The Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) in Mary Immaculate College (MIC) launched its latest publication MIghTY Maths: Mathematical Investigations for Transition Year last week to coincide with Maths Week Ireland.

Written by Dr Ronan Flatley, Lecturer in Mathematics at MIC, this book offers Transition Year students and their teachers a collection of mini-projects and challenges in mathematics which are designed to stimulate the curiosity of TY students. Grounded in the historical origins of many mathematical concepts, this book provides opportunities for students to explore many challenging concepts in an enticing and enlightening way. Students can investigate codes and ciphers, engage in exotic base jumping and even construct number tricks to test on their friends.

Speaking at the launch, Prof. Niamh Hourigan, Vice-President of Academic Affairs at MIC, welcomed the publication of MIghTY Maths, highlighting its relevance to the Government’s STEM Education Policy Statement and Implementation Plan 2017-2026. A challenge which has been highlighted in the STEM Education Policy Statement is the need to increase the number of students choosing STEM subjects at post-primary level. The STEM Implementation Plan 2026 articulates a vision for STEM Education that will provide learners with experiences which cultivate their curiosity, tenacity, problem-solving and sense of inquiry. MIghTY Maths has the potential to contribute to this vision, by fuelling the mathematical imagination of TY students and their teachers in post-primary schools.

​Today (31 January), Dr Patricia Daly, former Head of the Department of Educational Psychology, Inclusive & Special Education (EPISE) at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), launched her new book, which aims to support mainstream teachers in understanding the strengths and needs of children with learning difficulties. ‘Small Changes Can Make Big Differences – Behaviour Management through the Lens of Special Education Needs’ examines the behaviour of children with additional needs and urges mainstream teachers to view this behaviour through the lens of a child’s diagnosis.

​In the book, Dr Daly provides strategies for new and experienced mainstream teachers that focus on setting up classroom environments that support and encourage appropriate behaviour; consider the particular needs and strengths of children with learning difficulties; and recognise the mandate for class teachers to care for and educate all children. It further shows how these small changes can make truly big differences for children with additional needs as well as for their peers. Using case studies of children with autism, dyslexia, ADHD and down syndrome / general learning disability, from presentation to resolution, the book shows thirty examples of small changes to support behaviour management in constructive and sensitive ways.

WiSHES – Williams Syndrome Holistic Educational Strategies, which is the latest CDU publication, is the first book in Europe to be published on promoting inclusive learning in children with Williams Syndrome (WS) and is written by Dr Fionnuala Tynan, Lecturer in the Department of Reflective Pedagogy and Early Childhood Studies at MIC. The book outlines a way forward for supporting learners with WS and moves away from a medical model of disability to a more holistic profile that acknowledge the biological, social and psychological aspects of learners with Williams Syndrome.