Sara Hennessy
Position/Status
Lecturer in Teacher Development and Pedagogical Innovation
E-mail Address
sch30@cam.ac.uk
Phone
+44 (0)1223 767657
Qualifications
BSc (LSE), PhD (UCL)
Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations
- Institute for Learning and Teaching.
- American Educational Research Association.
- British Educational Research Association.
- European Association for Research into Learning and Instruction.
- British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics.
- International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.
- Informal group: Interactive Whiteboards Pedagogy Research Group.
Profile
Sara Hennessy is a Lecturer in Teacher Development and Pedagogical Innovation in the Faculty where she teaches and supervises on Masters courses (in research methods and science education, including a "blended learning" distance course). Her research focuses on pedagogy related to educational uses of ICT (Information and Communications Technology), from a sociocultural perspective. She currently holds an ESRC Research Fellowship (2007-09). Sara is also working within the Faculty's Centre for Commonwealth Education, collaborating with colleagues in Tanzania, Canada and Pakistan on a project using ICT to foster inquiry-based collaborative learning in East Africa. Another recently completed ESRC-funded project ('T-MEDIA') used digital video to document and analyse teachers' strategies for mediating the use of data projection technology to support secondary subject teaching and learning. This work produced a series of 5 interactive CD-ROMs for use in professional development.
Research Topics
- Pedagogical strategies for using ICT in the classroom, currently focusing on interactive whiteboards and their role in supporting classroom dialogue
- Practitioner-researcher partnerships and collaborative theory building
- Supporting teachers' professional development in using ICT in subject teaching and learning, particularly in Mathematics and Science (also in English and History)
- Gender issues and the digital divide, including use of mobile and alternative energy technologies in the developing world and introducing digital Open Educational Resources into Zambian schools
- Supporting "blended learning" in Masters of Education courses (UK and East Africa)
Research Projects
Bridging practice and research into teaching and learning with technology. (ESRC Research Fellowship RES-063-27-0081, 2007-2009)
This programme of work synthesises and disseminates the 'T-MEDIA' project and prior research. Its aims are to consolidate and develop a distinctive line of empirical enquiry and theorising about the critical role of the secondary teacher in purposefully exploiting interactive whiteboards to support subject learning. The Fellowship activities include
- Writing a book to describe and evaluate the innovative methodology underlying the sustained practitioner-researcher collaboration and theory building in T-MEDIA;
- Assessing the subsequent impact of collaborative research on participating teachers' professional development and practice – through analysis of follow-up interviews;
- A series of pioneering pilot case studies trialling a whole class 'dialogic' interactive teaching approach which uses the whiteboard as a 'shared communication space' (with Prof. Neil Mercer & Paul Warwick);
- Organising an international conference in June 2009 on cutting edge research into the use of interactive technologies in whole-class settings.
Teacher mediation of subject learning with ICT: A multimedia approach (T-MEDIA).
(ESRC, 2005-2007. With Rosemary Deaney).
Eliciting situated expertise in ICT-integrated mathematics and science teaching (SET-IT).
(ESRC, 2002-2004. With Kenneth Ruthven and Rosemary Deaney).
Sustainability and Evolution of ICT-supported Classroom Practice.
(British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, 2003-2004. With Rosemary Deaney).
Developing warranted practice in using information and communication technologies to support
subject teaching and learning in the secondary school .
(Wallenberg Research Centre for Educational Improvement, 1999-2002. With Kenneth Ruthven, Rosemary Deaney and Sue Brindley).
http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/TiPS/tips1.html
Portable Information Technologies for supporting Graphical Mathematics Investigations (PIGMI) project (Institute of Educational Technology, Open University, 1996-1999. With Eileen Scanlon and Pat Fung).
Problem Solving in Design and Technology Education (ESRC, 1992-1996, with Robert McCormick and Patricia Murphy).
Conceptual Change in Science (ESRC InTER project, 1989-1991, coordinated by Eileen Scanlon and Ros Driver).
An Intelligent Arithmetic Tutor (Alvey/SERC, 1986-1989, coordinated by Tim O'Shea and Ann Floyd).
Publications
Click here for details of downloadable publications on ICT-supported subject learning
Hennessy, S. & Deaney, R. with Tooley, C. (2009, in press) Using the interactive whiteboard to stimulate active learning in school science. In M. Thomas & E. Cutrim-Schmid (Eds.), Interactive Whiteboards: Theory, Research and Practice. Hershey, PA: IGI-Global.
Hennessy, S. & Deaney, R. (2009, in press) The impact of collaborative video analysis by practitioners and researchers upon pedagogical thinking and practice: A follow-up study.
Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 15 (5), 617-638.
Hennessy, S. & Deaney, R. (2009) 'Intermediate theory' building: Integrating multiple teacher and researcher perspectives through in-depth video analysis of pedagogic strategies. Teachers College Record, 111 (7), 1753-1795.
Bowker, A., Hennessy, S., Dawes, M., & Deaney, R. (2009) Supporting professional development for ICT use in mathematics using the T-MEDIA multimedia resource. In Joubert, M. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 29(1), 19-24.
Hennessy, S., Mercer, N., & Warwick, P. (2008) Exploiting interactive digital technology to enhance dialogic classroom interaction. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York.
Ruthven, K., Hennessy, S., & Deaney, R. (2008) Constructions of dynamic geometry: A study of the interpretative flexibility of educational software in classroom practice. Computers and Education, 51 (1), 297-317.
Dunham, P. and Hennessy, S. (2008) Equity and use of educational technology in mathematics.
In K. Heid and G. Blume (eds.), Research on Technology in the Learning and Teaching of Mathematics: Syntheses and Perspectives. Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC.
Hennessy, S., Deaney, R., Dawes, M. & Bowker, A. (March 2008) Supporting professional development for ICT use in the secondary classroom using a multimedia resource: A Report to NCETM. Downloads available
Hennessy, S., Deaney, R. (Sept. 2007) Teacher mediation of subject learning with technology: A multimedia approach. Final Report to ESRC. Downloads available
Hennessy, S., Deaney, R., Ruthven, K. & Winterbottom, M. (2007) Pedagogical strategies for using the interactive whiteboard to foster learner participation in school science. Learning Media and Technology, 32 (3), 283-301.
Deaney, R. & Hennessy, S. (2007) Sustainability, Evolution and Dissemination of ICT-supported Classroom Practice. Research Papers in Education, 22 (1), 65-94.
Hennessy, S., Wishart, J., Whitelock, D., Deaney, R., Brawn, R., la Velle, L., McFarlane, A., Ruthven, K. & Winterbottom, M.
Pedagogical approaches for technology-integrated science teaching.
Computers and Education, 2007, 48 (1), 137-152.
Available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2006.02.004
Hennessy, S. (2006).
Integrating technology into teaching and learning of school science: a situated perspective on pedagogical issues in research.
Studies in Science Education, 42, 1-50.
Hennessy, S., Deaney, R. & Ruthven, K. (2006)
Situated expertise in integrating use of multimedia simulation into secondary science teaching.
International Journal of Science Education, 28 (7), 701-732.
Deaney, R., Ruthven, K. & Hennessy, S. (2006)
Teachers' developing 'practical theories' of the contribution of information and communication technologies to subject teaching and learning: an analysis of cases from English secondary schools.
British Educational Research Journal, 32 (3), 459-480.
Deaney, R., Hennessy, S. & Ruthven, K.
Teachers' strategies for making effective use of data logging in secondary science lessons.
School Science Review, 2006, 88 (323) 103-110.
Hennessy, S., Deaney, R. & Ruthven, K. (2005)
Emerging teacher strategies for mediating 'Technology-integrated Instructional Conversations': a socio-cultural perspective.
Curriculum Journal, 16 (3), 265-292.
Hennessy, S., Ruthven, K. and Brindley, S. (2005).
Teacher perspectives on integrating ICT into subject teaching: commitment, constraints, caution and change.
Journal of Curriculum Studies, 37 (2), 155-192.
(Available online at http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/link.asp?id=QX3P25Q0WMAT)
Ruthven, K., Hennessy, S. and Deaney, R. (2005).
Incorporating Internet resources into classroom practice: pedagogical perspectives and strategies of secondary-school subject teachers.
Computers and Education, 44 (1), pp. 1-34. (Available via ScienceDirect at:
http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0360131503001350)
Ruthven, K., Hennessy, S. and Brindley, S. (2004).
Teacher representations of the successful use of computer-based tools and resources in teaching and learning secondary English, Mathematics and Science. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20 (3), 259-275.
Deaney, R., Ruthven, K. & Hennessy, S. (2003).
Pupil perspectives on the contribution of ICT to teaching and learning in the secondary school. Research Papers in Education. 18 (2), 141-165.
Ruthven, K. & Hennessy, S. (2002).
A practitioner model of the successful use of computer-based tools and resources to support mathematics teaching and learning: An exploratory study through departmental interviews in English secondary schools. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 49, 47-88.
http://ipsapp007.lwwonline.com/content/getfile/4657/41/5/abstract.htm
Hennessy, S., Fung, P. and Scanlon, P. (2001).
The role of the graphic calculator in mediating graphing activity. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2001, 32 (2), 267-290.
Hennessy, S. (2000).
Graphing investigations using portable (palmtop) technology. Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning, 16 (3), 243-258.
Murphy, P. and Hennessy, S. (2001).
Realising the potential - and lost opportunities - for peer collaboration in a D&T setting. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 11, 203-237.
Hennessy, S. and Murphy, P. (1999).
The potential for collaborative problem solving in Design and Technology. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 9 (1), 1-36.
Hennessy, S. (1999).
The potential of portable technologies for supporting graphing investigations. British Journal of Educational Technology, 30 (1), 57-60.
Download full version (67 pages).
Fung, P., O'Shea, T. & Hennessy, S. (1998).
Pocketbook Computing: a paradigm shift? Computers in the Schools, 14 (3/4), 109-118.
Hennessy, S. Twigger, D., Driver, R., O'Malley, C.E., Byard, M. Draper,
S. Hartley, R., Mohamed, R., O'Shea, T. & Scanlon, E. (1995).
Design of a computer-augmented curriculum for mechanics
International Journal of Science Education, 17 (1), 75-92.
Hennessy, S. et al. (1995).
A classroom intervention using a computer-augmented curriculum for mechanics. International Journal of Science Education, 17 (2), 189-206.
Hennessy, S. & O'Shea, T. (1993).
Learner perceptions of realism and 'magic' in computer simulation. British Journal of Educational Technology, 24 (2), 125-138.
Hennessy, S. (1993).
The stability of children's mathematical behaviour: when is a bug really a bug? Learning and Instruction, 3, 315-338.
Hennessy, S. (1993).
Situated cognition and cognitive apprenticeship: implications for classroom learning. Studies in Science Education, 22, 1-41.
S. Hennessy, R. McCormick and P. Murphy. (1993).
The myth of general problem-solving capability: design and technology as an example. Curriculum Journal, 4 (1), 74-89.