The Irish Transition Year and TYPE

Home , Alexandra College, Belvedere College, Synge Street CBS, Trinity College Dublin

Charles H. Patterson

School of Physics Trinity College Dublin Ireland

Irish High School Education System Transition Year Overview Trinity College School of Physics TYPE Programme Irish Young Scientists Exhibition www.tcd.ie/Physics/people/Charles.Patterson

Gangwon Conference 2014 Irish Post-Primary Education System

Secondary Education

Junior Cycle 12-15 yrs Junior certificate examinations

Senior Cycle 15-18 yrs Transition Year (optional) 2 years leaving certificate at least 5 subjects including Irish language Leaving certificate examinations

Tertiary Education College/University 18-22 yrs

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Overview

To promote the personal, social, educational and vocational development of pupils and to prepare them for their role as autonomous, participative and responsible members of society Department of Education

• 30,000 students per year • Full programme since 1994 • Education, life skills, work experience, sport, travel • 75% of schools offer programme • Optional in 82% of schools offering programme • 89% choose to do Transition Year • Additional cost of €1000 (KRW 1,300,000) per student • Transition Year information sessions for 3rd year students • Irish Second Level Students Union Report

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Education

Syllabus: • Core modules: Irish, English, Maths and Physical Education

• Sampling of subjects: Helped to make Leaving Certificate course choices

• Usually ‘exam tail wags the curricular dog’ : Teachers make the curriculum

• Methods of assessment: projects, reflective journals and portfolios

Advantages: • Research projects help students to become independent learners

• Students who do Transition Year become more mature

• ‘students enter the room, sit down and are ready for work’ in 5th year classes

Problems: • Lack of funding: Transition Year coordinators unable to fulfil their plans

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Work Experience

Set requirements for work experience: • Typically two to four weeks in a company, school, etc.

• Some schools have additional compulsory week of community involvement

• Rural schools face difficulties: lack of opportunity, transport

• Finding suitable opportunity in good time

• Mixed opinions on whether work experience helped choice of subjects or careers

• TYPE programme initiated in response to requests for work experience

• Careers initiatives: attend University Open days

• Guest speakers from various industries

• Higher Options Conference, Dublin

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Work Experience

• Transition year programmes in Trinity College Science Faculty • School of Biochemistry and Immunology • School of Botany • School of Chemistry • Nanoscience • School of Physics • Science Gallery

• School of Medicine

• Royal College of Surgeons Ireland Dublin and Waterford (1 week) • Engineers Ireland advertises TY programmes in IT's and UCD

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Work Experience

TY programmes in industry, public sector and NGO’s

• Intel (Ireland)

• UNICEF (Ireland)

• Law Education for Schools - James Fahy, practising barrister

• Irish Environmental Protection Agency - Information for TY teachers

• Stein Study

• Irish Times - newspaper

• Irish Fire Services

• Department of Foreign Affairs

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Work Experience

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Physics Experience - TYPE

• Applications invited from all Schools in Ireland

• Circa 300 applications for 1 week programme from 800 Schools invited

• Each School can send two student applications for 1 week programme

• Programme conducted during study week (mid-semester)

• TY students mentored by 16 3rd year Physics undergraduates for 2.5 days

• Application form: (1) Asks students to describe their interest in TYPE (2) Teacher recommendation

• Applications selected on basis of (1) and (2)

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year Physics Experience - TYPE

• One week programme 48 places

• Programme topics:

Poster making and poster competition: with 16 3rd year undergraduate mentors

Lectures and demonstration lectures: How to weigh a grain of sand Nanotechnology Higgs, hadrons and bosons Medical Physics Careers in Physics

Laboratory work: Making ‘comets’

Writing: Interview a scientist Mini-projects

Site visits: Dunsink Astronomical Observatory Birr Castle telescope TCD nanotechnology Centre Gangwon Conference 2014

Poster Making

Solar Cells Space Weather SQUIDs

Researched on internet with assistance of mentors

Gangwon Conference 2014 Demonstration Lectures

Light scattering by emulsion

Exploding marshmallow - vacuum Whistling tube - resonance Demonstration Lectures

Shattered wine glass - resonance Static electricity discharge

Static electricity - van de Graaf Liquid nitrogen - low temperature Astrophysics

Solar physics lecture Visit to Dunsink Observatory

Instruction in comet making The finished product Poster Prizes TYPE Student Feedback

Are you more or less likely to study a science subject after attending TYPE? 40

25 More Likely 20 The Same 15 Less Likely 10

0 TYPE 2012 TYPE 2013 TYPE Applicants who entered TCD

35 30 Sample size 107 # students 25 Science incl Physics 20 Engineering 15 Science excl Physics 10 5 Other 0 Attended TYPE Did not attend

0.6 0.5 Fraction of 0.4 Science incl Physics students 0.3 Engineering 0.2 Science excl Physics 0.1 Other 0 Attended TYPE Did not attend TYPE Student Feedback

• Lecture demonstrations and laboratory experience particularly popular • Waves and sound, electromagnetism demonstrations, making comets • Easy to pitch topics at too high a level

• ‘Never knew that physics had a use in medicine’ • ‘Really considering a career in medical physics after this’ • ‘Always liked physics, never knew there were so many jobs!’ • ‘I found the discovery of graphene very cool and exciting’

• ‘Our experiment didn’t work - that was disappointing’ • ‘Some of the equations were difficult to understand’

Irish Second Level Students Union Report

In your experience, what are the main benefits of TY? Students mature Exposes students to new areas Students learn new skills Work Experience Other 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% In your opinion, what are the main weaknesses of TY? Other It is just a 'doss' year Students become lazy Takes longer to adapt to 5th year Not enough focus on academic work 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Gangwon Conference 2014 Young Scientist Exhibition

Irish Young Scientist Exhibition since 1965

2015 will see the exhibition celebrate its 51st year

One of the longest standing exhibitions of its kind in the world

Over 1,200 students with 550 projects participated and over 45,000 visitors in 2014

The Exhibition received its highest ever entry numbers of individual schools entering at 379 and 2000 projects, breaking all previous records.

Photo Gallery

International Student Science Fair Korea Science Academy, Busan (2006)

Korea National Science Fair

Gangwon Conference 2014 Young Scientist Exhibition

Irish Young Scientist Exhibition since 1965

2009 winners Liam McCarthy and John D. O'Callaghan Kinsale Community School, County Cork The Development of a Convenient Test Method for Somatic Cell Count and Its Importance In Milk Production First place – 21st European Union Contest for Young Scientists

2012 winners Mark Kelly and Eric Doyle Synge Street CBS, Dublin Simulation accuracy in the gravitational many-body problem First place – 24th European Union Contest for Young Scientists

2013 winners Emer Hickey, Sophie Healy-Thow and Ciara Judge Kinsale Community School, County Cork A statistical investigation of the effects of Diazotroph bacteria on plant germination Grand prize winner 15 to 16-year-old category GoogleScience Fair 2014

Gangwon Conference 2014 Transition Year in the media

Irish Independent 25/02/2013 More students opting for transition year – but disadvantaged losing out

Irish Times 27/05/2014 Transition Year: Not such a doss year after all

Irish Examiner 28/05/2014 Research finds transition year a positive experience

Irish Independent 21/10/2014 Army chiefs to target transition year students in next recruitment round

Gangwon Conference 2014 Bibliography

Department of Education website:

Transition year syllabus

Report on TY by Irish Second Level Students Union

Professional Development Service for Teachers

Private Schools’ Transition Year programmes:

Alexandra College - Girls School in suburban Dublin alexandracollege.eu/home/about-us/alexandra-college-today/senior-school/transition-year/ alexandracollege.eu/category/transition-year/ alexandracollege.eu/home/about-us/alexandra-college-today/senior-school/about-transition-year/

Belvedere College - Jesuit School for boys in inner city Dublin www.belvederecollege.ie/transition-year www.belvederecollege.ie/files/TYP_Web_copy.pdf

Gangwon Conference 2014 Conclusions

• Key Partners and Requirements • Department of Education Policy Setting • Industry High quality work experience programmes • Universities High quality subject specific programmes • Schools Extra effort in this style of teaching

• Key Aspects of Transition Year or TYPE programmes • Freedom from ‘teaching to the test’ • Freedom to adapt curriculum to student needs • Lecture demonstrations, site visits, ‘active learning’ • Chance to sample a range of subjects

• Novel Learning Styles • High School stage - Young Scientist Exhibition • University stage - Project work (in another country?)

Lecture Slides after 12/02/2014 www.tcd.ie/Physics/people/Charles.Patterson

Gangwon Conference 2014