EPI•STEM PODCAST EPISODE 2

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 2, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD chat about the upcoming STEAM Education partnership project, entitled ‘Design a Sustainable Eco-Village in Ireland in 2050’. This school-university-museum project involves a novel collaboration between the Limerick Education Support Centre, the Hunt Museum in Limerick City and EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education at the School of Education, University of Limerick. Geraldine and Michelle share the names of the nine local schools that have registered on the project. They discuss the importance of being able to have the critical literacy and numeracy skills to read quantitative datacorrectly and to question its source when necessary. They clearly show how this issue speaks to social justice and equality. They briefly mention the emphasis on mathematics education and math teacher upskilling already underway in EPI•STEM and the UL School of Education. In relation to the green transition for climate justice, Geraldine and Michelle chat about an exciting project undertaken by local authorities in the Netherlands where they use green bicycle lanes to generate electricity from piezoelectric tiles. This conversion of mechanical energy to electrical energy generates sufficient electricity to have charging stations and surveillance cameras along the cycle lane for healthy exercise and a safe experience. Geraldine and Michelle relate the project to a learning statement in the Junior Cycle Framework that values what it means to be an active citizen, with rights and responsibilities in local and wider contexts. They hope this episode will inspire the students and their teachers as they set about planning their pilot project. The musical selection today is a waltz, called Tears, written by Gerry Holland in Cape Bretton in Canada and played on fiddle by Avril McLoughlin who researches and lectures in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Limerick.