Constructionist STEM Activities Using the Bridge21 Model
Brendan Tangney & Aibhín Bray - The Trinity Centre for Research in IT in Education, School of
Computer Science & Statistics and School of Education, Trinity College Dublin, the University of
Dublin
Ian Boran - Tallaght Community School, Dublin
Tony Knox - Kilkenny College, Kilkenny
Tangney@tcd.ie
https://www.slideshare.net/tangney

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Some Challenges We All Face
• STEM Education (Henriksen, Dillon, & Ryder, 2015)
• “Closer cooperation with the Science and Technology Studies could assist in
identifying more adequate forms how to communicate scientific knowledge
and how to engage children into the attractive and actual scientific
research.” Conference Welcome Message
• Teach “21st century skills” AND curriculum content
(Danah, Punya, & Petra, 2016; Fullan & Langworthy, 2014; Voogt & Roblin,
2012)
• Innovative pedagogies in a didactic classroom (Fullan & Langworthy 2014)
• Mainstreaming “boutique” interventions at SCALE (Griffiths & Goddard
2015)
• Teacher beliefs (Ertmer 2005)

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Map of Dublin by Postal Code

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Progression from ”High School” to
Further Education
In Dublin, at least,
“intelligence” is
a function of
post code!!!!!!
“New learning opportunities
are offered to students
with equity”.
(Paulo Blikstein 2018)

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The Irish Context
5

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Secondary School Education

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Main Entry
Route to
3rd Level
EducationSingle state wide
examination
Students
Students
Students
3 Digit Score Teach to
the !#$@
test

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Current Reforms
8

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Teach Skills AND Curriculum Content
www.ncca.ie/media/3249/framework-for-junior-cycle-2015-en.pdf

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ENHANCING TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT
www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-
Reports/Digital-Strategy-for-Schools-2015-
2020.pdf

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CS and Coding
Coding being introduced FOR THE FIRST TIME as an examined Senior
Cycle subject.
Pilot rollout 2018-2020

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The Bridge21 Model and
Educational Change
12

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
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Lawlor J., Conneely C., Oldham E., Marshall K. and Tangney B. (2018). "Bridge21: Teamwork, Technology and Learning - A
pragmatic model for effective 21C Team-based Learning." Technology, Pedagogy and Education.

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
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Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Bridge21 Lesson Template

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Bridge21 Success in Informal Setting
Byrne, J. R., O'Sullivan, K., & Sullivan, K. (2016). An IoT and Wearable Technology Hackathon for Promoting Careers in
Computer Science. IEEE Transactions on Education, (60), 1, pp 50-58.
Bray A., Tangney B., "Enhancing Student Engagement through the Affordances of Mobile Technology: A 21st Century
Learning Perspective on Realistic Mathematics Education", Mathematics Education Research Journal. 2015. 1 - 25
DOI 10.1007/s13394-015-0158-7
O'Donovan, D., McCrea, J., Elena Gallagher, S. and Tangney, B. (2016), Living The Lockout: The Dublin Tenement
Experience Participation Design for Locals, Diaspora, and Teenagers through Engagement with one of the Darkest Times
in Dublin's History. Museum, 68: 131–147. doi:10.1111/muse.12130
Wickham C., Girvan C., and Tangney B., Constructionism and microworlds as part of a 21st century learning activity to
impact student engagement and confidence in physics, in Constructionism 2016. Sipitakiat A. and Tutiyaphuengprasert
N., Editors. 2016, Suksapattana Foundation: Bangkok. p. 34-43.
Sullivan, K., Marshall, K., & Tangney, B. (2015). Learning circles: A collaborative technology-mediated peer teaching
workshop. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 14, 63-83. Retrieved from
http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol14/JITEv14IIPp063-083Sullivan0919.pdf
Bauer, C., A. Devitt, and B. Tangney, The alignment of CMC language learning methodologies with the Bridge21 model of
21C learning, in Critical CALL – Proceedings of the 2015 EUROCALL Conference, Padova, Italy, F. Helm, et al., Editors. 2015,
Research-publishing.net: Padova, Italy. p. 44-50.

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Systemic Change
“Philosophers have interpreted the
world, the point however is to
change it.”
Karl Marx
http://juniorfellow.ewb.ca/systemic-change/

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Operate at multiple levels in the system
Educational system/context
Teacher professional development
and pre-service education
Evidence base
Develop activities &
design principles
Train students
Model of
21st T&L

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Teacher Professional Development
Girvan C., Conneely C. and Tangney B. (2016). "Extending experiential learning in teacher
professional development”, Teaching and Teacher Education(58): 129-139.

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Postgraduate Certificate in 21st Century
Teaching & Learning (2014-)

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Teacher Quotes
• It was very much 90% they were working, 10% me!
• They’re a bit more excited I think which is nice, there is no them versus us in the class they can
see that they can actually just teach themselves now.
• The other thing I'd say which I think is really important, from my point of view, is the kids
taught me a lot
• “(The postgraduate certificate) made me do something I had wanted to do for a long time but
wasn’t confident to do...the fact I was being graded made me build the website and
incorporate it into my classes...I am happy now as I have it done”

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This Study
Teachers exploring constructionist STEM activities
scaffolded with the Bridge21 model in authentic classroom
settings
25

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Activity 1 – Problem Solving
26
how to engage children into
the attractive and actual
scientific research

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Problem Solving Strategy - Synthesis
(Boran 2017)

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Problem Solving Strategy - Model
(Boran 2017)

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The Constructionist Learning Activity
Bridge Design
Construct and analyse the
design of bridges meeting
specified criteria
Bridgedesigner.org

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Participants
21 students, age ~12, year 1 of secondary school
Mixed gender, urban school, area of social & economic disadvantage
10 hour learning experience
After school club

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Methods
Mixed methods
Metacognitive Inventory Scale (Cooper & Sandi-Urena 2009)
Focus group interviews

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Results – Pre-Post t-test
Metacognitive Activities Inventory
Mean-pre SD-pre Mean-post SD-post t(20) !
Problem Solving Skills 2.3 .45 3.3 .51 -3.277 .004
Planning 3 .52 3.3 .49 -3.789 .001
Reflection 3 .37 3.3 .43 -2.677 .015
Monitoring 2.9 .64 3.2 .57 -2.461 .023
Statistically significant improvements in all 4 constructs

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Student Quotes – Open Coding
• “Yeah like I think the project was good at making us be creative and
critically think about the design and structure of our bridges,
sometimes in Maths we don’t get to be creative and innovative in
Maths and it’s hard to reflect on our answers because we cannot
check to see if they are right or wrong.”
(B21 – Plan-create-reflect)
• “Yeah it was cool that you could learn from your mistakes and
change your design, it kind of helped you and you could work out by
analysing the load test and testing your bridge”.
(B21 – Plan-create-reflect)
• “It was fun I enjoyed the learning experience, you gave us a lot
more control and we could make our own decisions, and you (the
teacher) kind of let us work out the problems for ourselves which was
good because we learned more by doing it ourselves.”
(B21 - Student responsibility for learning)

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2nd Activity – Mathematical Functions
Marble slides https://teacher.desmos.com/activitybuilder
Manipulation of
different
representations of
functions to construct
solutions to challenges

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Participants & Methods
24 students, age ~16, year 4 of secondary school
Mixed gender, urban school, weak mathematical ability
9 hour learning experience
During normal class time
Mixed methods
Maths Technology Attitude Scale (Pierce, Stacey, & Barkatsas, 2007)
Focus group interviews

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Results
Mean-pre SD-pre Mean-post SD-post t(23) !
BE 13.5 2.0 13.6 2.2 0.267 0.792
TC 14.3 3.4 15.8 2.3 1.934 0.065
MC 10.6 3.7 11.5 3.5 1.131 0.270
AE 11.5 2.4 12.8 2.6 2.734 0.012
MT 12.7 4.0 14.6 3.9 2.187 0.039
MTAS measures : behavioural engagement (BE), confidence with technology (TC),
mathematical confidence (MC), affective engagement (AE), and attitude to using
technology for learning mathematics (MT)
Statistically significant improvements in Affective Engagement and
Attitude to using Technology for Learning Mathematics

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Student Quotes – Open Coding
“I thought they were beneficial, they were like really good and kind made
you think about math in different ways.” (Attitude)
“It was more interesting and I found that I looked forward more to
coming to maths.” (Attitude)
“I thought it was helpful because you got to see like every time you
changed a number and like something would happen on the screen and
you'd see something and that helped.” (Technology – Constructionism)
“Helpful because you had to work a few times at finding the numbers
you needed for the graph.” (Technology – Constructionism)

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Take Away Message
1. In the Irish context the policy framework is conducive and we are
making some progress in addressing the issues outlined earlier.
2. The Bridge21 model is one suitable framework for developing
constructionist STEM activities for an authentic classroom setting.
3. The CPD empowered teachers to develop the activities and research
their own practice.
4. Teachers are persuaded most by other teachers.