AN American forensics specialist whose evidence helped OJ Simpson beat a murder charge has been asked to help make science more interesting for Irish students.

Alarmed at the increase in failure rates in Leaving Certificate science subjects, employers are financing a course to show teachers how to bring procedures made famous by Hollywood into the classroom.

Eight science teachers have been financed by Ibec, the employers’ confederation, to attend training courses in America. One is run by Henry Lee, viewed as the “godfather of crime scene investigation”, who worked on the Simpson case and the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.

Ibec has drawn up modules for science teachers working in primary schools based on the CSI television series and Pirates of the Caribbean. Older students will be encouraged to maintain an interest in science subjects through tongue-in-cheek murder mysteries that demonstrate the principles of physics, chemistry and biology. This would include blood- spatter analysis, ballistics and DNA profiling.

Mark Glynn, the education officer for Ibec’s pharmachem unit, which represents some 50 pharmaceutical and chemical companies, has been given a budget of €5m to stimulate the study of science in school. Ibec hopes more students will opt for science degree courses, and eventually improve the recruitment pool.

“The government commissioned a report in 2002 which found that €178m was needed to ‘fix’ science in Ireland,” said Glynn. “That’s chicken feed in the bigger scheme of things, yet most of the recommendations are still left sitting on a shelf with nothing done.

“So we’re bringing in teachers to train them in workshops which should be part of the professional development of every teacher.”

Staying within the Leaving Cert physics curriculum, the course showed how to demonstrate scientific principles through “Hollywood science”, such as investigating blood, bullets and guns. It also related elements of the chemistry curriculum to the work carried out in forensic science laboratories.

Gemma Tuffy of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) welcomed the Ibec initiative. The government’s reaction to the 2002 report had been to “cherry-pick” recommendations involving the least funding, she said, citing a higher than average failure rate in science subjects in this year’s Leaving Cert as evidence of policy failures.

()“Anecdotal evidence suggests programmes like CSI: Miami have an impact on children’s attitude towards science,” said Tuffy. “Proof of the impact is that some of the higher level colleges are now running forensic science courses.

“It’s a good thing for teachers to explore these subjects but it’s no substitute for properly funding science education in schools. Science subjects have an above-average failure rate which makes Junior Cert pupils believe they are harder to pass.”

Glynn says eight secondary school teachers who attended the courses are now drawing up lessons to be distributed to schools. One module involves establishing which of 10 lipstick-wearing women may be the killer of a “prosecutor’s witness” found poisoned in a restaurant. Students have to chemically match lipsticks to a stain on a tissue left at the scene.

An Ibec campaign aimed at primary school children will begin in November and will be based on Pirates of the Caribbean. Children will take fingerprints from Davy Jones’s treasure chest, be shown how to use invisible ink and make compasses, and will have to work out what materials can be used to float a raft in order to escape a desert island.

Packs on running “chemistry magic” shows have been given to Ibec companies. Glynn says this will allow chemists to visit schools and “melt stuff, blow it up, make things change colour,” before explaining the science behind it.

“We’re trying to come up with interactive activities for the kids,” said Glynn. “We’re also planning a school murder mystery, with mock courts, reporters, judges, police and suspects.

“In the next few months we’ll run a preliminary murder mystery for a single class where one of the teachers will be the guilty party. It’s for the development of the student overall, to develop them in terms of confidence. But it’s of benefit to us to cultivate science too.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education said it was not aware of the Ibec scheme but new government policy on science teaching would be contained in proposals to be released next year by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.

“Maths is one of the subjects being prioritised in Phase 1 of the reconfiguration of subjects in senior cycle, along with science and languages, due early in 2007,” she said.

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