Clare students step outside the classroom for pilot EU science labs

A NEW University of Limerick project saw students from one Clare school take part in off-campus labs that promote learning in different settings, from museums and science centres to botanical gardens and parks.

The project is OTTER, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme, which focuses on sparking students’ interest in science using outside the classroom activities. 

This approach helps to provide students with the 21st century skills to help tackle today’s pressing issues such as reduction of plastic waste. 

UL is one of seven European partner universities in the project. The OTTER labs constitute a series of activities where students get to experience first-hand “Education Outside the Classroom”, a new methodology in education, and become familiar with scientific concepts in an accessible, more informal setting.

“Three schools in the Limerick and Clare regions have partnered with the project and we are glad to report that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Dr Deirdre O’Neill, a post-doctoral researcher at UL’s School of Education and part of the UL team piloting the OTTER labs in Ireland.

They were guided through a real-life water and sewage treatment plant and introduced to a broad range of career pathways in this field. Students also partnered with Limerick primary school Scoil Íde to impart their knowledge of water and sewage treatment as part of their Leaving Certificate Chemistry course on their younger protégés. 

“The students of today can become the scientists of tomorrow, striving to make the world a better place, through quality educative experiences,”said Dr O’Neill.

“Through Education Outside the Classroom, we want our students to gain the confidence to approach science problems with ease and see that it, too, can be fun.”