Dublin City University is partnering with Lego Education to create an interactive learning hub that will help DCU student teachers and schools develop creative approaches to teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) subjects in the classroom.
The Lego Education Innovation Studio (LEIS), will see the new Institute of Education at DCU’s St Patrick’s Campus in Drumcondra become the first centre of teacher education in Ireland to integrate these approaches across all its programmes.
The Institute’s students will develop approaches to teaching that are replicable throughout the country, from primary through to third level.
By adopting Lego’s playful learning tools, teachers graduating from DCU Institute of Education will be skilled in helping schoolchildren develop 21st Century skills such as creative thinking, problem-solving, team-working and communication.
The Studio will have the capacity to develop research projects through linkages with existing DCU research centres such as the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning (CASTEL), and to explore cross-faculty research possibilities with the Faculty of Engineering & Computing. Internationally, the DCU studio will lead a European teacher education network bringing together partners from the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.
St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra has a long history of using Lego materials for teaching and learning, particularly through its Empowering Minds community. Developed by Dr Deirdre Butler, this programme has helped teachers and children from over 60 schools explore concepts of design, sensing and control by building their own Lego models.
Speaking at the announcement of the new initiative at DCU St Patrick’s Campus, Dr Butler said: “This flagship innovation space is a wonderful example of a smart partnership enabling the Institute of Education to be the first to mainstream the Lego Education principles across the full spectrum of teacher education. It brings together Lego Education’s range of expressive learning materials with the Institute’s creative, innovative leaders in teaching and learning to design exciting learning environments in which our children can develop the range of skills necessary to thrive in this globally connected digital world.”
The Studio’s outreach activities will include a range of continuing professional development for teachers; open days and evenings for schools and local community groups; and hosting the first Lego and Junior Lego Leagues.
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