Alison is a Departmental Lecturer in Science Education. Her research interests include teacher education, nature of science, practical science and assessment.
After completing her undergraduate in Science Education at the University of Limerick, she taught in Ireland before returning to complete her Masters in Science Education and her PhD in Science Education. Her PhD research examined the development of pre-service teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science. While at the University of Limerick, she held the position of Project Officer in Biological Sciences at EPI-STEM (formally the NCE-MSTL), the national STEM Education centre. One of the main aspects of her work was to contribute to the development of evidence-based research and programmes of innovation in science teaching and learning. She also collaborated on projects with other partners, such as work carried out with Discover Sensors and the Mallow Project. She has several years of experience teaching in science education lecturing positions across a number of institutions in Ireland and now the UK. In these roles, she taught on science and science education courses to national and international students.
She arrived at the department in 2018, where she was the post-doctoral researcher for Project Calibrate – a project developing high-stakes assessment questions of practical science for GCSE. She is currently still involved this research.
