Faculty profile
Dr Lorraine McCormack
Assistant Professor in Education (Primary)
Contact information
lmccormack@hiberniacollege.net
Block B, Merrion Centre
Merrion Road
Dublin 4
D04 H2H4
Education
BSc
PhD
PGCAP in Education
Biography
Lorraine is an Assistant Professor in Education (Primary) in Hibernia College. She joined the College in October 2022 after spending over 12 years working in Initial Teacher Education in the UK. She worked for 4 years as Lecturer in Science Education at University of Plymouth. After that, she assumed the role of PGCE Primary Programme Leader and Science Subject Lead at Brunel University London. She worked at University of Roehampton in London from 2016 to 2022 as Primary Partnership Lead with responsibility for the quality and provision of primary school placements on the undergraduate and postgraduate routes.
Lorraine trained as a post-primary Physics and Chemistry teacher at Dublin City University. She completed her PhD in 2009 in science education, exploring the transition between primary and second-level science and the impact of cognitive acceleration programmes on pupils’ development and engagement. She has published and presented papers and book chapters on several of her interest areas, which include the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) programme, links between knowledge and confidence in the teaching of science, and pre- and in-service teacher wellbeing.
Research interests
Science education, cognitive acceleration programmes, pre-service and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy, wellbeing in teacher education
Publications
McCormack, L. (2015) ‘Pre-service primary school teachers’ knowledge of science concepts and the correlation between knowledge and confidence in science’, in Grangeat, M. (ed.) Understanding science teachers’ professional knowledge growth. Sense Publishers.
McCormack, L., Finlayson, O. and McCloughlin, T.J. (2014) ‘The CASE programme implemented across the primary and secondary school transition in Ireland’, International Journal of Science Education, 36(17), pp.2892–2917.
McCormack, L. (2009) Cognitive acceleration across the primary-second level transition. PhD thesis. Dublin City University.
McCormack, L., Finlayson, O. and McCloughlin, T.J. (2009) ‘Teaching Junior Certificate Chemistry and Physics through the CASE’, Chemistry in action! Summer edition.
Presentations
McCormack, L. (2017) ‘Promoting the well-being of teachers during initial and life long teacher education’, European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). University College UCC, Copenhagen 21–25 August.
McCormack, L. (2015) ‘The Lets Think Forum and cognitive acceleration around the world’, Sharing effective pedagogies: cognitive acceleration conference 2015. Brisbane, Australia.
McCormack, L. (2015) ‘The development, implementation and evaluation of second level lessons based on the CASE methodology’, Sharing effective pedagogies: cognitive acceleration conference 2015. Brisbane, Australia.
McCormack, L. (2013) ‘Pre-service teachers knowledge of science concepts and the correlation between knowledge and confidence in science’, IOSTE symposium 2013. Dublin, Ireland.
McCormack, L. (2012) ‘A study of the application of the CASE methodology into second level science lessons and the evaluation of its effects on students’ cognitive development’, New Perspectives in Science Education conference. Florence, Italy 8–9 March.
McCormack, L. (2009) ‘The development of second level chemistry lessons using the CASE methodology’, IUPAC 2009. Glasgow, Scotland.
McCormack, L. (2009) ‘The development and evaluation of second level lessons, central to the cognitive acceleration through science education methodology’, Frontiers in Science Education Research (FISER). Famagusta, Cyprus.
McCormack, L. (2008) ‘The development and evaluation of second level science lessons, central to the cognitive acceleration methodology’, ERICE. Istanbul, Turkey.
