Young children and STEM education

Free play and fun, Lego and Barbie all get a mention in this fascinating discussion Louise has with Prof Hamsa Venkat, the Naughton Family Chair in Early Years/Primary STEM education in DCU. They hear from children, parents and the facilitator of a Brickx club where, without realising it, young children were solving engineering and maths problems as they designed and built amazing creations during free play using Lego. Prof Venkat says it is important to grow enthusiasm around STEM for children in early years and primary school settings as in Ireland, and other countries, she said not enough secondary school students are planning for careers that involve STEM subjects. She also talks about the importance of supporting teachers who introduce and develop STEM learning in those settings and Louise shares her story about having a Barbie doll that said ‘math is hard.’

You can listen to Young children and STEM education online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Young children and STEM education is an episode from Teachers Inspire Ireland by Teachers Inspire Ireland.

This episode is 24:20 long.

This episode was published on Nov 16, 2023.

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