In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 11, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Norma O’Brien, the Director of the Limerick Education Support Centre (LESC). Norma explains the ongoingeducative and partnership work of the centre, for example, through ongoing liaison with school principals in primary and post-primary schools in Limerick city and county and Tipperary, providing CPD for school leaders and teachers and workingwith community groups, museums, national and regional policymakers and local enterprises.

Norma shares her vast expertise of working as a former scienceteacher and school leader in different schools in Ireland and London and how this has prepared her to live out her values and commitment in her current role as Director of the LESC. We speak about our three way partnership in the Eco-Village project for 2050, between LESC, the HUNT Museum and EPI•STEM. We are already in awe of the project work taking place in the six schools under the guidance of the teachers. We are viewing the projects using the lens of social justice and our understanding of that in terms of the greater good of Irishsociety and ecology. Norma has started a PhD in Educational Leadership in the University of Limerick with the guidance of her supervisors, Professor Patricia Mannix McNamara and Dr. Nicolaas Blom. We wish her every success in her future endeavours.

The musical selection today is provided by Ayyaz Mehmood, afinal year student in the Performing Arts in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music. Ayyaz is a singer and a songwriter. Here Ayyaz is playing acoustic guitar and singing one of his own compositions, entitled ‘Homelife’.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 10, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Tara E. Ryan, a PhD student in Physics who now works in the ACTUATE LAB in the Department of Chemical Sciences in the Bernal Institute in the University of Limerick under the supervision of Professor Sarah Guerin. Tara is a UL graduate of a science teacher education degree and worked for one summer as a Research Assistant in EPI•STEM. During that time Tara produced CPD resources for teachers in chemistry, physics and earth and science that are now made available on the EPI•STEM ACADEMY OF STEM TEACHERS (see epistem website).

Tara tells us of her love of science and physics from a young age and with the support and inspiration of her science teachers in St. Caimin’s Community School in Shannon, Co. Clare.

Tara’s research is in the area of piezo electricity, working with crystals to generate electricity from mechanical compression. Her doctoral research involves a search for alternative and sustainable energy sources that can be safely disposed of at end of life. Tara shares how her study is taking place within the scientific community and how she presents at international conferences. Tara’s study won a prestigious prize with UL Engage in the UL Citizen’s Assembly in Limerick.

The musical selection today is a waltz, called Tears, written by Gerry Holland in Cape Bretton in Canada and played on fiddle by Dr. Avril Mc Loughlin. Avril was a former lecturer in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in UL and has recently been appointed as a Lecturer in Music Education in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick.

www.epistem.ie

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 9, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome their special guest Dr. Avril Mc Loughlin, a researcher and lecturer in the Irish

We tease out some tensions and synergies between the Arts and Music and STEM subjects, and how that plays out in contested views of STEAM Education. While there are technical aspects to all disciplines we are also interested in the many aspects that are upstream of the instrumental.

The Arts, Aesthetics and Ethics are central to our rationale for

We are now signing off until the University of Limerick’s semester starts again in January 2025. We want to give

Our musical selection today is from Sarbik Guha, known by

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 8, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD read from a letter sent to EPI•STEM by the President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. The President congratulates everyone connected to the Transition Year STEAM Education project entitled ‘Design a Sustainable

Geraldine and Michelle chat today with special guest Associate

Olivia shares her passion for researching and teaching mathematics and how she was persuaded to select math in her undergraduate degree through listening to Professor John O’Donoghue on a UL Open Day, one of the original

Olivia’s research is interested in the social scientific problem

Many of Olivia’s research studies draw from Usiskin’s model, which includes the relational, procedural, conceptual, cultural historical, representational and the necessity to make the vital link to real world applications. Professor Fitzmaurice shares her insights from a joint research study on a diversity of careers and how they were all connected in one way or another to math. Finally, Olivia concludes with a brief summary of the findings from her recent national policy report examining the delicate transition for students of math between primary

The musical selection is the Kilnamona Barn Dance from County Clare and played on fiddle by Avril McLoughlin. Avril is a researcher and a lecturer in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Limerick.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 7, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD present an introduction to research studies in the Critical Sociology of Education, and in the Critical Sociology of STEM Education and STEAM Education.

Research studies in the sociology of education seek to make meaning of the present in relation to human development, both from the individual and the societal perspective. Critical sociology of education studies, at masters and PhD level seek to interpret the present in order to change it in the direction of the greater good of society, care, social and planetary justice.

Critical sociology studies in education therefore assume both a research and advocacy stance revealing a problem-posing view, for human emancipation and connectivity to the common good of a democratic society and sustainability of the planet. There is a need for the researcher to interrogate and to share their positioning and to have an identifiable theoretical framework for the study. Geraldine and Michelle share some theorists they like to think with, including Pierre Bourdieu, Paulo Freire, Kathleen Lynch, Stephen Ball and Maxine Greene.

The musical selection is from Liam Broderick. Liam is a singer and guitarist from Abbeyfeale in Co. Limerick. Liam is a fourth year student in the BA in Irish Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Here Liam performs a beautiful rendition of the traditional song Siúil a Rún, which means ‘Walk my love’ or ‘Come with me my darling’ with origins in the late 17th century.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 6, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD chat with Associate Professor Regina Kelly. Regina is a Lecturer in Science Education, a Course Director of Initial Teacher Education science programmes in the School of the Education and an Affiliate of EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education.

We hear about WiSTEM2D and Regina’s research into the perceptions of female students enrolled in STEM courses at UL, a project funded at EPI•STEM by a local enterprise, Johnson & Johnson.

Regina reminds us that while the ‘gender gap’ in the science disciplines tends to be viewed in terms of participation and performance, it is a complex multivariate problem and it is also important to be aware of more subtle, gender-based differences in the perceptions, experiences and aspirations of

The musical selection is from Ben King, a songwriter and guitarist from Nenagh in Co. Tipperary. Ben is a first year student, in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Here Ben performs his own Reggae composition called Warm.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 5, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD chat with Emma King from the Hunt Museum about the workshop the museum is providing for the STEAM Education partnership project with EPI•STEM and the Limerick Education Support Centre.

Emma shares how cultural practices from the past can inspire TY students’ vision for sustainable living, including the museum’s Georgian architecture and its transformation from a customs house.

We share how the scarcity of resources led to a culture of reuse, repair, and redesign—sharply contrasting with todays’ disposable society. Students’ consider Sybil Connolly’s iconic dresses, providing inspiration for sustainable fashion practices in preference to fast fashion.

Finally, we explore past innovations such as the Shannon Hydroelectric Scheme at Ardnacrusha. Students will consider how Irish society was initially hesitant but now finds it difficult to imagine life without electricity. It points to the current crossroads in relation to sustainable energy solutions.

The musical selection is from Eoghan Waters, a songwriter and guitarist from Clarina in Co. Limerick. Eoghan is a third year student in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance in UL. Here Eoghan performs his own composition called Bad News.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 4, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD discuss aspects of the STEAM Education project. This Transition Year project is a partnership between EPI•STEM at UL, the Limerick Education Support Centre and the Hunt Museum in Limerick.

Geraldine and Michelle speak to the holistic aims of

Geraldine and Michelle discuss how the UN sustainable goal #17 addresses our TY partnership project. They share how SDG #10, aimed to reduce inequalities, can be

The musical selection is Gan Anam Jig, a lively traditional tune played on keyboard by Ciara Geaney from Dingle, an accomplished piano player and a second-year student in the BA in Irish Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Limerick.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 3, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD discuss the STEAM Education partnership project with Lauren O’Gorman, a Research Assistant in EPI•STEM and science teacher in the Crescent College Comprehensive S.J. in Limerick City.

Lauren speaks to new inspiring public infrastructure in

The musical selection today is The Boyne Water, an arrangement by Martin Hayes and The Common Ground Ensemble played on fiddle by Eilidh Pope, an instrumentalist and composer and final year student in the BA in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Limerick.

In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 2, co-hosts

Geraldine and Michelle share the names of the nine local schools that have registered on the project. They discuss the importance of being able to have the critical literacy and numeracy skills to read quantitative datacorrectly and to question its source when necessary. They clearly show how this issue speaks to social justice and equality.

They briefly mention the emphasis on mathematics education and math teacher upskilling already underway in EPI•STEM and the UL School of Education.

In relation to the green transition for climate justice,

The musical selection today is a waltz, called Tears, written