Academic biography

Dr. Darina Scully is an Assistant Professor in Psychology in the School of Human Development.  She holds a B.A. (Mod.) and a Ph.D. in psychology from Trinity College, Dublin.  

Darina initially joined the IoE as a postdoctoral research fellow in 2016 and went on to secure a permanent position. She teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in developmental psychology, research methods and statistics, assessment and feedback theory and practice, and social, personal and health education (SPHE).

Darina's research interests lie at the intersection of educational assessment and digital learning, with a particular focus on how digital technology can support authentic assessment, formative feedback, and the measurement of complex competencies across all levels of the education system. She is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Assessment Research, Policy and Practice in Education (CARPE), a designated level 2 research centre within the IoE. Her work has been published in several Q1 journals, including Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, and Technology, Pedagogy and Education and presented at international conferences such as AERA, EARLI and EdMedia. It has also been used by the NCCA, the INTO and QQI to inform policy and practice in educational assessment.

Darina is the Chair of the IoE Faculty Research Ethics Committee (F-REC), with responsibility for overseeing the review of all low-risk staff and doctoral research within the faculty.  Outside of the university, she contributes to education more broadly through her roles on the Mount Anville Sacred Heart Education Trust (MASHET) and the Steering Committee for the A Lust for Life Schools Wellbeing Education Programme.  She also has particular expertise in quantitative methods and statistical analysis and has led commissioned research and programme evaluations for external partners.