Mathematics Education Research Group

Dr. Ann O'Shea & Dr. Ciarán Mac an Bhaird receiving a Teaching and Learning Fellowship award from NUIM president, Prof. Philip Nolan, 26/09/11.

Members

Dr. Ciarán Mac an Bhaird		Dr. Fiacre Ó Cairbre		Dr. Ann O'Shea

Ms. Tugba Aysel		Ms. Stacy Carter		Mr. Martin Grehan		Ms. Safia Hamza

Contact

Email: mathsedrg@maths.nuim.ie

Research Topics

The group is interested in many aspects of Mathematics Education at second level, third level and among the general public. At second level, work is being carried out on the impact of assessment on teaching and learning, and on the provision of resources to teachers. At third level, topics such as the effectiveness of support initiatives, the motivation and goal orientation of students, the use of technology in the classroom, and the processes involved in advanced mathematical thinking are being explored. The role of the History of Mathematics in Mathematics Education is also being investigated. In addition, the group is involved in a wide variety of outreach activities and was instrumental in the establishment of the Irish Mathematics Support Network.

Researchers in this group work closely with colleagues in Ireland and the UK. The work of the group has recently been funded by NAIRTL and the Department of Education.

For further information on the research interests of individual members of the group please see Staff Research Interests.
For information on possible postgraduate research areas please see Proposed Research Projects.

Postgraduate Researchers

Events Organised

• History of Mathematics Conference, 12^th May, 2011
• Workshop in Mathematics Learning and Support Centres, 5th December, 2008

Recent Publications - 2005 to 2010

• Martin Grehan, Ciaran Mac an Bhaird, Ann O'Shea.
  Why do students not avail of mathematics support? A case study of first year students at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.
  Proceedings of the British Congress for Mathematics Education April 2010, Joubert, M. and Andrews, P. (Eds.) 254-258, 2010.
• Ciaran Mac an Bhaird and Ann O'Shea,
  What type of student avails of mathematics support and why?
  Proceedings of the CETL-MSOR Conference 2009, D. Green (Ed), 48-51, 2010.
• C. Mac an Bhaird, A. O'Shea
  First year students' mathematics learning experiences at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.
  In Murphy, J., Griffen, C. and Higgs, B. (Eds) Research Teaching - Linkages: Practice and Policy. Proceedings of the National Academy's Third Annual Conference, 123-126, 2010.
• C. Mac an Bhaird, T. Morgan, A.O'Shea
  The Impact of the Mathematics Support Centre on the Grades of First Year Students at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.
  Teaching Mathematics and its Applications, Vol 28, No. 3, 117-122, 2009.
• Accepted:
  C. Mac an Bhaird
  The use of technologies to create an active Mathematical environment for students.
  Accepted: Irish Mathematical Society Bulletin (2009)
• C. Mac an Bhaird and A. O'Shea
  Is Mathematics Support worthwhile? An overview of the 3rd Irish Workshop on Mathematics Learning and Support Centres.
  MSOR Connections, Vol 9, 2, 52-59, (2009)




• Fiacre Ó Cairbre
  The Hamilton Walk.
  Science Spin, 45, 22-23 (2011).
  
• Stacy Carter and Fiacre Ó Cairbre
  A study of the benefits of using the history of mathematics in transition year.
  Proceedings of the Fourth Conference on Research in Mathematics Education, MEI4, St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, 93-103, (2011).
• Fiacre Ó Cairbre
  Twenty Years of the Hamilton Walk.
  Irish Mathematical Society Bulletin, 65, 33-49 (2010).
• Fiacre Ó Cairbre
  The power of the short story and the big picture in mathematics education in schools, universities and for the general public.
  Proceedings of the third National Conference on Research in Mathematics Education, MEI 3,
  St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, 400--411 (2009).
• Fiacre Ó Cairbre
  The importance of being beautiful in mathematics.
  Irish Mathematics Teachers' Association Newsletter 109, 29--45 (2009).
• Fiacre Ó Cairbre, John McKeon, and Richard Watson
  A Resource for Transition Year Mathematics Teachers.
  book published by the Department of Education and Science, 145 pages (2006).
• F. O'Cairbre
  William Rowan Hamilton and the Quaternion Walk
  Irish Mathematics Teachers' Association Newsletter 105, 3-14 (2006).
• F. O'Cairbre
  William Rowan Hamilton (1805--1865), Ireland's greatest mathematician.
  Astronomy and Space, 10-13, January 2005.




• M. Grehan, A. O'Shea, C. Mac an Bhaird
  How do students deal with difficulties in mathematics?
  In Green, D. (Ed) Proceedings of the Cetl-MSOR Conference 2010, p 36-40,
  2011.
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, A. O'Shea
  Measuring Students' Persistance on Unfamiliar Mathematical Tasks.
  In Joubert, M. (Ed) Informal Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 30-3, 19-24, 2010.
• T. Aysel, A. O'Shea, S. Breen
  A Classification of questions from Turkish and Irish high-stakes examinations.
  In Smith, C. (Ed) Informal Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 31-1, 13-18, 2011.
• S. Breen, A. O'Shea
  The use of mathematical tasks to develop mathematical thinking skills in undergraduate calculus courses - a pilot study.
  In Smith, C. (Ed) Informal Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 31-1, 43-48, 2011.
• To appear:
  S. Breen, A. O'Shea
  The design and implementation of mathematical tasks to promote advanced mathematical thinking.
  Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the Seventh Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education, Poland, February 2011.
• S. Breen, A. O'Shea
  Mathematical Thinking and Task Design
  Irish Mathematical Society Bulletin 66 (2010), p 39-49.
• M. Grehan, C. Mac an Bhaird, A. O'Shea
  Why do students not avail themselves of mathematics support?
  Research in Mathematics Education, Vol 13, No 1, p. 79-80, 2011.
• To appear:
  T. Aysel, S. Breen, A. O'Shea
  An analysis of the types of questions asked on high-stakes examinations in Turkey and Ireland.
  Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Ankara, July 2011.
• To appear:
  C. Mac an Bhaird, A. O'Shea
  The role of Technology in Mathematics Support.
  Book chapter, to appear in Teaching Mathematics Online:Emergent Technologies and Methodologies, Summer 2011.
• M. Grehan, C. Mac an Bhaird, Ann O'Shea.
  Why do students not avail of mathematics support? A case study of first year students at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.
  Proceedings of the British Congress for Mathematics Education April 2010, Joubert, M. and Andrews, P. (Eds.) 254-258, 2010.
• Ann O'Shea and David Wraith,
  A problem solving course for out-of-field mathematics teachers.
  Proceedings of the 5th East Asia Regional Conference on Mathematics Education, Shimizu, Y., Sekiguchi, Y., Hino, K., Eds.), Vol. 2, 787-794, 2010.
• J. Cleary, S. Breen and A. O'Shea
  Mathematical Literacy and Self-Efficacy of First-Year Third level students.
  MSOR Connections, Vol 10, No. 2, 41-44, 2010.
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, A. O'Shea
  A Study of First Year Students' Experience of the Transition from Second Level Mathematics to Third Level Mathematics in Ireland.
  Trends in Science and Mathematics Education, 1, 65-80, 2010.
• A.O'Shea, J. Cleary, S. Breen
  Exploring the role of confidence, theory of intelligence and goal orientation in determining a student's persistence on mathematical tasks.
  In Joubert, M. and Andrews, P. (Eds) Proceedings of the British Congress
  of Mathematics Education, 151-158, 2010.
• Ciaran Mac an Bhaird and Ann O'Shea,
  What type of student avails of mathematics support and why?
  Proceedings of the CETL-MSOR Conference 2009, D. Green (Ed), 48-51, 2010.
• To appear:
  C. Mac an Bhaird and A. O'Shea
  First year students' mathematics learning experiences at NUI Maynooth.
  Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of NAIRTL, 2010.
• C. Mac an Bhaird, T. Morgan, A.O'Shea
  The Impact of the Mathematics Support Centre on the Grades of First Year Students at the National University of Ireland Maynooth.
  Teaching Mathematics and its Applications, Vol 28, No. 3, 117-122, 2009.
• Ciaran Mac an Bhaird and Ann O'Shea,
  What type of student avails of mathematics support and why?
  Proceedings of the CETL-MSOR Conference 2009, D. Green (Ed), 48-51, 2010.
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, and A. O'Shea
  An Investigation of the Mathematical Literacy of First Year Third Level Students in the Republic of Ireland.
  International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, Vol 40, 2, 229-246,(2009).
  
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, A O'Shea
  Constructing and Validating an Instrument to Measure Students' Attitudes and Beliefs about Learning Mathematics.
  Proceedings of the Third National Conference in Research in Mathematics Education, D. Corcoran, T. Dooley, S. Close & R. Ward (eds.), Dublin, 333-343 (2009)
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, and A. O'Shea
  Assessing the Mathematical Literacy of a Cross Section of Third Level
  Students.
  Current Trends in Mathematics Education, E.P. Avgerinos and A. Gatatsis (eds.),
  505-515 (2007).
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, and A. O'Shea
  A Study of Third Level Students Beliefs about Mathematics.
  Proceedings of the Second National Conference on Research in Mathematics Education, S. Close, T. Dooley & D. Corcoran (eds.), Dublin, 201-214 (2007).
• S. Breen, J. Cleary, and A. O'Shea
  Mathematics Education Experiences.
  IMTA Newsletter 107, 40-44 (2007).
• A. O'Shea
  Response of the RIA Committee for Mathematical Sciences to the Review of Mathematics in Post-Primary Education, submitted to NCCA.
  Irish Mathematical Society Bulletin 57, 11-20 (2006).
• A. O'Shea
  Encouraging Good Mathematical Writing.
  International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 37, pp101-104 (2006).
  
• A. O'Shea
  Helping Students Make the Transition from School to University.
  Proceedings of the HELM conference, Loughborough University, 2005.