Ireland | Common European Numeracy Framework

The University of Limerick is a higher level institute located in the south west of Ireland with over 18,000 students, including more than 3,300 internationally mobile students each year. It offers a range of programmes up to doctorate and post doctorate levels in the disciplines of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business, Education, Health Sciences, Science and Engineering.

The University of Limerick has four academic faculties. The faculty of Education and Health Sciences (EHS) is a unique national grouping of six academic departments that include disciplines concerned with education and health. EHS has built a reputation for high quality teaching and programme innovation and work hard to prepare excellent scientists, and caring, competent and critically reflective educators and health professionals who can work successfully with patients, clients, athletes, and post-primary students in an ever changing and multi-cultural society. The EHS strives to provide an optimal teaching and learning environment for all our students by continuous reflection on our teaching and through the dissemination of research of best practice.

Dr Niamh O’Meara
Dr Niamh O’Meara is a mathematics education lecturer based in EPI∙STEM. She completed her PhD in the area of teacher knowledge for mathematics teaching in 2011 and has since worked as a lecturer in mathematics education and a Senior Project Officer for Mathematics in EPI∙STEM. Dr O’Meara has conducted extensive outreach and research activities in the area of numeracy for the adult learner. For example, she, along with a colleague in EPI∙STEM were responsible for the development of a suite of resources for adult learners under the FÁS scheme and she also works closely with NALA, Ireland’s National Adult Literacy Agency, to develop and deliver workshops to tutors of adult learners. She also contributed to the research and subsequent report relating to the provision of numeracy in Ireland in 2021 and was the lead author on the Numeracy Definition report published in 2022. Finally, in 2023 Dr O’Meara was invited to become a member of Ireland’s Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy Steering Group. On taking up this role Dr O’Meara advised on the development of a literacy, numeracy and digital literacy for Irish citizens from birth to young adulthood and this will serve to inform policy and practice in the area of numeracy teaching and learning from 2024-2033.

Dr Jason Curran

Dr Jason Curran completed his PhD in Inverse Problems in Mathematics and Statistics department in the University of Limerick, Ireland in November 2024. He currently works as an Assistant Professor in EPI*STEM (the national centre for STEM education in Ireland), which is located in the University of Limerick. Aside from the Numeracy in Practise project, his research interests include the secondary-tertiary transition and the teaching service mathematics modules (i.e., mathematics modules given to non-mathematics focused students) at university. Jason is also a member of the Irish Mathematical Society and a committee member on the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network.

Mr David Godley

Mr David Godley is a PhD student in the University of Limerick, Ireland. His research is in the area of mathematics education and specifically curriculum reform. His contribution to the Numeracy in Practice project concerned the interview analysis. This involved qualitative data analysis. Additionally, he conducted the Irish interviews and analysed interviews across all countries. After analysis of the 32 interviews, he categorised the themes, which led to the interview findings.