DCU Institute of Education
DCU Institute of Education
Team Mounthawk Masterminds from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk in Co. Kerry were crowned champions at the Leinster Regional on Friday 23 February
Team Mounthawk Masterminds from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk were crowned champions at the Leinster Regional competition.

Dublin City University’s Institute of Education hosts Lego League Regional Tournament

Team Mounthawk Masterminds from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk in Co. Kerry were crowned champions at the Leinster Regional on Friday 23 February
Lego robots designed and built by over 27 teams of young engineers from across Ireland battled it out on St. Patrick’s Campus

Dublin City University’s Institute of Education hosted 27 teams of young engineers from across Ireland at this year's FIRST Lego League Masterpiece regional tournament. Team Mounthawk Masterminds from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk in Co Kerry were crowned champions at the Leinster Regional, while Team Cora and the Explorers from Mosney Guide Unit in Co Meath took home the top prize at the Irish Girl Guides Regional. Both teams, along with Team G.P.S. from Scoil Treasa Firhouse and Team Steminists from Manor House School Raheny, will progress to the All Ireland Finals in March. 

FIRST is an acronym for ‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,’ and the FIRST Lego League encourages children to think like scientists and engineers, developing practical solutions to real-world issues. The science and technology challenge is aimed at 11 - 16 year olds, and tasks teams to build a robot to tackle a series of missions, and create an innovative solution to a real-world problem. This year’s challenge asked teams to imagine innovative new ways to create and communicate art across the globe using technology while demonstrating their skills in robotics, computer programming, teamwork, research, problem solving and communication. 

Supported by the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Discover Programme, the initiative is organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in partnership with CreativeHUT. 

Over 11,000 children have participated in FIRST Lego League in Ireland in the past three years of the global programme, and its value lies in more than technical skills, according to Professor Deirdre Butler at the DCU Institute of Education's School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies:

The opportunity to be centrally involved in this initiative contributes to our goal of helping DCU student teachers and Irish schools develop innovative and creative approaches to designing learning experiences which ignite a passion for learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) concepts and skills from early childhood education right through to third level. By adopting Lego’s playful learning tools, with a ‘Hearts-on-Hands-on Minds-on’ mindset, in a supportive learning environment, all students can develop key competencies such as creative thinking, problem-solving, team-working and communication.”

You can find out more about the DCU Lego Innovation Studio here.