Project Officer & Postdoctoral Researcher
I am working as a project officer and postdoctoral researcher at EPI*STEM, the National Centre for STEM Education at the University of Limerick. STeP into Science Project is a project I am currently working on. This project aims to facilitate the teaching and learning of Irish lower second-level curricular objectives on Nature of Science, through engaging teachers, students and guardians in school debate events on socio-scientific issues.
I am a graduate of the concurrent science education course (Biological Science with Physics) at the University of Limerick. I completed a PhD on the key motivational factors that influence participant performance and attitudes to physics in an undergraduate module at Limerick Institute of Technology under the supervision of Dr Leah Wallace and Dr George McClelland. I was formally employed as a postdoctoral researcher at CASTeL, the Centre for the Advancement of Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning, Dublin City University. My research focused on the evaluation of key skills developed in an interdisciplinary undergraduate science module.
My research interests are in science education with a special focus on physics education, scientific argumentation, student perspectives on the aims and values of science, science student retention in higher education and community engagement of science.
