Enhancing Science Teaching at Second Level

A 2 day summer workshop for second level science teachers has taken place at Dublin City University on 20-21 August.
The workshop, funded by the Amgen Science Teacher Training Initiative, focused on the teaching and learning of science, in particular chemistry and biology, through an inquiry approach.
Developed by staff members of the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning (CASTeL), the workshop is a result of collaborations between DCU Faculties, in particular the Schools of Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences and Educational Studies.
28 teachers from across Ireland came to DCU to experience different types of inquiry, to understand how inquiry approaches can be used in teaching the new Junior Certificate science curricula as well planning their own investigations and working with like-minded teachers to enhance their teaching practices.
Speaking of the workshop, Dr. Paul van Kampen, workshop facilitator and Senior Lecturer in School of Physical Sciences commented, “we want to share with teachers a variety of examples of how to incorporate inquiry approaches into all aspects of science teaching, so they can develop as facilitators of science learning”.
The facilitation of these workshops has been informed by the participation of CASTeL members in a number of European FP7-funded projects, including ESTABLISH and SAILS, both of which DCU are coordinating collectively across 23 countries.
The facilitation of this workshop has been funded by the Amgen Foundation, through the Amgen Science Teaching Training Initiative (www.scienceteachertraining.com) as well as being informed by The EC FP7-funded projects ESTABLISH (www.establish-fp7.eu) and SAILS (www.sails-project.eu), both of which DCU/CASTeL are coordinating.