The 57th Annual Conference of the Irish Science Teachers’ Association was held in Dublin City University on the 12th -14th April 2019. This was the first time that DCU has ever held the ISTA conference and it was hosted under the auspices of the Centre for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning (CASTeL). The majority of the conference presentations took place on DCU St. Patrick’s Campus in the DCU Institute of Education and social events were held in the Skylon Hotel.
CASTeL researchers were prominent in the programme across primary and post-primary workshops and plenary presentations:
- What’s all this Fuss about STEM? Why promient in Bother? Professor Deirdre Butler
- Three Dimensions of Practitioner Inquiry in Physics Education Project, Dr. James Lovatt, Dr. Paul Grimes and Dr. Eilish McLoughlin
- Open Schools for Open Societies, Dr. Eilish McLoughlin and Dr. James Lovatt.
- Improving Gender Balance & Stimulating Physics in Ireland, Dr. Eilish McLoughlin and Deirdre O’Neill
- Helping children to understand science and inspiring them to work like scientists, Dr. Cliona Murphy
- Creative science – Art and Science not such strange bedfellows!, Dr. Orla Kelly
The conference also welcomed back former Fulbright Fellow to CASTeL, Professor Bill McComas, University of Arkansas.