When Diarmaid Hyland (23) finished his degree in science education in DCU, he went straight into his research postgraduate. "It was always there in the back of my head. The only reason I did science education was because I was going to do a general science degree anyway and I didn't want to have to turn around after four years and do a HDip. Towards the end of the degree some of the lecturers we had were involved with maths and physics education and I liked the look of what they were doing. I took steps then to make sure that that's what I'd be doing too."
Hyland applied for funding from the Irish Research Council and was successful. He has four years to complete his PhD, which involves analysing a maths module currently offered by DCU, picking it apart and putting together a set of tutorials that ensures students understand the module as well as possible.
“You do spend a lot of time on your own. One of the reasons I wanted to go directly from undergrad to postgraduate was because I thought if I went out for a year teaching and then came back it would have been a big shock for me. It is quite lonely if you let it be, but I think you know what you’re getting yourself into when you do it. It doesn’t mean it’s easy but you enjoy it at the same time. I treat it like a 9-5 job.
“When I finish it I could still be a teacher and I’d be happy to do that. But I suppose I’m more inclined towards the third-level atmosphere and the mix of research along with contact student hours. It’s a nice balance.”
