Mark Morgan Award Recipient - Mary Kingston

The Mark Morgan Award was presented to Mary Kingston, School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies, DCU Insitute of Education at the DCU 2019 Graduation Ceremony.  This is awarded to the student who received the Highest overall Grade in the Masters of Education programme.
Presented by Catherine Furlong, Programme Chair

Professor Mark Morgan, who joined the staff of St Patrick's College in 1970, was Director of the MEd Programme for many years, prior to his appointment as Head of Education in 2002. Professor Morgan retired from that position in 2010.

Title: An Exploration of the Probabilistic Thinking of Young Children in Senior Infants in an Irish Primary School
Supervisor: Dr Aisling Twohill

The aim of this research study was to investigate the probabilistic thinking of young children, focusing in particular on their identification of the most and least likely outcome of experiments. At present, young children in Ireland are not formally introduced to the concept of probability until Third class. Research studies present conflicting results pertaining to young children's potential to engage in probabilistic thinking and a wide variance exists across international mathematics curricula regarding the age at which children receive formal probabilistic instruction. The study was conducted using a largely qualitative approach and the children's probabilistic thinking was examined using task-based group interviews. The results of this study suggest that young children are capable of engaging in sophisticated probabilistic thinking and highlights that the current practice of formally introducing children to probability in Third class warrants further investigation.