School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies
Biography
Dr. Thomas McCloughlin is a chartered biologist and lecturer in science education in the School of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies, DCU Institute of Education. Tom is a graduate of Ulster University majoring in hydrobiology, crop productivity, and microbiology. His research interests in biology concern fish parasitology and assemblages of organisms within ecosystems. His PhD concerns biology education.
Tom has taught biology at primary, secondary and tertiary level and he is actively engaged in research into hydrobiology education: he has included hydrobiology in his education courses throughout his teaching career especially in terms of schools’ local environment: e.g., tidal mudflats in Dundalk bay, simulating tidal ecosystems in the laboratory; parasites of Littorina saxatilis on rocky shores; Diplostomid parasites of freshwater fish including farmed fish.
Tom works with the national Marine Institute, Oranmore in the Explorers’ Programme and he is currently working with the MI on assessing “Marine Literacy” and he is a member of the Marine Biological Association and the Royal Society of Biology. He has wide experience in developing educational programmes.
Expertise
- Practical (wet chemistry) techniques of water analysis especially for nitrate, phosphate, dissolved oxygen analyses, combining with data- logging techniques,
- Fish biology evolution, and aquaculture,
- Marine / freshwater ecology, analyses of ecosystems, biomass production, wastewater analysis and treatment.
- Constructivist teaching & learning, including but not exclusive to European Projects such as Erasmus Plus and formerly Comenius. Design of learning programmes for children 4 – 16 (K12) and young adults. Assessing programmes of intervention and evaluation.