Education Commons^™

Numeracy-Meets: An Innovative Professional Development Model For Adult Numeracy Practitioners In Ireland, Mark Prendergast, Annette Forster, Niamh O'Meara, Kathy O'Sullivan, Fiona Faulkner

Articles

Despite the clear and obvious need for adults to be proficient in numeracy, international studies suggest that many continue to struggle in this area. In Ireland, one of the main challenges continues to be the availability of effective adult numeracy education. This is a diverse sector, and little is known about the varied provision of adult numeracy courses and of those who teach on them. Recent research has highlighted an unmet demand for the professional development of adult numeracy practitioners with many looking for opportunities to network and further develop their practice. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate …

The Impact Of A Professional Development Mooc On The Teaching Beliefs Of University Science Laboratory Teachers, Natasa Brouwer, Gunther Fleerackers, Iwona Maciejowska, Claire M. Mcdonnell, Mauro Mocerino

Articles

This study contributes to the understanding of online professional development of university STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) lecturers. An active learning massive open online course (MOOC) to develop best practice in teaching in university science laboratories was developed using the ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) model in three cycles. The teaching beliefs and intentions of the participants were determined before and after they completed the MOOC and their level of satisfaction with this professional development opportunity was examined using a survey. The results showed high completion rates and an appreciation of the online course design. Participants who completed …

Impact Of A National Professional Development Programme For Out-Of-Field Teachers Of Mathematics In Ireland., Merrilyn Goos, Máire Ní Riordáin, Fiona Faulkner, Ciara Lane

Articles

Out-of-field teaching refers to the practice of assigning teachers to teach subjects that do not match their training or education. This paper reports on a study evaluating the impact of a national professional development programme for out-of-field teachers of post-primary school mathematics in Ireland – the Professional Diploma in Mathematics for Teaching. Evidence of impact was collected from three surveys. Two surveys evaluated changes in the prevalence of out-of-field teaching before and six years after the introduction of the programme. The third survey investigated programme graduates’ beliefs about mathematics, mathematics teaching and mathematics learning, and reported changes in teaching practices. …

You, The Professional Development Framework And Reflective Practice, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

This National Forum Insight is for all staff with a teaching role in Higher Education in Ireland who are engaging with the National Professional Development (PD) Framework.

This Insight is designed to be used to support staff in using the PD Framework to reflect on their professional development and gather evidence for their PD portfolio. We advise the reader to ensure they are familiar with the PD Framework and its domains of professional development in order to use this Insight most effectively.

Insights From A National Approach To Supporting The Professional Development Of Those Who Teach, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

This Forum Insight focuses on the national Open Courses initiative, established by the National Forum and sectoral colleagues in 2017.

It considers what has been learned from this flexible, innovative approach to supporting the professional development of those who teach across higher and further education.

Cascading Conversations Across Professional Development Open Courses And Community In Teaching And Learning In Irish Higher Education: Embedding And Sustaining The National Perspective From Within., Roisin Donnelly, Caitríona Ní Shé, Colin Lowry, Theresa Maguire

Conference papers

This study is aimed atteaching and learning staff,academic leaders/senior managers, educational/academic developers, and will offer an opportunity to explore together the long-term vision of a valued and informed teaching and learning culture in Irish higher education and the impact of national conversations on professional development in teaching and learning.The momentum in PD offered by the success of the Open Courses, the sudden national move to online/remote teaching and learning in recent months, and the evolving education policy context (in Ireland), have combined to present a unique opportunity to make strategic forward motion regarding teaching and learning enhancement.By the end of …

Establishing And Sustaining National Partnerships In Professional Development And The Recognition Of Open Courses In Teaching And Learning Through Digital Badges., Roisin Donnelly, Theresa Maguire

Articles

This article discusses a national partnership in Irish higher education between the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning and the sector. The partnership initiative focussed on the scalable design and development of a suite of open-access professional development (PD) courses in teaching and learning. The empirical work explored the role and value of digital badges as professional recognition for open courses, and in particular the transformative experience of the collaborative course design teams from teachers into teachers-as-designers. Each course has been mapped to Ireland’s national PD framework for all staff who teach. This initiative aimed to provide …

Structured Professional Development For Academic Developers: A Collaborative Approach, Fiona O'Riordan, Íde O'Sullivan, Mary Fitzpatrick, Margaret Keane, Claire Mcavinia, Angelica Risquez

Articles

This paper shares the experience of a group of academic developers’ engagement in collaboratively working towards the completion of an online open-access professional development (PD) course designed to support higher education teachers to engage with a new professional development framework. Committee members of the Educational Developers in Ireland Network set out to complete the course as a demonstration of their commitment to their own PD and to experience the process with a view to becoming facilitators of the course. An auto-ethnographic approach was used to capture this experience, and findings demonstrate an inspiring alternative to PD that supports academic developers …

Teacher Learning And Continuous Professional Development., Fiona Faulkner, John Kenny, Coral Campbell, Cosette Crisan

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter discusses teacher learning and professional development of out-of-field teachers from the point of view of the literature. It examines what makes this kind of learning and development effective and explores the ideas surrounding the varying rationale for the introduction of such teacher learning and professional development opportunities. Classical approaches to professional development are discussed in addition to several emerging international models of professional development that are currently being employed in the Republic of Ireland, England and Australia for in-service out-of-field teachers of mathematics predominantly but also a range of other subject disciplines (in the case of South Korea). …

Developing All Learners Through Analytics: A Collaborative Consultative Approach To Professional Development And Support, Pauline Rooney, Geraldine Gray, Lee O'Farrell, K.C. O'Rourke

Conference papers

By the end of this session, delegates will be able to: -explore the potential value of learning analytics for creating a supportive educational experience for students and for increasing students’ feelings of ownership, agency and self-regulation. -examine the role of professional development resources and support in increasing staff and student digital proficiencies in using learning data and in facilitating greater evidence-based decision-making in HE. -identify how we can collaborate with our institutional colleagues and our students in the design and provision of professional development resources and support in relation to the analysis and interpretation of learning data to support student …

National Digital Badges For Recognizing Professional Development. Nf Insights., Roisin Donnelly, T. Maguire

Articles

No abstract provided.

Professional Development Of Staff In Assessment & Feedback: A National Approach, Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Professional Development Celebration., Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relevance Of The Pdf For Library Professionals., Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Making Digital Badging Work: Lessons From An Irish He Context, Roisin Donnelly, Colin Lowry, Terry Maguire

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Overview Of Professional Development Framework For All Staff Who Teach In Higher Education & What Is Being Learnt From The Initial Implementation., Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Pilot Studies Implementation Of The National Professional Development Framework For All Staff Who Teach In Higher Education And The National Digital Badges Initiative., Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Online “Maker” Modules To Support Production Pedagogies In Education, Janette Hughes, Lauren Fridman, Laura Morrison

Teaching and Learning in a Digital Context

Our research study examines the use of online maker modules (developed by our research team) on the learning process for, and professional development of, graduate M.Ed. and M.A. students in a faculty of education in Ontario, Canada. The research draws on the practice of critical making with both digital and real-world artefacts as a vehicle for collaborative knowledge- sharing and generation, deep learning and meaningful engagement with one’s local and global communities. The students engaged in all five online maker modules as part of a graduate-level course and this paper offers insight into the experiences of two of these students …

Reflections On The Adaptation Of Dit’S Robosumo Robot-Building Initiative Within Itb’S Module On Professional Development For Engineers, Paul Stacey, Michelle Looby, Damon Berry, Shannon Chance

Teaching and Learning in a Digital Context

This paper details a pilot initiative within the Engineering Department at Ireland’s Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) where a competitive, team-based robot-building activity has been embedded within the first year module Professional Development for Engineers. As part of the 2015 programmatic review process at ITB, an existing first year module Personal Development was significantly re-designed. The resulting module Professional Development for Engineers was delivered to Engineering students in semester 1 of year 1 of the 2015/16 academic year. A core aim of this initiative is to enhance the first year engineering student experience. The initiative is an adaptation of a …

An Evaluation Of Formative Audio Feedback Within Part Time Professional Development Programmes In Dit., Claire M. Mcdonnell, Roisin Donnelly, Claire Mcavinia

Other resources

Evidence from the literature indicates that learners often view feedback in terms of assessment only, even though it can play an important role in improving engagement and consolidating and enriching learning. It is well accepted that the feedback strategy used should be appropriate to the purpose and context of the work, but in order for feedback to be truly helpful, it needs to be goal-referenced, tangible, transparent, actionable, user-friendly (specific and personalized), timely, ongoing and consistent. Technology can also play a useful supporting role in achieving this. This paper explores the impact of formative audio feedback across part time programmes …

Does Accredited Professional Development For Academics Improve Teaching And Learning In Higher Education?, Claire Mcavinia, Roisin Donnelly, Claire M. Mcdonnell, Orla Hanratty, Jen Harvey

Books/Book Chapters

This Chapter examines the extent to which we can assess whether accredited professional development programmes for academics have improved teaching – and students’ learning – in higher education. A review of the literature will be presented, along with new research undertaken in our home institution. The authors are part of a team delivering accredited programmes in teaching at tertiary level, and have collaborated to examine the impact of their work and that of the team over more than ten years in this area. Our findings from both the literature and our most recent research within our own institution indicate a …

Engaging Lecturers As Students: Building Sustainable Professional Development, Jen Harvey, Roisin Donnelly, Claire Mcavinia

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Policies That Enhance Teaching And Learning, Shannon Chance, Pamela L. Eddy, Gavin Duffy, Brian Bowe, Jen Harvey

Conference papers

Educational institutions often implement policies with the intention of influencing how learning and teaching occur. Generally, such policies are not as effective as their makers would like; changing the behavior of third-level teachers proves difficult. Nevertheless, a policy instituted in 2006 at the Dublin Institute of Technology has met with success: each newly hired faculty member must have a post-graduate qualification in “Learning and Teaching” or successfully complete one within the first two years of employment. The intention is to build teachers’ knowledge about student-centered pedagogies and their capacity to implement them. As a result of this policy (and associated …

Learning From Mentoring Relationships Within And Between Higher Education Institute Staff, Sinead Mccann

Staff Articles and Research Papers

As part of the PERARES project, staff on the Programme for Students Learning with Communities (SLWC) in DIT have been formally mentored by staff at Queen’s University Belfast, with over 20 years experience fostering community-based research (CBR) projects. This paper shares both experiences of the invaluable support, insight and practical guidance emerging from this mentoring relationship, and considers early outcomes from a pilot of informal mentoring relationships in DIT between academic staff experienced in CBR and staff starting CBR projects with students for the first time.

Laptops4africa: Fundraising By First Year Computer Science Students, Leslie Shoemaker

Posters

This project involved computing students developing and running fundraising activities to support the work of Wells for Zoe in Malawi, providing clean water to communities. The students developed a range of transferable and professional skills from this project.

Student, Practitioner, Or Both?:Separation And Integration Of Identities In Professional Social Care Education, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

This paper presents and discusses some of the findings from a qualitative study of identities in work-related learners. The theoretical framework of structural symbolic interactionism is outlined and the two identities of interest, that of student and practitioner discussed. The aim of professional education is viewed as enabling the practitioner to deal with ambiguity and change through critical examination of work practices and location of these within theoretical frameworks. It is argued that for knowledge and behaviour to transfer to the work setting the student and worker identities need to be integrated rather than kept separate. Factors identified as influencing …

A Framework To Develop Lifelong Learning And Transferable Skills In An Engineering Programme, Gavin Duffy, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

Engineering programmes have a strong reputation in the delivery of technical knowledge and skills. Graduates need equally high levels of competence in personal and professional skills to not only meet the existing requirements of employers and professional bodies but to also help them manage the inevitable changes that society is facing in an increasingly populated world. The need to move from traditional to student-centred learning is discussed in the context of engineering education. The use of group-based, problem driven learning facilitates high integration of technical and non-technical knowledge and skills and requires more engagement with the programme from today’s student. …

Benefits Of Continuing Professional Development In The Visual Communications Sector In Ireland, Con Kennedy

Other resources

This research is concerned with identifying the benefits of Continuous Professional Development for the Visual Communications sector in Ireland, with the aim of establishing what benefits exist for both the employee and employer. Research is undertaken to identify CPD programmes that currently exist in other industries in Ireland for the purpose of establishing commonalities and how this may apply to the Visual Communications sector. This is achieved through a combination of literature review, desk research, surveys of employees and employers in the Visual Communications sector and a number of semi-formal interviews with representatives from various industry sectors with established CPD …

Changing Practice: Research On The Impact Of Continuing Professional Development In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice

Other resources

In higher education, we still have much to learn about the nature of teacher training, about the construction of curricula, and about how teachers become reflective about their practice. Eraut (1994) emphasised that professionals continually learn on the job but that unless time is set aside to deliberate, the learning may not be integrated into any general theory of practice. Also, it is argued in the most recent literature (Day & Sachs 2004) that there is a gap in our knowledge of the effects of CPD upon the thinking, planning and practice of individual teachers. Kelchtermans (2004) highlights the need …