Digital Commons Network^™

Going The Distance: Best Practices In Designing And Sharing Reusable Learning Objects, Philip Russell

Conference Papers

This paper presents an overview of the suite of online interactive tutorials that have been developed at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin); with a particular emphasis on best practices for pedagogy and instructional design in terms of creating eLearning tools. The author also details how these learning objects have been made available for reuse on a national and international basis as open educational resources via online repositories.

Seminar Report: Demonstrating The Value Of Information Literacy To Staff And Students, Philip Russell

Conference Papers

In June 2014, the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin), South Dublin County, Republic of Ireland, held a one day national seminar on information literacy (IL) – ‘Demonstrating the Value of Information Literacy to Staff and Students’. This was one of the first IL seminars in Ireland that included speakers and representatives from all sectors: the educational sector (second and third level), community organisations, and industry. The event was funded by the recently formed National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Ireland. The aim of the seminar was to help staff to develop the …

The Great Irish Famine And The Development Of Journalism, Michael Foley

Conference Papers

The Great Irish Famine (1845 to 1852) took place just as major changes were taking place in the media. The coverage by Irish and international of the Famine had an influence on the media that shaped how catastrophes will be covered for the next century or more.

The Role Of Semantic Processing In The Allocation Of Auditory Attention In Competitive Acoustic Scenarios, John Mcgee, Charlie Cullen

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Facilitating External Engagement And Developing Industry-Focused Programmes In Cork Institute Of Technology, Irene Sheridan, Deirdre Goggin, Daithí Fallon

Conference Papers

As organisations focus on economic indicators and return on investment their approaches to learning and development opportunities are transformed. In a challenging, competitive climate there is a need to ensure that long and short term benefits are maximised. While engagement is often presented as a third mission of universities, encompassing the full range of external interactions with enterprises, individuals and communities, separate and distinct from the first two missions of teaching and research, is only effective if it is closely interlinked with them.

Vorley and Nelles (2008) describe the third mission as a ‘thread that has the capacity to weave …

Speed In Context: Real-Time News Reporting And Social Media, Jenny Hauser

Conference Papers

Dubbed the ‘tyranny of real time’, the immense acceleration of the news cycle poses serious challenges to professional journalism. As news media struggle to keep up with the speed at which news is reported on social media while maintaining journalistic standards of accuracy, real-time coverage is blamed for de-contextualising news events. While reports may be accurate, the question asked is if they also show the truth? This paper compares the effects of the real-time news coverage of both the Ukrainian uprising and the Gaza-Israel conflict in the summer of 2014, examining how context was shaped and relayed in both instances.

“If You Build It, They Will Use: Creating And Sharing Open Educational Resources To Advance Information Literacy”, Philip Russell

Conference Papers

Since 2010, the library at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin) in South County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, has been developing a suite of interactive online information literacy tutorials covering research, referencing, plagiarism and core academic skills. These open educational resources (OERs) provide users with a vibrant, challenging learning environment and facilitate flexible, 24/7, independent learning. The learning objects are accessible via multiple delivery platforms and are available for reuse under Creative Commons licence via national and international teaching and learning repositories.

This paper outlines the development of these OERs and how the creation of these learning tools has …

Childrens' Rights Or Journalists' Ethics, Michael Foley

Conference Papers

The coverage of issues concerning children and childhood has become increasingly prominent and journalists now have access to any number of sets of guidelines. Within academia there is a growing body of scholarly literature concerning journalism, the media, and coverage of children.

This activity has been mainly in the context of children’s rights. UNICEF, has been successful in highlighting the UNCRC and the role of journalists and the media in making the Convention work.

DIT, and the author, has been working with UNICEF, since 2006, in developing a syllabus for journalism schools. So far 27 universities from Turkey to Central …

Pump Design And Development For High Shear Grout Mixing Applications, John Kijak, David Kennedy

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

A Collagen‐Glycosaminoglycan‐Fibrin Scaffold For Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Applications, Claire Brougham, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas Flanagan, Fergal O'Brien

Conference Papers

The field of heart valve biology and tissue engineering a heart valve continue to expand. The presentatio ns at this meeting reflect the advances made in both areas due to the multi-disciplinary approach taken by many laboratories.

Electric Bike Photovoltaic Charging Station (Pv-Cs): Experimental Design For Electrical Fault Investigations, Ayda Esfandyari, Kevin O'Farrell, Brian Norton, Sarah Mccormack

Conference Papers

Electric Vehicles (EV) have gained interest over the past decade. Accordingly, to support EV technology installation of charging stations are required. A Photovoltaic Charging Station (PV_CS) can generate clean electricity from the sun for charging electric bikes but as can be exposed to harsh weather conditions and faults, which can result in deviations of system characteristics from their normal operating conditions. Reliability of these charging stations is extremely important for supplying adequate charge to EVs, and therefore it must be maintained at all times. This paper presents a systematic approach to electrical reliability issues for PV_CS, by establishing an experimental …

Transport Inequity & Disadvantage In Celtic Tiger Dublin – Preliminary Results, Sarah Rock, Aoife Ahern

Conference Papers

This paper explores social equity issues in transport and land-use planning, using recently developed housing areas in Dublin as a case study. As a pillar of sustainable development, social equity is an important objective of transport planning. During the 2000s, Dublin experienced a significant increase in car ownership levels and usage. There is now a growing body of research that links increasing car ownership, usage and dependency to increasing levels of inequity and transport disadvantage. The paper briefly outlines the evolving theoretical considerations of relevance to transport and land-use related equity, and establishes a framework from which to draw a …

Sustainable Business Development: An Irish Perspective, Tony Kealy

Conference Papers

This research investigates the current status of sustainable business development practises in Ireland using qualitative analysis on data obtained from semi-structured interviews. The thirteen interviewees were chosen to represent a wide spectrum of influential organisations in Irish society and included private businesses, charity organisations, faith-based organisations, farmer associations, and government representatives. Analysis of the findings confirmed that the three well established key elements that must be considered if businesses are to be developed in a sustainable way, namely Profit, People, and Planet are still valid. However, this research also found that there were other elements important for developing sustainable business. …

A New Reinforced Fibrin Collagen Glycosaminoglycan Material To Resist Tissue Contraction In Heart Valves, Claire Brougham, Gerard Cooney, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas Flanagan, Fergal O'Brien

Conference Papers

A crosslinked, multicomponent scaffold of collagen, GAG and fibrin has been characterised for heart valve applications. Fibrin gels reinforced with a 0.75% collagen, 0.044% GAG scaffolds can resist VSMC induced contraction significantly more than fibrin-only gels, while allowing cell proliferation and maintaining excellent cell viability. This improvement in structural integrity may facilitate the use of fibrin based materials for heart valve tissue engineering.

Development Of A Mobile High Shear Colloidal Grout Pump For The Construction Industry, John Kijak, David Kennedy

Conference Papers

The aim of this project was to design and develop a group pump and solve associated technical issues for a construction company in Ireland. The design is based on a high shear colloidal group mixing and pumping rig. The initial machine has failed in terms of bearing and seal performance, has high manufacturing costs and is poorly designed.

To account for these issues, extensive research of the design features of grout mixing units from various competitors and suppliers was carried out by research and field studies at trade fairs. Using the information gathered, and incorporating improvements into the existing design, …

La Recuperación Del Sujeto A Través De Los Personajes Femeninos En Tres Novelas Españolas Contemporáneas Escritas Por Mujeres, Paloma Pérez Valdés

Conference Papers

Mi presentación analiza la recuperación del sujeto en tres novelas españolas contemporáneas escritas por mujeres, Queda la noche de Soledad Puértolas, Azul de Rosa Regàs y Nubosidad variable de Carmen Martín Gaite. Debido a las prácticas modernistas en las que se presenta la esencia de un ser cuyos rasgos ya no aparecen como persistentes sino como cambiantes nace el personaje moderno y a continuación la tan cuestionada muerte del sujeto. Desde entonces han sido muchos los intentos de recuperación del sujeto y de alguna manera se han agotado las vías. No obstante, en la literatura contemporánea española se observan nuevas …

Reading Foucault After Modern Painting: From Object To System’, Tim Stott

Conference Papers

By his own admission, Foucault wrote with great pleasure about painting, feeling little need for polemics or strategic interpretation (DE II, 707). But he also thought through paintings, taking them to be exemplary objects of knowledge, uniquely indicative of transformations and discontinuities in discursive and non-discursive orders. This mixture of pleasure, preference, and analysis leaves us with a diverse body of work that might still assist in our understanding of the development of modern painting. Of particular interest is that during the period in which Foucault wrote, what counted as painting was radically questioned, leading to an expansion that …

Cathode Ray Memories: Television As Memory And Social Practice, Edward Brennan

Conference Papers

Cathode Ray Memories: Television as memory and social practice

The history of television in Ireland is, predominantly, an institutional history. Indeed, rather than studying television in Ireland most commentary addresses Irish television as embodied by Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ). There are plentiful accounts of RTÉ, its programmes, personalities and the circuits of institutional power surrounding it. This is a history populated by political and clerical elites, and written by their cultural counterparts. Institutional crises surrounding RTÉ have been used as a proxy for the experiences of Irish people. With few alternatives, this perspective has underpinned common sense understandings of how …

The Rule Of Law And Access To Justice In Prisons, Mary Rogan

Conference Papers

At the heart of my talk is the concept of accountability, along with the importance of fairness and transparency in decisions taken in places which are very far from public view. The rule of law is ever more important in situations where the power relationship is tipped in the favour of the State, as in prisons. Speaking pragmatically, the fairness and legitimacy of decision-making in prisons is an important element in maintaining order and decent relationships between staff and prisoners, so essential in ensuring security. This practical reason for the application of the rule of law in prisons has been …

Promoting Social And Academic Attainment Through Emotional And Social Skills Development, Aiden Carthy, Sinead Mcgilloway

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

A Technological University: Student Role In Delivering Quality, Frank Mcmahon

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.

Breaking Down Barriers To University-Business Cooperation In The University: Change Through Incentivisation, Lyndsey El Amoud, Séamus Ó’Tuama

Conference Papers

Irish universities are currently engaged in a process of shifting their reliance on state subvention as their primary source of income to one that includes developing new streams of non-exchequer funding. This scenario emerges from a long-term trend of reduced state subvention which was dramatically accelerated by the virtual collapse of the Irish economy, which required an external rescue package brokered with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (which became know as the Troika) from November 2010. While Ireland has officially exited this arrangement, its public finance will remain severely constrained for an extended …

Teaching And Learning Amidst Difference And Diversity, Sue Norton, Marty Meinardi

Conference Papers

This paper considered classroom management strategies for working with diverse, multicultural groups of students in higher education settings.

The Case Of Vpl And Industry Focused Programmes In Cork Institute Of Technology, Deirdre Goggin, Irene Sheridan, Daithí Fallon, Tim Horgan

Conference Papers

As organisations focus on economic indicators and return on investment their approaches to learning and development opportunities are transformed. In a challenging, competitive climate there is a need to ensure that the long and short term benefits are maximised. This masterclass describes the experience and issues raised for Cork Institute of Technology, a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Ireland in implementing programmes developed in partnership with industry which are mutually beneficial and maintain academic standards. It also addresses the enablers, challenges and barriers in customised course development.

Creating And Sharing Information Literacy Open Educational Resources, Philip Russell

Conference Papers

From June 2010 until the present, a suite of online reusable learning objects (RLOs) has been created at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin) library covering a range of information literacy (IL) competencies. These RLOs have helped to facilitate student transition from second to third level, advance IL and enrich the student learning experience. The paper outlines the development of these resources, how these learning objects have been integrated into academic modules at ITT Dublin and how they have been shared and reused as open educational resources at national and international level. The author also discusses future plans for …

Equity And Fairness In Transport Planning: The State Of Play, Sarah Rock, Aoife Ahern Prof., Brian Caulfield Dr.

Conference Papers

This paper explores the concept of equity, or fairness, in transport. As a pillar of sustainable development, social equity is an important objective of transport planning. The provision of transport infrastructure can have significant equity impacts on society through the distribution of costs and benefits. In recent years, there has been an increase in research interest in transportation related equity issues. The paper outlines the primary theoretical traditions that relate to equity and transport equity, and how equity concerns are currently addressed and evaluated in academia and in practice. Recent research has attempted to establish stronger principles from which to …

24 Hours Of Vine: Big Data And Social Performance, Conor Mcgarrigle

Conference Papers

24h Social is a generative a data-driven generative video installation that explores the social media phenomenon of Vine video as performances in data. The project is created from a database of appropriated Vine content, extracted from millions of tweets, with each video shown at the time of its original creation. The project simultaneously celebrates Vine as a platform that facilitates succinct creative performative expressions whilst acknowledging that these activities are embedded within a problematic data assemblage that accrues substantial quantities of data on its users. Drawing on notions of social media performance it is suggested that a pathway to understanding …

Stillorgan Qbc Level Of Service Appraisal, David O'Connor, Philip Kavanagh

Conference Papers

Previous studies [1] have analysed the walking catchment area for light rail and metropolitan rail stops in suburban parts of Dublin city’s south-side. The purpose of this paper is to establish the catchment zone of stops on a bus corridor, also within the same sector of Dublin city. The 2012 study looked at stops in four bands across the urban area, including: Urban, Outer Urban, Inner Suburban and Outer Suburban. Public transport users were surveyed at each stop and their street of trip origin identified. This information was then used to identify and approximate the catchment area for public transport …

Judicial Conceptions Of Prisoners' Rights In Ireland: An Emerging Field, Mary Rogan

Conference Papers

This paper will discuss four themes. The first concerns judicial discussions of conditions of detention, secondly I will examine the development of the principles of procedural fairness in decisions on the use of separation or isolation of prisoners. I will then move to look at issues concerning foreign prisoners, and say a few words about conditions of detention in the immigration context. Finally, I will explore some of the barriers to a greater role for the Irish courts in the area of conditions of detention. I will speak from the experiences drawn from my research, but also from legal practice.

The Development Of Teachers' Key Competences For Student-Centred Teaching And Learning., Frank Mcmahon

Conference Papers

No abstract provided.