Exploring the Sustainable Development Goals through Coding
Year Awarded
2022
Amount
€49,876
- Organisation:Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)
- Co-funded with Dept of Education:Yes
- Audience:Primary Students
- Format:Formal Education
- Location:Kilkenny, Tipperary
- Topic:STEAM
Project Summary
This project aims to provide primary school teachers and students with an opportunity to engage with concepts in sustainable development through computer science (CS). The project team will co-teach with teachers building confidence, and providing support, to ensure the successful teaching of CS topics in the primary curriculum. The theme of sustainable development will underpin the project ensuring that CS can be integrated in a holistic way through the Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE) curriculum.
The Sustainable Development Goals provide a framework for a sustainable future for all. Exploring the goals in a fun and engaging way through the creation of games, animations and embedded system applications will allow students to investigate sustainable development practices. Similarly, teachers will gain cross curricular experience in science and environmental education through CS.
The IT Department at the Technological University of the Shannon has engaged with schools for more than 20 years, exposing teachers and students to CS in practical ways. Through the annual ICT in Education conference, and the delivery of a suite of Level 9 CS programmes for Teachers, the team have discovered that confidence is a limiting factor for many teachers who wish to introduce CS in the classroom. While teachers are eager to introduce CS concepts, they are often wary of doing so due to their lack of confidence. This project will support teachers to introduce coding in an integrated way helping to build teacher confidence, while also increasing the understanding of sustainable development concepts among teachers and students.