September2018 CÚRAM ‘Teachers in Residence Programme’ Now Enrolling for Third Year

Encouraging multidisciplinary approaches to teaching science

The Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Medical Devices (CÚRAM), at NUI Galway is now enrolling for its third ‘Teachers in Residence Programme’ with applications being accepted up to 19th October 2018. Teachers in residence work with CÚRAM researchers to develop high quality content for the classroom that is relevant, exciting, practical and easy to use.

During the residency, teachers work directly with world class researchers and get private tours of CÚRAM laboratories in the Biomedical Sciences building at NUI Galway, to learn about the medical device research and its impact on healthcare in Ireland and globally.

The residency runs from October 2018 until March 2019 for nine evenings. As part of the residency, teachers and their students are invited to attend interactive workshops run by CÚRAM, and participants of the programme will be granted a small honorarium to assist with any travel costs. Teachers from all disciplines are invited to participate, in support of encouraging multidisciplinary approaches to teaching science.

The CÚRAM Teachers in Residence Programme has ten places available for five primary and five secondary school teachers this year, with priority placement given to teachers from DEIS schools.  Participants will learn about and receive resources for the classroom including science engagement activities, science capital teaching approaches, and lesson plan kits developed by teachers for teachers, that are linked with the primary and junior cycle science curricula.

Professor Abhay Pandit, Scientific Director of CÚRAM at NUI Galway, said: “We have been delighted with the innovation and creativity shown by the primary and secondary teachers who have participated in the first two years of the programme. The lesson plans and resources developed for both primary and secondary school classrooms have now been fully evaluated and are available to primary and secondary teachers nationwide. If we can inspire our teachers by providing access to current, cutting edge Irish research and work with them to incorporate it into classroom activities, our hope is that they in turn can inspire their students for years to come.”

In 2018, CÚRAM has also partnered in the Department of Education and Skills’ Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) STE(A)M to develop a continuing professional development workshop for Junior Cycle teachers around MedTech research and career opportunities. The JCT STE(A)M workshops will allow for interdisciplinary responses to societal challenges in subject-specific and cross-curricular contexts.

Lesson plan kits developed from previous years’ teachers can be downloaded at: http://www.curamdevices.ie/curam/public-engagement/teachers-in-residence/.

To apply for a place in the Teachers in Residence Programme or find out more information, please contact sarah.gundy@nuigalway.ie.

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