Category Archives: Science

Top Technology Student in Ireland…

Ronan Buckley a Scoil Mhuire student has achieved the top overall mark in Ireland in this year’s Leaving Certificate Higher Level Technology. Ronan who is from Banteer is delighted with his wonderful achievement. He is currently attending University College Cork where he is studying for a degree in Data Science and Analytics. Ronan will receive a number of awards, the first will take place on November 24th in The Mullingar Park Hotel as part of The Engineering and Technology Teachers National Annual Conference. A second award will be presented to Ronan during the Techno Teachers Association Conference in spring of 2019.

Mr Gerald Crotty Ronan’s Technology teacher said “Ronan always had a flair for the subject and from the time he started his second level education in Scoil Mhuire he excelled in the subject. He had a unique and very creative way of tackling design issues. He is a very innovative student and was always a pleasure to teach and I am sure he will continue his excellent work in Third Level Education and beyond”.

As part of his Leaving Certificate Technology examination, Ronan had to design and manufacture a food-related project supported by a design portfolio. Ronan’s project was based on an intelligent and automated Sushi Bar. The project was designed on a computer-aided drawing software package called Solidworks and this allowed parts of the project to be manufactured using both 3D Printing and Laser Cutting Technology. The project is controlled using a programmable circuit board which was programmed by Ronan using Genie Design Studio programming software. The project displays different Sushi dishes and when a customer selects a dish from the rotating display unit it is automatically weighed which will then show the customer the price of the chosen dish.

Ms Miriam Downey, Principal, Scoil Mhuire said that Ronan’s achievement is a great honour for himself for his teacher Mr Crotty and for Scoil Mhuire. “We in the school community are very proud of Ronan and we wish him well in his future studies.”

This year AIT and The Technology Education Research Group (TERG) hosted the International PATT (Pupils Attitudes Towards Technology) conference. This is an annual conference for Design and Technology Teacher Educators from around the world. There were over 90 delegates from 15 different countries attending the conference with more than 70 papers presented showcasing the richness of technology education in Ireland and abroad.

The conference was opened by Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, who spoke about the importance of realising “the potential of digital technology to enhance teaching, learning and assessment” so as to “help students become engaged thinkers, active learners, knowledge constructors and global citizens”. “The development of these skills is critical for our young people and in an increasingly digital landscape they will define their future prospects in life,” she said.

The conference culminated in an interactive student showcase entitled ‘Voices from Our Schools’ which featured a wide variety of technology projects from students attending Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk, Co. Cork. The students presented a wide variety of projects which demonstrated both their innovation and creativity in the Technology discipline. 5th Year Technology students Jennifer Hallihan Buckley, Lisa Finn, Cathal Leahy, Paula Lisauskaite, Marcella O Connor, Caoimhe Quinlan, Julia Rodrigo, Friso Siewers presented work from their PATT design challenge task where they were exploring and generating solutions that promoted self-sufficiency and healthy eating.

This project utilized Adaptive Comparative Judgment (ACJ) as a means to integrate peer and self-assessment as a core pedagogical strategy helping the pupils to develop autonomy and skills of self-regulation. Leaving Cert students Rachel O Riordan, Eve O Shaughnessy and Tara Kelly presented work from their Leaving Cert Technology design brief. Again the work by the Scoil Mhuire students really impressed the conference delegates with many commenting not only on how exceptional their work was but also on how well the students from the school presented themselves and represented their school and community.

Their teacher Mr Gerald Crotty commented on how it was a pleasure to work with such enthusiastic and innovative pupils that were always amazing him with their new ideas and work ethic. Mr Crotty also commented on how engaging in projects such as the DALTA project which was coordinated by Dr Donal Canty (University of Limerick) and funded by the Irish Research Council has helped him develop new and innovative strategies around teaching learning and assessment that are having a positive impact on student learning in his classroom. School Principal Miriam Downey was also in attendance on the day and complemented both teacher and pupils on the great work that was on show representing Scoil Mhuire.

As part of the conference schedule, three plenary sessions were used to explore and discuss the key themes of the conference. Each session had a keynote address followed by a panel led discussion. On Thursday 21st July, the session centred on the sub-theme of “Driving Social Change”. The Keynote address was given by Gerald Crotty, a Technology teacher from Scoil Mhuire Kanturk.

Gerald discussed how, despite female representation in technology education in Ireland is approximately 20%, over the last seven years he has managed to increase this figure to be above 50% in his classroom. Gerald presented on how he has achieved this through his own practice and stressed that increasing female representation requires sustained longitudinal efforts to change traditional perceptions of the subjects.

Following the keynote, Gerald sat on a panel with Prof. Stephanie Atkinson and PhD candidate Ulrika Sultan to further discuss driving social change in Technology education. The panel session was convened by Dr Donal Canty. All speakers shared their own unique perspectives on this topic. The session highlighted many barriers that had to be overcome and navigated to provide equal opportunity of access and participation in the school curriculum for all students. It also highlighted the key role of teachers and school leadership in driving social change through their vision, determination and perseverance.

More information on this session can be found at Driving Social Change