A novel outreach project to educate secondary school students and teachers on the pervasiveness and utility value of mathematics throughout a range of careers, entitled Career Mathways, was conducted by Drs Niamh O’Meara, Olivia Fitzmaurice and Patrick Johson in 2018. STEM Ambassadors, well known public figures and members of the community, were invited to inspire and educate students on how mathematics plays a pervasive and crucial role in their careers. The success of this phase of the project (Phase One) was evident in the significant increase in students’ appreciation of the utility value of mathematics.

In 2022 due to additional SFI funding the team extended the project through a collaboration with new STEM Ambassadors, and students and teachers from 13 schools around the country. The aim of this phase of Career Mathways was to reach a wider cohort of teachers and students and provide greater autonomy to teachers to guarantee the creation of authentic, practical resources for their students.

Four more SA’s were recruited in 2022: A Master Brewer in St James’s Gate brewery; an Eir technician; the former Chief Executive Officer of the Health Service Executive; and a Firefighter. These interviews provided the basis for the professional development conducted in Phase two, a three-day summer school in UL (August 2022). 14 teachers from 13 schools across Ireland volunteered to take part. They attended the summer school and taught Career Mathways for 12 weeks (the school term September – December 2022). In the summer school, participating teachers were required to work in groups on the new SA interviews and create teaching and learning plans, PowerPoint presentations and associated student problem sheets. A website was created in the second phase of the project to house the resources from both phases of the projects.

Each participating teacher was visited and observed by a member of the research team for one lesson during the intervention. The student participant cohort comprised approximately 300 TY students (age 16 years) and over 130 participated in a competition where they were required to conduct their own interview with a professional and query their use of mathematics in their jobs, then submit a video of their interview along with either a report or a poster on their project.

To conclude the project, the winners and runners up from each school, along with national winners and runners-up, were visited by a member of the research team to be presented with certificates of acknowledgement (for participating), and/or certificates of achievement and prizes (for winners and runners-up).

Published Book Chapter

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-18868-8_4

Goos, M., O’Meara, N., Johnson, P., Fitzmaurice, O., Guerin, A. (2023). Mathematical Modelling as a Stimulus for Curriculum and Instructional Reform in Secondary School Mathematics. In: Leikin, R. (eds) Mathematical Challenges For All . Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18868-8_4

Prof. Merrilyn Goos and Drs Niamh O’Meara, Patrick Johnson, Olivia Fitzmaurice, and Aoife Guerin published a chapter in Mathematical Challenges For All, part of the ‘Research in Mathematics Education’ book series. The chapter describes a local outreach project (Young Modellers) that was designed to support secondary school mathematics teachers to learn about the mathematical modelling process and develop appropriate instructional strategies.