101: The Ways We Learn

❝ In our final episode we meet educator Diane McSweeney from Trinity Access 21 as she learns to swim. We listen as her teacher Jennifer Murrin, a marine scientist and competitive sea swimmer, guides Diane’s first dip in the pool at University College Dublin. Jane and I reflect on the importance of trusting a teacher when diving in to scary new worlds. We talk to neurogeneticist Kevin Mitchell from Trinity College Dublin about how practice makes perfect. Finally, we look back at making 101 The Ways We Learn and reflect on how it’s changed our attitudes to learning and the role of education in society. ❞ —Shane Bergin Subscribe and hear more episodes wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and Stitcher. www.101thepodcast.com Credits: Hosted by Shane Bergin | Jane Chadwick Featuring Diane McSweeney | Jennifer Murrin | Kevin Mitchell Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland

❝ If you could learn something new, what would it be? One of the most common responses people give is a musical instrument. In episode 9, we tune our attention to learning how to play one. We meet geneticist Aoife McLysaght from Trinity College Dublin who’s learning djembe drums with Trinity bio-engineering student Charles Adebayo. Inspired by this, I teach my fellow host Jane a simple song on the ukulele. We chat about why so many people are motivated to learn music, the informal way most of us learn it, and talk to music education lecturer Marita Kerin from Trinity College Dublin about what makes a great music teacher. ❞ —Shane Bergin Subscribe and hear more episodes wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and Stitcher. Credits: Hosted by Jane Chadwick | Shane Bergin Featuring Aoife McLysaght | Charles Adebayo | Marita Kerin Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland www.101thepodcast.com

❝ For many, the idea of learning to code conjures an image of a person working alone. Perhaps a mathematically inclined person who just ‘gets it’? In episode 8 we meet Lynn Scarff, Director of Science Gallery Dublin, who’s learning to code with Niamh Scanlon, EU Digital Girl of the Year, 2015. Sharing her experiences of learning in a community of other young people, Niamh challenges Lynn to see coding as a creative way to solve problems with others. This leads Jane and I to discuss the communities in which we learn many things. We speak to Noah Finkelstein from the University of Colorado on how learning is inherently a social enterprise where communities not only help to shape our learning, but also negotiate what should be learned. ❞  —Shane Bergin www.101thepodcast.com Credits: Hosted by Shane Bergin | Jane Chadwick Featuring Lynn Scarff | Niamh Scanlon | Noah Finkelstein Produced by Bureau  Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland

❝ If you’ve ever tried to design something, you’ll know that learning is a slow process. It’s messy, and it takes time. In episode 7, we meet science communicator Miriam Harte and graphic designer Robert Farrelly—who guides Miriam through the brainstorming stage of the graphic design process, using the visual identity for this very podcast as a starting point. After the lesson, Jane and I chat about different aspects of design education, and what it can teach us about the learning process. ❞ —Shane Bergin www.101thepodcast.com Subscribe and hear more episodes wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and Stitcher. Credits: Hosted by Jane Chadwick | Shane Bergin Featuring Miriam Harte | Robert Farrelly Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland

❝ We live in a golden age of TV baking shows. When watching, do you ever find yourself wishing you could create such masterpieces? This episode sees Joseph Roche—astrophysicist and assistant professor in Science Education at TCD—don his apron and try his hand at baking. Guided by culinary researcher, storyteller, and cook, Clare Anne O’Keefe, we see Joseph rise, like his sponge, to the challenge! Jane and I listen to Joseph’s adventures and ask if fun is one of the key ingredients needed for success. We also talk to primary school teacher and researcher Sorcha Browne from University College Dublin about how children prioritise fun in their learning, and about the positive effects that can have. ❞ —Shane Bergin Credits: Hosted by Shane Bergin | Jane Chadwick Featuring Joseph Roche | Clare Anne O’Keefe | Sorcha Browne Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland www.101thepodcast.com Subscribe and hear more episodes wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and

❝ In episode 5, we follow a group of UCD scientists as they try improv to communicate their research to the public. Their teachers for the day are from the Alda Centre of Science Communication. In a busy room, full of laughter, we meet scientists embracing improvisation and play as a way to learn. Play is wonderfully freeing; it allows us to imagine, construct, and test new possibilities. In this episode Jane and I ponder the stretchy, outside-the-box, thinking that play brings, and talk to science education researcher Prof Colette Murphy (Trinity College Dublin) about how play leads to deep learning. We also consider the implications for how science is done, and how it engages the public. ❞ —Shane Bergin www.101thepodcast.com Credits: Hosted by Jane Chadwick | Shane Bergin Featuring Niamh Shaw | Carol Schindler | Laura Lindenfeld Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland Subscribe and hear more episodes wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and Stitche

❝ How can education empower young people? When done well, can it give them a voice? In episode four, we meet Astrid and Thomas, both teenagers and members of the 'Young Leonardo' advisory group at Science Gallery Dublin. We also meet Cristina Meehan, then the Donor Relations Officer with Plan International, an expert in activism with an MSc in Political Science and International Relations. Together, they explore how young people’s voices can be heard and turned into action. In this episode, we explore the importance of motivation, diversity and access in education, and we ask how teachers can help empower their students. ❞ —Shane Bergin Credits: Hosted by Shane Bergin | Jane Chadwick Featuring Cristina Meehan | Astrid and Thomas—from the 'Young Leonardo' advisory group at Science Gallery Dublin Produced by Bureau  Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland www.101thepodcast.com Subscribe and hear more episodes wherever you get your podcasts, including iTunes and Stitcher.

❝ Episode 3 sees rocket scientist David McKeown(UCD)turn a joke into a cartoon. We meet David as he learns from Maria AKA Twisted Doodles. The ability to draw is one of those skills that most of us believe we either do or do not have. Such thinking can be reinforced by attempts to learn drawing that go nowhere. Are some people just naturally talented at things like drawing? In this episode we discuss this question and consider how good teaching can give everyone a shot at becoming a cartoonist. ❞  —Shane Bergin www.101thepodcast.com Credits: Hosted by Jane Chadwick | Shane Bergin Featuring David McKeown | Maria AKA Twisted Doodles Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland

https://www.101thepodcast.com ❝ Sinéad Burke is doing a PhD in human rights education at Trinity College Dublin. In episode 2, Sinéad indulges a long-held ambition – to learn how to make perfume. We meet her in the Dublin store of parfumier Marija Aslimoska. Smell can often evoke memory. A hit of a fragrance can immediately connect you with a past event or feeling. Conjuring new scents that capture the imagination is the job of a parfumier. Marija blends craft with science as she and Sinéad play with scents both natural and synthetic. Jane and myself also talk to neuroscientist Shane O’Mara (TCD), to learn more about how memories are formed but also to reflect on how knowledge is more than just remembering things. ❞ —Shane Bergin Credits: Hosted by Shane Bergin | Jane Chadwick Featuring Sinéad Burke | Marija Aslimoska | Shane O'Mara Produced by Bureau Music by Chris Zabriskie Supported by Science Foundation Ireland

https://www.101thepodcast.com ❝ In this, our first episode, we meet Jessamyn Fairfield, a physicist at NUI Galway who is learning to cycle. We also meet Stephanie McCalla - a childhood friend of Jessamyn. Stephanie is a professor of bio-engineering, and in this episode she’s also Jessamyn’s teacher. For most of us, learning to cycling was something we did before we started school. It was probably something we learned without thinking about it too much. Scrapes and falls were part of the process and we didn’t care too much about them either. Learning something ‘everyday’ like cycling as an adult is a very different process. But why? In this episode, Jane and myself reflect on Jessamyn’s endeavours and talk about a breadth of educational ideas including the importance of learning from a person you trust, and why it’s harder to learn some things as an adult. We also call on psychologist Deirdre Robertson (ESRI) to inform our discussion. ❞ —Shane Bergin

Produced by Bureau | https://akabureau.com Here' a short clip from 101 TWWL... '101: The Ways We Learn' is hosted by Shane Bergin and Jane Chadwick, and produced by Bureau. You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. www.101thepodcast.com

Here's a preview of '101: The Ways We Learn', a new series that explores how the brain learns new things. In each episode, we'll follow a different person learning something new – from swimming to cycling, coding to cooking, activism to graphic design. 101 is hosted by Shane Bergin and Jane Chadwick, and produced by Bureau. Episode 1 will be out in January 2018, and you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Music by Chris Zabriskie. www.101thepodcast.com