MATHEMATICS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
STEM EDUCATION IN THE IRISH SCHOOL SYSTEM
8
held at the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) on April
17th, 2014, was particularly useful in
highlighting many of the key issues that need
to be addressed in order to significantly
improve STEM education in Ireland.
A detailed analysis of the current state of STEM
Education in the Irish School System is
presented in the report. Some key
observations that emerged from this analysis
are as follows:
n While there have been some general
improvements in the performance of Irish
students in international assessments such
as TIMSS (Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study) and PISA
(the OECD's Programme for International
Student Assessment), a consistent finding
across national and international tests of
attainment is that primary and postprimary
students find items assessing
higher-order thinking skills (e.g. Applying
knowledge and Problem Solving)
particularly difficult – this is true for both
mathematics and science.
n Although the % of students taking Higher
Level Mathematics at Leaving Certificate
has increased significantly (from 16% in
2011 to 28% in 2016) since the introduction
of Bonus CAO Points, there are serious
concerns about the ‘mathematical underpreparedness’
of students entering third
level and about the lack of basic skills of
some students sitting the Higher Level
paper.
n The majority of teachers of Science subjects
have a Biology qualification (more than
three times as many as for Physics), as
evidenced by Teaching Council Registration
data.
n There is a strong imbalance in the number
of students studying Leaving Certificate
Biology compared to the other Science
subjects (>4x number taking Chemistry; >5x
number taking Physics)
n There are significant gender differences in
the selection of Science subjects at Leaving
Certificate, with the ratio of male students
to female students greater than 3:1 for
Physics and approximately 2:3 for Biology
n Women are greatly under-represented in
the STEM workforce in Ireland. The Central
Statistics Office (CSO) estimates that fewer
than 25% of approximately 120,000 people
working in jobs that use STEM skills but are
women. While recognizing that this problem
may have a number of causes, it is clear
that a major contributory factor is the
selection of subjects and Third Level
programmes by young women at postprimary
level. One key barrier in this regard
arises from the fact that, while parents are
the main influencers when it comes to
advising their daughters on how to define
educational and career paths, they
generally lack information about career
options.
n A particularly impressive aspect of STEM
Education in Ireland is the highly active
informal STEM education sector. This sector,
which operates outside the formal
curricular teaching in schools, includes
initiatives such as the BT Young Scientist
and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE),
SciFest, CoderDojo, Coolest Projects, RDS
STEM Learning, LearnStorm and Smart
Futures. There is a concern, however, that
the benefits of these initiatives are not fully
realised under present conditions and that
excellent work by students, and the
potential for much greater engagement
with STEM activities, may be underleveraged
because it is not integrated into
the curriculum or assessment instruments.