Demonstrating the importance of curriculum-focussed content: learnings from a collaborative STEM outreach partnership in Second Level Schools in Ireland

Abstract. 5*S is a STEM outreach programme designed to “attract those not normally engaged with STEM”, by introducing spatial data into the secondary school curriculum. The objective was to move beyond the traditional ‘school visit’ model where a speaker might present samples of their work and instead develop teacher-focussed training and student-focussed content with clear value, encouraging adoption by teachers in their lesson plans. To enthuse the next generation, a team of experts in the geospatial and education fields collaborated to visit schools and inform them to consider a STEM career by bringing interactive content and sharing their own experiences in the classroom. In evaluation of feedback received from over 75 teachers, and workshops reaching almost 19,000 students in 22 counties, teachers expressed that students were more engaged following the workshops and recognised the positive benefits of exposing students to the content. The value of STEM careers, and the role of NMAs was also evident. From a teacher’s perspective there was an increase in their own confidence when working with spatial data and a recognition of the potential to enable students to be in charge of their own learning. The value of curriculum-focussed content proposed in this paper was validated, with 98% of teachers indicating that they would use 5*S content again in their teaching and 100% confirmed that they would recommend GIS/spatial data and 5*S to a colleague. This research shows that space, satellites and STEM are relevant to many more than just the traditional subjects.