New Perspectives in Science Education

This paper reports on the experiences of the lead author, a practicing science teacher, and his colleagues in an Irish-Language secondary school’s science department, during their participation in the Inspiring Science Education (ISE) project. The ISE project aims to promote the inquiry-based learning methodology amongst science teachers across the European Union, and to enhance the learning experience of students by incorporating engaging eTools and interactive resources into the science lesson. The ISE project provides inquiry-based lessons following their five-stage inquiry model on their online platform - the ISE Lesson Authoring Tool. These lessons are linked to interactive simulations and other online resources, and are used by students in the classroom to allow the student to progress independently through the lesson at their own pace. To implement the ISE lessons in our school, one of the lessons provided was translated into Irish, and carried out with several class groups in the junior cycle. In addition, teachers in the school created their own lessons on the ISE platform, and various student groups performed these lessons. This paper reflects on the experiences of the science teachers in observing the classes, and lessons learned by the teachers to be borne in mind in the future when designing lessons on the Lesson Authoring Tool.