MATHEMATICS

Appendix III: Audit of STEM Activity
Introduction
An audit of STEM activity was undertaken by the STEM Education Review Group to inform our
deliberations. The objective was to generate an evidence-based assessment of the nature and extent of
STEM activity and provision such as CPD, outreach and public engagement particularly as these activities
impact STEM education in schools. There was no intention to capture data on formal education
programmes in the STEM subjects in the HEIs, e.g. Level 6, 7 or 8 programmes, or Master’s or Doctoral
programmes.
The approach
A list of providers was developed by the Group for this purpose. The list provided a convenient sample of
stakeholders and providers of STEM activities and events. The list was not exhaustive and, indeed, it
evolved as the audit proceeded. Data from late respondents was added right up to final draft stage. The
list included HEIs, the DES, government agencies, learned societies, subject associations, industry,
teacher education centres, and a variety of other stakeholders.
The stakeholders and providers surveyed were contacted by email and asked to summarise their STEM
activities in the current academic year 2013-14. As part of the process there was a follow-up email or
phone contact to remind those included in the survey to make a return. In a small number of cases, data
was elicited from websites that were consulted as an alternative data-gathering approach.
A complication that arises in dealing with STEM as a descriptor in collecting survey data is the absence of
a global definition of the set of STEM subjects. For example, CAO data describes Technology as
comprising Engineering, Construction, Computing and Science. No attempt was made in the survey to
influence respondents ‘common understanding’ of STEM as comprising Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics.
In fact, many respondents simply summarised their STEM activities without keeping strictly to the guide
period. The raw data were organised internally for presentation purposes and minor edits were
implemented to maintain consistency across respondents and the timeframe.
Observations
The outcome is a surprisingly rich tapestry of STEM activities in Ireland showing a wide geographic
spread; clustering around major urban centres with HEIs; a huge variety of activities formal and informal;
and the involvement of many stakeholders both public and private. It is convenient to use a small
number of recognisable categories to discuss the data including CPD, Outreach, Conferences, and Public
engagement, and these are added to the tabular format, however, it must be recognised that the list of
categories is not exhaustive nor are the categories mutually exclusive. The study by Davison et al (2008) is
an exemplar study in this area covering outreach activities North and South.
The STEM Review Group would like to thank all those who participated for the effort expended on behalf
of the Group and the data supplied.
The full audit of STEM activity compiled during the review process can be found at this link:
https://www4.dcu.ie/content/upload/stemberg/appendix-III.pdf
STEM EDUCATION IN THE IRISH SCHOOL SYSTEM
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