The PACT team at Maynooth University Department of Computer Science develops resources and supports to allow teachers to teach topics in computer science at both primary and secondary school.
We specialise in computational thinking resources and supports. Computational thinking is a set of problem solving skills that computer scientists use when they do their everyday work. It intersects with all STEM fields because computational solutions have proven to be useful in many scientific fields.
Our PACT team in the Department of Computer Science at Maynooth University have been training teachers in how to teach computational thinking skills since 2012. We have engaged over 30 000 teachers and students in computational thinking activities, with funding from Maynooth University Department of Computer Science, the Google CS4HS programme, and Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), for example
- CoCoA23: Co-create, Collaborate Activate – Advancing Computational Thinking Education, SFI Discover Programme, grant number 22/DP/10525, 2023-2024
- CoCoA: Co-create, Collaborate Activate – Advancing Computational Thinking Education, SFI Discover Programme, grant number 20/DP/8067, 2021-2023
- InSPECT: Introducing the Science of Problem-solving through Education in Computational Thinking, SFI Discover Programme, grant number 18/DP/5887, 2019-2021.
News: We have a number of Bebras tasks in all three languages 
Ukrainian, English, Gaeilge for teachers to use as ice-breakers in the classroom. We have developed a TY module on computational thinking for transition year teachers (more details in the teacher resources section). Also, see our seasonal teacher resources (St. Patrick's Day tasks are our latest additions). See our information about school visits and teacher workshops.
Teachers, hope the 12,000 primary and secondary students that participated from Ireland (and the over 3 million worldwide) enjoyed this year's free online Bebras Challenge during 11-24 November 2024 organised by the Irish Computer Society (https://ics.ie/bebras/). Congratulations to all 600 students that qualified for the Bebras National Finals in Maynooth University on 5th April 2025. Hope to see all of the finalists soon!
Ukrainian, English, Gaeilge for teachers to use as ice-breakers in the classroom. We have developed a TY module on computational thinking for transition year teachers (more details in the teacher resources section). Also, see our seasonal teacher resources (St. Patrick's Day tasks are our latest additions). See our information about school visits and teacher workshops.Teachers, hope the 12,000 primary and secondary students that participated from Ireland (and the over 3 million worldwide) enjoyed this year's free online Bebras Challenge during 11-24 November 2024 organised by the Irish Computer Society (https://ics.ie/bebras/). Congratulations to all 600 students that qualified for the Bebras National Finals in Maynooth University on 5th April 2025. Hope to see all of the finalists soon!
