A West Clare school has been honoured in a national research trials competition.
Coolmeen National School in Kilrush, a two-teacher school, is one of just three primary schools which have been awarded a 2024 START Competition Trophy by University of Galway for using randomised trial methodology to answer a question related to their environment or lifestyle.
The Schools Teaching Awareness of Randomised Trials (START) is an annual competition encouraging children throughout Ireland to learn about healthcare decisions and how health and well-being can be improved by learning about randomised trials.
Sometimes called clinical trials, randomised trials are a type of research study often used to find out if a new medicine or treatment works.
Awarded for its research project, Coolmeen NS were awarded first place in the 2024 START Competition for their trial titled ‘Do children learn more when working in groups or doing independent work?’
The students randomised their fellow schoolmates into two groups with a spinner wheel.
Using a standard test for both groups, one group completed the test independently and the other group in teams of two.
The children concluded that working as a team or independently resulted in similar test scores, showcasing the importance of varied learning approaches.
The START Competition website provides tools needed to allow children and teachers to create their own randomised clinical trial in the classroom. It also addresses key aspects of the current school curriculum in several subjects including mathematics, science, SPHE and ICT.
The three short-listed schools were selected by four judges including Iseult Mangan, a former primary school principal Cloghans Hill National School in Ballina and a 2017 START winner, teacher Aisling Murray of St Joseph’s National School in Kinvara and teacher of the 2018 START Competition winning class, Professor Shaun Treweek, Professor of Health Services Research, University of Aberdeen, and Sarah Chapman, former Knowledge Broker at Cochrane UK.
“Participating in the START competition sees classes adopt a fun project-based approach which aligns to key aspects of the curriculum,” said Iseult Mangan.
“It allows a class to collaborate and work as team encompassing so many different individual talents from design thinking and organisation to maths and creative display.
“The three shortlisted schools showcased their understanding and execution of clinical trials in really creative ways with teamwork and fun was evident in each of them.”
The competition was started in 2016 to raise awareness of the importance of randomised trials with children, and also to harness the creativity and imagination of children in the design, conduct, analysis, and reporting of trials. Typically, they focus on an aspect of their own lives in the classroom, working together to create the trial, while also having a lot of fun.
Professor Declan Devane, Scientific Director of the HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network at University of Galway, said the high standard and variety of applications they receive each year demonstrates that the START Competition has raised the awareness of randomised trials and, capitalised on children’s innate ability to explain difficult concepts clearly and in a fun way.
The competition is supported by the Health Research Board, through the HRB-Trials Methodology Research Network, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), and is part of the celebration of International Clinical Trials Day across five collaborating university partners: University of Galway, University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and the University of Limerick.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.