the process and noted that it “lets the student take the wheel and find out for themselves”; the student is in control of their own learning. Overall the first year of the project has been a successful learning experience for both teacher and student alike.

Benefits to the Inclusion of Teachers in the ProjectFirstly, there is a monetary contribution for being involved in the project. Each school involved will receive up to €2000 for their involvement in the project, based on the hours committed by the teachers to the project. Involvement in the project provides enhanced understanding of science teaching and learning as teachers are supported in developing an awareness of inquiry based approaches in the science classroom. Teachers are also given insight into alternative teaching strategies (such as the jigsaw method, concept map development etc.) that can be used in an inquiry focused classroom. Finally artefacts from the project provide rich evidence of continued professional development for the completion of the SSE report. Each school is given a folder that teachers can add to as they progress through the experience.

Recruitment for Year Two of the Project We are now seeking participants for Year Two of the project which will begin in September 2014. We hope to recruit 2 teachers each from 5 different schools to involve themselves in this exciting and worthwhile professional learning experience. If you would be interested in the project and would like more information, please contact Louise Lehane using the following contact details:1. Email: [email protected]. Telephone: (061) 234914


ReferencesAsay, L. and Orgill, M.

(2010) “Analysis of essential features of inquiry found in articles published in the science teacher 1998-2007”, Journal of science Teacher education, 21(1), 57-79.

Lieberman, A. and Wood, D. (2002) Inside the national writing project: connecting network learning and classroom teaching. Teachers College Press, New York.

Snow- Gerona, J.L. (2005) “Professional development in a culture of inquiry: PDS teachers identify the benefits of professional learning communities”, Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, 241- 256.

Wilson, C.D., Taylor, J.A., Kowalski, S.M., and Carlson, J. (2010) “The relative effects and equity of inquiry based and commonplace science teaching on students’ knowledge, reasoning, and argumentation”. Journal of Research in Science Education, 47(3), 26-30.1.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. [321278].

Louise Lehane and John O’Reilly, Department of Education and Professional Studies and the NCE-MSTL, University of Limerick

In the last issue of Science (March 2014) , Angela Gammell explored how appropriate analogies (in

particular, set-dancing) can be used to help students approach the topic of chemical bonding in Junior Cert. Science. In this article I will describe how I used a variety of learning activities with a Year 2 class to approach this topic. I particularly wanted to explore whether there were any gender-differentiated preferences for the different activities in this mixed class.

BackgroundSome research suggests that gender equality may still be an issue in science education, particularly given the under-representation of females in science careers and in third level natural science and engineering courses. Females may get a significantly poorer science education than males, even when they are in the same classroom. On the whole, females have a more negative attitude towards science and are less likely to continue studying science. Catsambis (1995) struggles to understand this given that girls perform better than boys in science exams. This negative attitude of females has been shown to stem from interactions within the classroom, particularly with gender-linked interaction styles by teachers (Hodson, 1998).

Teachers need to ‘positively plan to over-come any barriers due to gender’, e.g. by being actively conscious of the issues that are present due to gender. In the case of co-ed schools, some propose that teachers need to focus their teaching methods on the similarities between the students, male and female. Others however propose that, in order to make up for the previous shortcoming of science education, it should now be pitched towards the females.

The research on the difference between the learning of males and females in science highlights that a problem exists. It is important that the research findings are tested and addressed in an actual teaching context.

Lesson planning I planned a series of three lessons on the Periodic Table and Chemical Bonding.

Teaching in a co-ed school means that as teacher I have to strive to include both males and females in my class, grabbing the attention and focus of both genders. I aimed to use a variety of teaching methods, encompassing a range of resources to assess not only which were successful but also whether the methods bridged the “gender gap”.

The class group was 2nd Year science, made up of 12 boys and 10 girls. This class group are all very vocal, willing to ask and answer questions, and show no obvious signs of the examples gender stereotyping referred to in some of the research. If anything this class goes against what is seen in the literature with the quietest students in the class, and the ones who do not enjoy group work or answering question being the boys. A feedback sheet was given to the students once the lessons had been taught. This required the students to state which of the seven different methods they found the most helpful.

The seven different teaching methods that were used were: a grouping game of elements, demonstration of the reaction of alkali metals with water, showing samples of various elements for students to touch, playing a song which explains covalent bonding, computer programmes to test knowledge of the periodic table and bonding, simple dot and cross diagrams on the board, and interactive models of the atom.

For the grouping game I prepared 16 flash cards, each with a picture of a named element and listing some of its properties. They had to organise these into four groups of four based on the properties.. They were told that elements that had similar properties should be grouped together. The properties were deliberately worded slightly differently in order it make it more of a challenge. As a more engaging visual aid small samples of lithium, sodium and potassium were added to water. A video was then shown to illustrate the reactions of rubidium and caesium (the old Open University clip available on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uixxJtJPVXk has still not been bettered!) Samples of elements such as lead, sulphur, aluminium and copper were passed around the class for students to examine. The song used was called “Covalent Love” and won the Science Idol competition for student James Mustapic in 2012. (It is “inspired” by Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”). The diagrams used on the board were typical “dot and cross” diagrams that are seen in text books. Each student also had access to a model which allowed them to build an atom by placing protons, neutrons and electrons in the correct locations.

The difference in learning for male and female students using a variety of learning methods: elements and bonding

Claire Singleton

www.ista.ie42

Teaching the lessonLesson 1 – The Periodic Table

The periodic table flash cards were used, reactivity of alkali metals was demonstrated and samples of the various elements were passed around. The students worked well in pairs to put the elements into their groups. This method appeared to work well for all the students as, without having any prior knowledge of the periodic table, they saw that each of the groups on the table contained elements that have similar properties. It also, unexpectedly, created a discussion as to why different groups have different properties and what it is about the structure of the elements within this group that makes them similar. The demonstration of the reactivity of the alkali metals was fairly dramatic. Handling the other elements worked well as the students were then able to relate real life objects to the periodic table.

Lesson 2 – Chemical bonding

The learning objectives set out were that students would be able to define ionic bonding, explain why elements “want” to have 8 electrons in their outer shell and draw a diagram to represent the bonding of sodium chloride. Students used their atom models and dot and cross diagrams. These two methods were used to demonstrate the same examples but gave the opportunity for students to view them using two different mediums. The majority of this lesson was taken up with understanding the bonding of sodium chloride. Some of the students were able to draw and explain this more quickly than others and they were then set other ionic compounds to draw and model. This gave me the opportunity to help those students who were having more difficulty with this exercise. By the end of the class however each student was able to draw and explain the process of bonding in sodium chloride as well as explain why both sodium and chlorine “wanted” a full outer shell of electrons.

Lesson 3 – Chemical bonding

The final two teaching methods were used in this lesson: computer modelling ( University of Colorado PHET simulations) and the song Covalent Love. This song can be found online at - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJZzCPTou-o

I was surprised both by how much they all appeared to enjoy this song and also how much it seem to help them in remembering details about covalent bonding. The computer modelling allowed students to work at a level that was suited to them. Each of the students was able to complete the task at their level. Being able to define covalent bonding and drawing examples of covalent molecules were the two learning objectives set out for this lesson and they were met by all the students.

Evaluation of feedbackI had expected, given the reactions in class that, more of the boys would have found the reaction of the alkali metals helpful. On reflection, however, I can see that I was mistaken as only 58% of the boys found it helpful. This has allowed me to see that even though they may have enjoyed it and found it exciting, that does not mean that students will necessarily find it helpful as a learning tool. I was again surprised by the fact that more boys than girls found the song helpful, 92% to 80%.( In a stereotypical scenario one might imagine that the girls would automatically prefer the song, especially given the whole Justin Bieber connection!). The grouping of the elements was found to be more helpful to girls than boys, 60% to 42%. This may have been due in part to the fact that there was quite a bit of reading involved and some new words were introduced. This aspect is coherent with research in this area which states that girls are often more confident in their reading ability. The teaching method that the greatest proportion of girls found to be unhelpful was the computer modelling. This did not surprise me as it is suggested in the literature that males, regardless of the activity, have more confidence using computers.

One of the results which I was most surprised by was the fact that the teaching methods that I would have considered to be the most ‘boring’ were actually found to be helpful by the students. These were the diagrams on the board and the use of the models of the atom, with 92% and 83% respectively for the boys and 70% for each in relation to the girls. This has illustrated to me that it is not necessary to have elaborate methods through which to teach as long as they are used effectively.

From my research into this area and my own experience through my teaching I feel that it is vitally important that teachers use a variety of teaching methods in their classes. This means that even if one student does not find a particular method helpful they are given the opportunity to use another method.

ConclusionsAny conclusions based on this small trial must of course be tentative. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that gender inequalities and learning strategies may not be ‘fixed’ as some have suggested, though the literature has suggested there are clearly general trends. To get more definitive results this exercise would need to developed and repeated in various contexts for a range of specific topics from the science curriculum. It is possible to suggest from these results, however, that using a range of teaching methods could help to lessen gender inequality which may be due in part to the teaching methods traditionally chosen for science subjects.

References“Covalent Love” by James Mustapic

, available on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJZzCPTou-o

Catsambis, S. (1995). Gender, race, ethnicity, and science education in the middle grades. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 32(3), 243–257.

Hodson, D. (1998). Teaching and learning science: towards a personalized approach. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Claire Singleton is a PDE student in TCD and is currently completing her teaching practice in Wesley College.

Fluorine (F)• Highly reactive gas• Not a metal• Not found in

nature• Easily combines

with metals to form salts

Chlorine (Cl) • Highly toxic • Reacts will metals

to form salts• Very reactive

so not found in nature

• Kills bacteria


Note: Whereas SI units are generally used, I have chosen to give the car speeds in miles/hour as that is what is done by the British team. 1 mile = 1.609 km

Ever since the invention of the car, people have sought to achieve speed

records. One of the earliest was an incredible 38 miles/hour. Some of us remember the fabulous Bluebird cars of the 1960s which aimed for, but didn’t achieve, 500 miles/hour. Interest waned in the space age, particularly after the 1969 moon landing, when earthbound land speed records began to look very parochial indeed. However, dedicated people continued working to develop new vehicles. The current land speed record, 763 miles/hour (supersonic), was achieved by Andy Green. The same driver is scheduled to attempt a new target of 1000 miles/hour in 2016. The attempt will be made in South Africa.

Visitors to the 2014 National Classic car show at the RDS saw a real scale model of the car he will be driving. Called the Bloodhound, it is 13 metres long, has a streamlined pointed shape and, fully fuelled, will weigh about 7.8 tonnes. Conventional car engines have long ago been discarded on record-seeking vehicles. The Bloodhound has 3 engines. A fighter jet engine providing 90 kN thrust will accelerate the car up to about 300 miles/hour at which point the rocket engine will be fired. The rocket will generate a further thrust of 122 kN which will hopefully get the car up to 1000 miles/hour. Timing is crucial – fire the rocket engine too late and the car will be losing fuel and space. Firing too early will likewise jeopardise the attempt. There is a lot of turbulence at lower speeds which aerodynamically sorts itself out into smooth motion only above 250 miles/hour. The rocket input is most effective in smooth motion with high speed already achieved. The rocket operates by combining fuel and oxidiser which burn extremely rapidly but not

explosively. The third engine will pump about 1 tonne of oxidiser over 20 seconds (42.6 litres/second), as well as providing a small contribution to the overall thrust.

Now the problem is stopping the car. The speed falls once the engines cut out. At 800 miles/hour, air brakes (spoilers) will be deployed to use air resistance. At 600 miles/hour, parachutes will be fired and, at 250 miles/hour, ordinary disc brakes will be used. To quote Richard Noble, the team leader, “we don’t want to go into Namibia”. Personally, I’d worry more about going into the next world rather than the next country.

The car will thunder down a 12-mile route with the speed being measured over the middle mile. The driver is much more an operator than a racing driver – he will follow the orders given by an engineering group. He will experience 2.5g forces in the acceleration stage and up to 6g decelerating. There will be supersonic blasts as Bloodhound traverses the sound barrier.

Bloodhound is no gentle runabout. It’s a challenge to design a supersonic craft that will stay on the ground. Materials used in different parts include carbon composites, titanium and steel. The aluminium wheels, radius 0.45 metres, have no tyres – the desert surface will provide the cushioning. Rubber tyres would disintegrate on wheels rotating 10,500 times a minute and experiencing g-forces up to 45,000 where a 10 gram coin would weigh over 4.4 tonnes.

Finding a location for the attempt was a problem – you need a largely undeveloped area, flat ground, not too hard, not too soft. At the selected site on the northern border of South Africa, local people have already removed millions of pebbles which would become bullets if Bloodhound touched them. The British government has given its blessing to the venture because it’s a glamour project, drawing on so many disciplines, which might inspire more young people to go into science and engineering (They’re even more worried about science uptake than we are). And isn’t it a glorified day out that the world can enjoy even if the Bloodhound car isn’t a model of fuel efficiency? Also, 1000 miles/hour sounds much better than 1609 km/hour. An Australian team is developing a car of their own and an American group is converting an F-15 fighter jet into not quite a family saloon. Neither project is quite as ambitious as Bloodhound. I have a contempt for speeding motorists but this is a drive undertaken, at their own risk, by consenting adults who are experts in their chosen field. I, for one, will be rooting for them.

For more information, visit www.BLOODHOUNDSSC.com/education

Paul Holland, formerly Presentation College, Galway

Supersonic car!Paul Holland

www.ista.ie44

CROSSWORDRandal Henly

Clues Across1. It consists of a just a converging

lens (10,5) 9. Fruits of the oak (6) 10. Units of electric charge, each

being the charge carries on one mole of electrons (8)

11. Aircraft that can land on either land or water, or a special class of cold-blooded vertebrates (10)

12. Opposite/hypotenuse (4) 13. Adjacent/hypotenuse (6) 14. The science that deals with the

relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings (7)

16. Tradesman’s name for CaC2 (7) 19. Dry barren areas of the world

(7) 21. Ovum (3) 22. The unit in which the power of

lenses is expressed (7) 23. The first nuclear-powered

submarine (7) 24. The positive electrode (5) 27. Silver-grey transition metal used

in corrosion-resistant alloys (8) 29. This cord attaches the human

fetus to the placenta during gestation (9)

30. Robert Falcon, Antarctic explorer (5)

Clues Down 2. The automatic adjustment

of the focus of the eye by flattening or thickening of the lens (13)

3. The direction in which the compass needle points (5)

4. A nuclear reactor in which the neutrons causing fission are not slowed by any moderator (4,7)

5. Electromagnetic rays of the order of 1000 nm to 1 mm wavelength (8)

6. Mechanical device to provide stability or to maintain a reference direction in navigation systems (9)

7. Magnetite or other naturally magnetised mineral (9)

8. Set of organs in the body with a common structure or function (6)

15. A Y element (7)

17. A two-legged organism (5) 18. Excrete waste matter (5) 20. Use glowing ones to test for

oxygen (7) 23. Each of the segments of the

corolla of a flower (5) 24. In short, the unit in which

masses of atoms are expressed (3)

25. Spherical body of globe (3) 26. Fish of the Order

Anguilliformes (3) 28. Colloquially it’s a flying saucer

(3)

PrizeA prize (any item from the ISTA shop) will be given for the first correct response that is returned to the Editor.The list of shop items may be viewed on: http://www.ista.ie/publications/index.php

WinnerThe first correct answer was submitted by Elaine Gallagher, Loreto Letterkenny, Co Donegal. Congratulations Elaine.

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Suggested experiments

selected based on the curriculum.

Tel: 01270 250459 • Fax: 01270 250601 • www.timstar.co.uk

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PLEASE NOTE: All of these suggested experiments need to be carried out in a safe environment: lab coats, safety glasses and gloves may be

required. A risk assessment also needs to be carried out before any experiment conducted.

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• To investigate chemical reactions releasing gases

• To investigate how heat can alter chemical properties

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Set this experiment up on a heatproof mat or surface and ensure the room has ventilation as the alcohol vapour tends to smell.

Put the sand in a mound on the heat proof mat and make an indentation on the top. Do not push the indentation all the way down.

Pour the isopropyl alcohol onto the sand before adding the other ingredients.

Mix the sugar and baking powder together and place in the indentation in the sand.

Make sure it fi lls the indentation evenly to reduce the chance of the snake being skewed.

Top tip: Make the indentation narrow and deep to keep the snake tall and slim. Light with a match and observe.

2&Do not under any circumstances pour any more alcohol on the mound whilst the reaction is taking place, as isopropyl alcohol is

highly fl ammable.

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• Heatproof mat • Sand • 4 tsp of icing sugar • 1 tsp of baking soda

• 5 tsp of isopropyl alcohol • Matches or gas lighter • Teaspoon

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,SQI[SVOWhat other situations do we use raising agents for? Think about the uses in cooking.

)ZEPYEXMSRThe baking soda releases carbon dioxide when heated above 50 °C. Burning the alcohol creates the heat

and caramelises the sugar, giving the snakes their black appearance. The snakes grow because of the pressure from the gas (CO2) being

released. The reaction will cease when all the alcohol has burned.

• What is fuelling the fi re?

• What gas is produced? How do you know?

• Is the process reversible or irreversible?

Key Stage 3 Chemistry experiment -

Video demonstrations of experiments and products.

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Unit 12, Ion Path, Road Three, Winsford Industrial Estate, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 3BXTelephone: +44 (0)1270 250459 Fax: +44 (0)1270 250601Email: [email protected] Website: www.timstar.co.uk

Interested in a career with Timstar in the Republic of Ireland?Contact: Jon [email protected]

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