Applied Psychology Student Ellie McDonald Awarded Prestigious George Moore Scholarship
Ellie McDonald follows in the footsteps of Applied Psychology graduates Clodagh McCarthy and Laura Mahon who previously were awarded the George Moore scholarship.
Speaking about her award, Ellie explains “My knowledge and interest in all aspects of psychology have flourished since beginning the BSc in Applied Psychology at IADT, however, I have grown particularly interested in Developmental and Educational psychology. This interest developed from the developmental and lifespan psychology module in second year and then the educational psychology module in third year.”
“Developmental and lifespan psychology gave me a great foundation in the theories of child development from birth to adulthood. In this module, I was struck by the biological and social debate around child development and how both have a significant presence in how a child will learn and behave.”
“That concept was then furthered in the Educational Psychology module where those theories were applied to a classroom setting where learning and behaviour are monitored. We also discussed different learning disabilities and classroom supports that can be put into practice to aid the children. Both of these modules sparked my interest in special education for people with learning disabilities, and with the growing need for educational psychologists, it was a no-brainer to focus my postgraduate studies in this field.”
“I conducted my final year major research project on students’ attitudes towards class attendance at third level and the effects of their academic motivation on attendance. This topic was of particular interest to me as the drop in attendance at third level is extremely evident and I was interested to explore the reasons for this absenteeism. With the help of my research supervisor, Dr Irene Connolly, I conducted a mixed methods study which concluded that students with higher academic motivation are more likely to have high attendance rates. The study also uncovered the students’ reasons for not attending classes with the most popular response being ‘students prioritising their individual work over lectures’.”
“The George Moore Scholarship is a foundation that supports undergraduates that wish to progress to postgraduate education abroad. I was fortunate enough to be awarded the George Moore Scholarship which will fund my postgraduate studies in Developmental and educational psychology in University College London, with the goal of becoming an Educational Psychologist in the future.”