Education Commons^™

An International Comparison Of K-12 Computer Science Education Intended And Enacted Curricula, Katrina Falkner, Sue Sentance, Rebecca Vivian, Sarah Barksdale, Leonard Busuttil, Elizabeth Cole, Christine Liebe, Francesco Maiorana, Monica M. Mcgill, Keith Quille

Conference Papers

This paper presents an international study of K-12 Computer Science implementation across Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Scotland and the United States. We present findings from a pilot study, comparing CS curriculum requirements (intended curriculum) captured through country reports, with what surveyed teachers (n=244) identify as enacting in their classroom (the enacted curriculum). We address the extent that teachers are implementing the intended curriculum as enacted curriculum, exploring specifically country differences in terms of programming languages and CS topics implemented. Our findings highlight the similarities and differences of intended and enacted CS curriculum within and across countries and the value …

An International Benchmark Study Of K-12 Computer Science Education In Schools, Katrina Falkner, Sue Sentance, Rebecca Vivian, Sarah Barksdale, Leonard Busuttil, Elizabeth Cole, Christine Liebe, Francesco Maiorana, Monica M. Mcgill, Keith Quille

Conference Papers

There has been a growing interest and increase in work shared about national K-12 Computer Science Education (CSED) curriculum and implementation efforts around the world. Much of this work focuses on curriculum analysis, country reports, experience reports and case studies. The K-12 CSED community would benefit from an international strategic effort to compare, contrast and monitor K-12 CSED over time, across multiple countries and regions, to understand pedagogy, practice, resources and experiences from the perspective of teachers working in classrooms. Furthermore, there is a need for validated and robust instruments that can support comparable investigations into the current state of …

Educational Buildings As Educational Buildings: Can Sustainable Architecture Help Support Sustainability In The Curriculum?, Claire Speedie, Mark Mulville

Conference papers

This paper explores whether the architectural design of educational buildings - by incorporating an expression of the sustainable design - helps to educate users towards adoption of sustainable practices. Utilising observational studies from primary schools incorporating sustainable design measures, the research explored their impact on the curriculum.

School buildings accommodate the educational process but design briefs do not require that buildings educate their users. The paper demonstrated that sustainable features of the buildings were not well integrated into the curriculum and that one explanation was the lack of interpretation incorporated into the architecture to support teachers lacking an appreciation of …

A Bio-Ecological Perspective On Educational Transition: Experiences Of Children, Parents And Teachers., Leah O'Toole

Doctoral

This thesis explores the potential of Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological Model of Human Development (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006) as a framework for theory and research in psychology, sociology and education. It draws on other well-known conceptual approaches, particularly Bourdieu’s theories of social reproduction, habitus, field and cultural capital, investigating points of theoretical enhancement and synthesis. This culminates in the development of eight Propositions for a Bio-ecological Framework. These are then tested using data from a qualitative examination of two key educational transitions, pre-school to primary and primary to secondary school. Using qualitative methodologies, this research explores perspectives of children, teachers and parents …

Lego Sumo Wrestling: Electrical Engineering Students Teach Programming To Children In Ballymun, Gavin Duffy

Posters

Engineering students from DIT teach in the Aisling Projects in Ballymun where they work with children in programming Lego Mindstorms robots.

Community Based Research By Applying Chemistry, Claire M. Mcdonnell

Posters

Students have been involved in several chemistry research projects with communities: breath and urine testing for alcohol with the Garda Road Safety Unit; a long-term study of soil Quality for a Grangegorman Community Garden; and work placements with Wells for Zoe, a charity based in Malawi, including soil and water testing, and development of teaching materials for science.

Primary School Children's Vision Screening Project, Veronica O'Dwyer, Sandra Harrington

Posters

In the final year of the BSc in Optometry, students work with children in local schools to do vision screenings, supervised by DIT lecturers. This project enhances students’ experience of working with children, and ensures that any local children with eye problems are swiftly referred to a specialist.

Clic News: A News Website For Children, Kate Shanahan

Posters

CliC News is a collaboration between the DIT Access and Civic Engagement Office and the School of Media, DIT. Students in Journalism plan, edit, and write articles for an interactive news website for primary school children, fostering literacy and computer literacy among the children, as well as an engagement with current affairs.

Icts In Education: An Evaluation Of The Dublin Inner City Schools' Computerization (Disc) And Hp Managed Learning Environment (Mle) Projects, Elizabeth Quinn

Masters

The Dublin Inner-City Schools Computerization (DISC) Projects initiative was established with the aim of achieving equality of access, opportunity and training in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in thirty-eight inner-city schools and innovative use of ICT in the classroom. This report seeks to evaluate the project to include the ICT projects Initiative and a pilot Managed Learning Environment (MLE) called LearningNI (LNI) currently being run by C2k in Northern Ireland (NI). This report finds that while the DISC project overall has been broadly welcomed by many schools, some schools are not engaging with the programme and the objective of integrating …

Driver Behaviour Near Schools In South County Dublin, Bernadette King

Students Learning with Communities

This study assessed the driver behaviour of 1,200 drivers near three schools in South County Dublin. This literature review focuses on articles discussing factors believed to influence drivers speed choice and the perception of drivers towards speed limits and explore how the theory of planned behaviour or reasoned action has been used to improve prediction and explanation of driver behaviour. The primary goal of this study was to assess driver behaviour near three schools and establish if they are complying with the posted speed limit. It also set out to seek to establish what factors if any were associated with …