Students
Current students of CARPE
Seval Kemal
Seval Kemal is a Microsoft-funded doctoral researcher at the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE) at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. Her work focuses on educational technology, AI in education, assessment, self-assessment, and self-regulated learning. With a strong foundation in English Language Teaching and a passion for innovation in higher education, she is currently exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can support and enhance student self-assessment practices. Her mixed-methods research investigates the cognitive and emotional dimensions of learner engagement with both traditional and AI-assisted feedback tools. In addition, Seval is studying learners’ emotional and physiological responses, such as stress and confidence, through eye-tracking and electrodermal activity. This line of research aims to better understand how these affective states influence students’ cognitive engagement and attentional focus during learning. She is dedicated to promoting ethical and evidence-informed approaches to AI integration in education, bridging research and practice to support meaningful, human-centered learning experiences.
ORCID: 0009-0002-4286-2955
Alice Benbara De la Cruz
Alice is a research assistant in CARPE. She graduated from DCU with a BAJH in Human Development & English and is currently pursuing an MSc in Cognitive Science in UCD. Her work in CARPE has been focused on educational assessment and the integration of AI in education, as well as student well-being and assessment of mental health in the school setting.
She has a strong interest in measurements and psychometrics, and more broadly in mental health classification systems and their role in shaping policy and practice.
ORCID: 0009-0007-0063-466X
Medb Ní Fhearghail
Medb is a part-time doctoral researcher at the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in
Education (CARPE) at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University.
She works as Deputy Principal in Gaelcholáiste Synge and is a qualified German, Irish and English teacher.
Her research focuses on standard setting in the assessment of Senior Cycle German under the lens of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). When language assessments are aligned to the CEFR, they allow for international comparability and recognition. In her study, she aims to explore alternative standard-setting approaches that may align themselves better to the CEFR.
Graduates of CARPE
Dr Deirdre Dennehy
Thesis title: Embedding the Assessment of Emotional Intelligence within Collaborative Problem-Solving Tasks: An Exploratory Study
Supervisors: Prof. Michael O'Leary, Dr. Zita Lysaght
Completed: December 2022
Dr Conor Scully
Thesis title: Inter-rater reliability and validity in the Objective Structured Clinical Examination
Supervisors: Prof. Michael O'Leary, Dr. Mary Kelly & Dr. Zita Lysaght
Completed: November 2022
Dr Paula Lehane
Thesis title: The impact of test items incorporating multimedia stimuli on the performance and attentional behaviours of test-takers
Supervisors: Prof. Michael O'Leary, Prof. Mark Brown & Dr. Darina Scully
Completed: October 2021
Dr Vasiliki Pitsia
Thesis title: Investigating High Achievement in Mathematics and Science in Ireland: An In-Depth Analysis of National and International Assessment Data
Supervisors: Prof. Michael O'Leary, Dr. Gerry Shiel & Dr. Zita Lysaght
Completed: December 2020
Dr Anastasios Karakolidis
Thesis title: Animated Videos in Assessment: A Comparison Study of Validity evidence from and Test-Takers' Reactions to an Animated and a Text-Based Version of a Situational Judgement Test
Supervisors: Prof. Michael O'Leary, Dr. Darina Scully
Completed: July 2019