Taiscéalaí - 3D Printing Education for Primary Schools
Year Awarded
2022
Amount
€46,718
- Organisation:Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR)
- Co-funded with Dept of Education:Yes
- Audience:Primary Students
- Format:Formal Education
- Location:Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Kildare, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Waterford, Westmeath
- Topic:STEAM
Project Summary
Taiscéalaí, the Irish for explorer, seeks to achieve equality of learning and access to 3D printing education at the primary school level. Globally there is a deficit of graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects and a disjointed approach across Europe to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) STEAM education. This project seeks to offer a roadmap that makes 3D printing education easy and fun for teachers and students alike.
We propose to develop a programme, which is fully integrated and mapped to the Primary School Curriculum. This programme will be flexible to ensure teachers can deliver the programme at a time that is convenient to them, considering other requirements of the school such as Christmas plays, communion, exams etc. Participating teachers will be fully trained on 3D printing and how to teach 3D printing in the classroom. Schools involved will get a 3D printer as part of this project.
Schools will showcase their students’ efforts at a celebration event where they will get to explore other STEAM subjects such as robots, electronics, programming, AV/VR etc. Partner facilities will be made available such as the IMR high-tech lab in Mullingar, Mobile FabLab, Enterprise FabLab, etc. As this is a national initiative, resources will be developed bi-lingually integrating Gaeilge and English seamlessly.