Science and technology are Ireland’s future, we’re often told. Maths is fundamentally important for both, but receives less attention and is somehow less glamorous.
For many, there was no school subject quite as dreadful as maths. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin wants to change all that. She discusses the problem with Roisin Ingle on this week's "Roisin Meets…" podcast.
“What I want to get to the core of is why some people like it a lot, and other people get turned off,” the academic and broadcaster tells Roisin.
“That’s why I studied maths education as part of my PhD, and that’s why I teach maths teachers. It should be creative, and it should be fun and it should be active.
“Education is transformative and it’s powerful. It’s important that people have access to it, and if they have access then it should be the best experience it can be,” she says.
Roisin wonders why, like many others, she assumed from a young age that she was simply not equipped to deal with numbers.
“Because you’re afraid of getting something wrong, and that’s a real thing,” explains Aoibhinn. “In all classrooms we have to get over the fear and anxiety of being wrong, because you learn from being wrong.
“When you give homework that only rewards the right answer neatly given on one line, that’s not learning as far as I’m concerned”.
University College Dublin (UCD) have introduced a new undergraduate course that teaches how to nurture mathematical abilities by integrating teacher training and science. Aoibhinn is optimistic that the course represents a new beginning in science and maths education.
“It is shifting, and I think teachers are developing all the time in terms of how they are approaching it,” she says.
Aoibhinn is also helping to promote an understanding of science through her RTÉ show Science Squad. She believes that Irish scientists deserve much more recognition for their achievements.
"Ireland is a very small country, but we make a definitive impact on the world of research globally'" she says. "Five scientists from Ireland are within the top 5 per cent of people cited worldwide. That's phenomenal".
To listen to the dicussion, log on to the show’s Soundcloud page or subscribe for free via iTunes or Stitcher.
