Education Commons^™

Do Eportfolios Foster Creativity? An Evaluative Study In A Professional Development Context, Roisin Donnelly, Muireann Okeeffe, K.C. O'Rourke

Conference papers

The nurturing of creativity as a key skill in students is a current and topical issue due to the potential important economic and social benefits it can imbue. This paper outlines a case study in progress in an Irish higher education institution, which initiated as an evaluation of student ePortfolios and transformed into an examination of creativity within students ePortfolios. The context for the research is a group of postgraduate students using ePortfolios to build evidence of their learning experience on the programme. This research seeks to explore the notion of learner empowerment through creativity in ePortfolio use, specifically if …

Come Si Fa?: Can Virtual Worlds Help Us Promote Intercultural Awareness, Susanna Nocchi

Conference Papers

This paper describes the author’s experience with a pilot course of Italian in SL®2. The course is part of a PhD research on Exploring the potential of virtual worlds to promote Intercultural Awareness in students learning Italian as a Foreign Language. In the paper the author will justify her choice of virtual worlds for the development of language competence and Intercultural Awareness and will present some results of her activity theoretical analysis of the data. Problematic areas and potential moments for the development of Intercultural Awareness were highlighted during the analysis.

Technological University City's Programme For Students Learning With Communities: A Critical Account Of Practice, Catherine Bates, Elena Gamble

Staff Articles and Research Papers

Purpose – This paper aims to focus on the process of critically evaluating Technological University City's Programme for Students Learning With Communities after its first year of operation. The programme supports and promotes community-based learning/service-learning across DIT.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper is presented in the form of a case study, wherein the context for the work is outlined, addressing both strengths and weaknesses of the practice to date, and comment briefly on wider implications.

Findings – After nine months an evaluation of the programme was carried out. It identified four main areas where it was felt there was potential for …

Now For The Science Bit: Implementing Community-Based Learning In Chemistry, Claire M. Mcdonnell, Patricia Ennis, Leslie Shoemaker

Articles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of student learning from community engagement by critically assessing the implementation of this pedagogical approach in the context of teaching and learning chemistry and also evaluating the role of personal development in student-community engagement.

Design/methodology/approach – A case study on the implementation since 2007 of community-based learning (also called service-learning) projects in an academic department in Ireland is presented. Analysis of assessment grades, student reflective accounts and evaluation questionnaires informs this work as does a recently completed self-assessment of our activities using Shumer’s Self-Assessment for Service Learning. …

The Dissertation As An Effective Learning Experience For Undergraduate Students And Faculty In A Construction Management Program; A Reflection, Sonya Meekel, Lloyd Scott

Conference papers

The dissertation has been regarded as an important feature of undergraduate education. This paper reports on findings from a research project that reflected upon the effectiveness of the undergraduate dissertation process of final-year Construction Management undergraduates, enrolled in the academic year 2009-2010 in the Technological University of Dublin (DIT) Construction Management Program. The project was undertaken to reflect upon the dissertation process from inception to completion in order to determine the effectiveness following the first year of implementation. The Kolb Learning Styles Model was applied to capture the student experiences and to provide a basis for observation and reflection. The …

Technology Enhanced Learning: Students' Views, Eileen O'Donnell, Mary Sharp

Conference Papers

User feedback is very important in all areas of computer science especially in the development of computer applications. Hence, student feedback on the use of technology enhanced learning in higher education in Ireland is relevant to the quality of the learning resources to be created by learning designers and academics in the future. The book “Student Reactions to Learning with Technologies: Perceptions and Outcomes” (Moyle & Wijngaards, 2012) was published by IGI Global in October 2011. This book includes contributions from various authors who are interested in students’ feedback regarding how technology has impacted on their educational experience. This book …

Distributed Supply Chain Simulation Portal: Design And Implementation, Amr Arisha, Ayman Tobail, John Crowe

Conference papers

The emerging paradigm of eLearning is becoming increasingly in evidence across many academic disciplines acknowledging the concept that learning processes no longer support traditional teaching methods alone. It can be argued that today’s third level education students are part of a new virtual era where the blackboard has been replaced with an interactive whiteboard. To assist in the transition from traditional learning to eLearning, more interactive and virtually orientated teaching aids are needed. A simulation-based learning framework that integrates web-based simulation and a web content management hierarchy model is the key objective of this paper. Using the highly complex subject …

Designing Together: Effective Strategies For Creating A Collaborative Curriculum To Support Academic Development, Noel Fitzpatrick, Jen Harvey

Books/Book Chapters

This publication has arisen out of collaborative work completed as part of the Learning Innovation Network (LIN) project funded under Strand 2 of the Irish Higher Education Authority (HEA) Strategic Initiative funded (SIF) sectoral project: Improving services to students and capacity building (2006-2010), involving all 13 Irish Institutes of Technology and the Technological University Dublin. One of the 3 objectives of this strand was to scope the parameters of an agreed Academic Development Programme. Since Sept 2008, a LIN Accredited Professional Development (APD) Sub-group has been working towards the establishment of a sustainable shared academic development programme that might be …

How Can We Nurture And Develop Creativity In First Year Design Students, Kerry Meakin

Theses

This research paper investigates the perceptions of first year third level design students regarding their creative thinking and use of creative strategies, while studying a first year design based curriculum in an Institute of Technology in Dublin. The research was conducted in a three-phase, sequential project. The first phase, questioned twenty seven students by issuing anonymous questionnaires to gather data on their methods of incubating design ideas, if they experienced any levels of anxiety when doing so, and their satisfaction levels in their design and creative abilities. Literature was reviewed to discover the attributes of those we perceive as creative …

“An Exploration Of The Barriers To Independent Study And Learning In First Year Undergraduate Engineering Students”, Robert Martin Morris

Theses

Abstract

This mixed method case study was based in the Institute of Technology and was conducted with the co-operation of four experienced lecturers of engineering and three groups of first year undergraduate engineering students. The main aim of the research was to identify factors which constitute barriers to the independent study and learning of first year engineering students.

A large proportion of first year engineering students do not return to college for the second year of their programmes. Many reasons for this are identified in the research, including the failure to pass assessments and examinations as a result of the …

Crucial Connections: An Exploration Of Critical Thinking And Scholarly Writing, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice

Other resources

Academic writing in the context of producing quality research articles is something which all academics engage in and there is evidence of increased attention to supporting the development of the writing and subsequent outputs of academics and research students. However, while scholarly writing is learnt in complex ways, critical thinking is an intrinsic part of such writing. In practice the teaching of critical thinking is difficult and there is a lack of discussion about what it means within the context of the writing process. Critical thinking can only be acquired with practice and this study describes a pedagogic intervention with …

Enhancing The Learning Experience: Learning For The Unknown Future, Barry Ryan

Conference papers

In this presentation the effects of an altered teaching methodology, in which the "student as producer" approach was adopted, are outlined. Currently, many students exist as knowledge consumers; however, Neary and Winn (2009) have suggested the positive effect on students learning through the inclusion of research-like activities at the core of the undergraduate curriculum; the students act as "producers" of knowledge.

Integrating Formative Feedback Into Individual And Group Assessments In A First Year Organic Chemistry Module, Barry Ryan, Julie Dunne

Conference papers

It is common for science undergraduates, particularly first year students, to remark that they do not receive appropriate support in their transition from second level to third level education; particularly in effective scientific laboratory report writing, new subject area preparedness and technical ‘know-how’ [1]. This is compounded by the insufficient, or inappropriate, feedback offered to students in these problem areas. The pedagogical emphasis often focuses on quantity rather than quality; both in report writing and content delivered. This publication describes an assessment methodology redesign to, firstly, incorporate on-line formative feedback and; secondly, to introduce one-to-one and one-to-group lab report feedback …

12. Analysis Of Community Garden Soil And Leaves For Heavy Metals, Farwa Said

Students Learning with Communities

The purpose of this project is to determine the level of trace metals concentrations in soil samples and also in food. For this approach several soil samples and few leave samples were collected from an old community garden for this analysis. The samples were sieved in two fractions using sieve analysis and extracted using the nitric acid digestion. These samples were analysed by ICP-OES and AAS to determine the level of heavy metals present in soil. The results obtained indicated high level of Pb found in soil especially in patch A followed by B, C and D sample and very …

Driver Behaviour Near Schools In South County Dublin, Bernadette King

Students Learning with Communities

This study assessed the driver behaviour of 1,200 drivers near three schools in South County Dublin. This literature review focuses on articles discussing factors believed to influence drivers speed choice and the perception of drivers towards speed limits and explore how the theory of planned behaviour or reasoned action has been used to improve prediction and explanation of driver behaviour. The primary goal of this study was to assess driver behaviour near three schools and establish if they are complying with the posted speed limit. It also set out to seek to establish what factors if any were associated with …

The Implementation Of Pre-Lecture Resources To Reduce In-Class Cognitive Load: A Case Study For Higher Education Chemistry, Michael Seery, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

This case study describes an effective method to ameliorate the cognitive load caused by new terminology and concepts in lectures. Ten online pre-lecture resources whose design was underpinned by the principles of cognitive load theory were provided to a class of 49 first year university level chemistry students. Each resource introduced a number of key concepts to the forthcoming lecture and included a quiz for students to test understandings and identify misconceptions. The evaluation of the implementation of resources was measured by considering the difference in exam marks for in-semester test and end of module exam. These showed that the …