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Full-Text Articles in Education

Programme Oriented And Institutional Oriented Approaches To Quality Assurance: New Developments And Mixed Approaches, Deirdre Lillis, Tara Ryan Aug 2008

Programme Oriented And Institutional Oriented Approaches To Quality Assurance: New Developments And Mixed Approaches, Deirdre Lillis, Tara Ryan

Articles

This paper considers the programme validation arrangements in place in one half of the Irish higher education sector. It outlines how responsibility for programme validation can be safely delegated to Institutions within a robust overarching framework for quality assurance. It compares programme validation in Institutions with self awarding status with Institutions that have their programmes validated by a national Awarding agency. The paper concludes that when programme validation in Ireland and (potentially) across Europe is examined more closely, processes that appear to be very different on the surface can be quite similar in reality. From a philosophical perspective it appears …


Towards A Model Of Critical Ethics To Inform The Research Process In Postgraduate Research, Aidan Kenny May 2008

Towards A Model Of Critical Ethics To Inform The Research Process In Postgraduate Research, Aidan Kenny

Articles

The ethics narrative has become embedded in the contemporary research process, as evident in the emergence of Ethical Committees in faculty and both public and private organisations. Ethics have been codified, made visible and accessible as text artefacts in the forms of (both voluntary and regulatory) codes, statements, conventions, guidelines, principles, procedures, practices. In this short paper I explore this codification of ethics from the period post WWII, detailing some of the milestone text artefacts.


Technology-Aided Participative Methods In Environmental Assessment: An International Perspective, Ainhoa Gonzalez, Alan Gilmer, Ronan Foley, John Sweeney, John Fry Jan 2008

Technology-Aided Participative Methods In Environmental Assessment: An International Perspective, Ainhoa Gonzalez, Alan Gilmer, Ronan Foley, John Sweeney, John Fry

Articles

Provisions for citizen involvement in the assessment of potential environmental effects of certain plans, programmes and projects are present in current legislation. An international survey revealed that public participation is common practice in European and some other countries worldwide. However, a number of issues are observed to affect public involvement in EIA/SEA processes and expert opinion differs when evaluating the effectiveness of existing participative methods. Results suggest that technology-aided methods can improve traditional participation processes. In particular, GIS has the potential to increase community knowledge and enhance involvement by communicating information more effectively. Variable accessibility to technology and data quality …


Learning To Live With League Tables And Ranking: The Experience Of Institutional Leaders, Ellen Hazelkorn Jan 2008

Learning To Live With League Tables And Ranking: The Experience Of Institutional Leaders, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

This paper draws on the results of an international survey of HE leaders and senior managers which was supported by the OECD Programme on Institutional Management of Higher Education (IMHE) and the International Association of Universities (IAU). It focuses on how HEIs are responding to league tables and rankings (LTRS), and what impact or influence – positive or perverse – they are having on institutional behaviour, decision-making and actions. The growing body of academic research and journalist reportage is referenced to contextualise this international experience. The paper shows that while HE leaders are concerned about the impact of rankings, they …


Activity Systems Within Blended Problem-Based Learning In Academic Professional Development, Roisin Donnelly Jan 2008

Activity Systems Within Blended Problem-Based Learning In Academic Professional Development, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

Blending face-to-face and online problem-based learning environments presents opportunities for both learners and lecturers to take part in collaborative knowledge construction. Activity theory is a suitable framework to investigate such environments and the learning processes that both sets of participants experience when engaging in these complementary environments. This paper attempts to map out the potential for activity systems using a blended problem-based learning approach through the exploration of an accredited academic staff development programme in Ireland. Firstly, an analysis of tool use and the discourse that participants and tutors engage in is presented. Secondly, tutor reflections about the evolution of …