Majella Dempsey

Biography

I am the course leader for the Bachelor of Science with Education and the Bachelor of Mathematics with Education programmes in Maynooth University. I was central to the development of both courses. I lecture on Curriculum development, Research methods, Teaching, Learning and Assessment. I completed my doctoral research in Trinity College Dublin on the impact of a key skills approach to teaching and learning in secondary education. I was the country lead for the EU funded project FaSMEd in Ireland looking at the role of technology in promoting formative assessment practices in science and mathematics. I am also involved in a small scale research project looking at how to develop Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) with student teachers. At the heart of all my research interests is the role of pedagogy in teaching, learning, assessment and curriculum. Prior to joining Maynooth University, I worked as an Education Officer in the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA), where my main area of responsibility was working on the senior cycle curriculum developments. I was a member of the Junior Science Support Service (JSSS) working with science teachers on the introduction of the revised curriculum, and, prior to that worked as a science and mathematics teacher.

Research Interest

Classroom-based instructional interventions, Teachers' mathematical knowledge and beliefs,Task design, analysis and implementation, Design experiment methodology,Quasi-experimental design methodology.