Students 'too afraid to take risks' in Stem subjects

Principals told the Oireachtas education committee that students taking Stem subjects must be allowed to engage in practical learning.

Leaving Cert students in Stem subjects are too afraid to make mistakes or take risks in their education because they face such a high-stakes exam, principals have warned.

The Oireachtas education committee met with representatives for students, teachers, and principals on Tuesday as it continued its discussions on Stem education.

Students learn more “by doing”, National Association for Principals and Deputy Principals director Paul Crone told the committee.

There are so many opportunities to create practical lessons in Stem subjects, he added.

“But we have to create the situation where they can make mistakes because you very often learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes," Mr Crone said.

“Students studying those Stem subjects for Leaving Cert at the moment are so afraid to make a mistake.

“They are so afraid to take a risk that their own learning has been disadvantaged because of the high stakes exam and there's too much at stake for the students.

If we can create the pathways for students that will allow them to explore, it will allow them to engage in that practical learning and give them more opportunities to make mistakes and embrace the learning from those mistakes.”

Moira Leydon from the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) told the committee that under-investment in schools results in not having sufficient teachers to provide a wide curriculum choice.

This further impacts on gender differences in Stem uptake. 

“Compared to 94% of boys’ schools, only 82% of girls’ schools provided biology, chemistry, and physics. Worryingly, this figure drops to 66% in mixed schools," she said.

The percentage of girls’ schools offering a Stem subject other than maths or science at senior cycle is 68% compared to 95% of boys’ schools, she added. 

"While other factors are at play in terms of gender take-up and attitudes to science, the ASTI is firmly of the view that the rigid model of teacher allocation to schools is a significant factor."

Irish Second-Level Students Union president Caitlin Faye Maniti told the committee that newer subjects such as computer science need to “become more mainstream". 

"Computers and coding are popular amongst students as hobbies, but to properly support Leaving Certificate computer science and Junior Cycle coding we must look at the bigger picture. To put it simply, we don't have enough teachers available," Ms Maniti said. 

Students can enter a plethora of different computer science-related competitions from BT to SciFest to Vex Robotics; however, the vast majority of students will not get an opportunity to study computer science as a subject because it will not be offered at their school.”

The lack of resourcing and funding of Stem subjects contributes to inaccessibilty, she added. 

"Schools such as Deis schools in disadvantaged areas and rural schools often suffer the short end of the stick when it comes to funding. The cost of materials needed to facilitate subjects such as technology or graphics may be unattainable for these schools."