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Full-Text Articles in Education

Sharing Tricks Of The Trade, Roisin Donnelly Jan 2016

Sharing Tricks Of The Trade, Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

No abstract provided.


Providing Digital Resources To Enhance Graduate Attributes., Eric Bates Jan 2016

Providing Digital Resources To Enhance Graduate Attributes., Eric Bates

Teaching Fellowships

The objective of this Teaching Fellowship research project was to provide digital resources for students that could potentially enhance graduate attributes. This study was conducted during one semester and concentrated on one aspect of graduate attributes which was presentation skills. A video was scripted, shot and edited that demonstrated a rather inept presenter making a poor presentation. This video was then used in a Communications module specifically during the sessions that focussed on presentation skills. Background data on the participants’ experience of formal presentations was gathered to provide a snapshot of their level of previous experience. The video was used …


The Design Of E-Learning Resources For Part-Time Distance Education Students, Rowena Hennigan Jan 2016

The Design Of E-Learning Resources For Part-Time Distance Education Students, Rowena Hennigan

Teaching Fellowships

This research assessed the current e-learning provision for Ibec postgraduate students at DIT. The current e-learning resources are delivered using Webcourses (Blackboard), which is the Institute’s Learning Management System (LMS).1 The first stage of the research involved an audit of the existing e-learning resources on Webcourses, discussions with colleagues and a review of the e-learning literature. This research indicated that there were five key elements required in the programme’s e-learning design, namely: user experience, assessment, module content, interactivity of content and the updating of module content. A number of amendments were made in order to provide standardisation and to enhance …


The Planning And Development Of An Education Framework For Practice Educators Within Health And Social Care Professions., Maria Mcneill Jan 2016

The Planning And Development Of An Education Framework For Practice Educators Within Health And Social Care Professions., Maria Mcneill

Teaching Fellowships

Providing quality placements for students in the hospital setting is an essential component of the BSc in Clinical Measurement Science degree programme at DIT. The practice educator (hospital supervisor) role involves mentoring and supervising students on placement. Prior to 2012 practice educators received no training to support this role. Current training involves one full day of generic education and a second half-day of discipline specific knowledge relating to projects, log books and assessments. The aim of this research is to identify training needs for practice educators across the four disciplines and recommend an education framework to meet those needs. The …


Communication Practices In Technology Companies., Ruth Casey, Marc Gallagher Jan 2016

Communication Practices In Technology Companies., Ruth Casey, Marc Gallagher

Teaching Fellowships

It is contended that the skills or competencies that are required of business graduates by technology companies, range from the ability to communicate complex information about global issues in ways that are accessible to and connect with the general public, to problem-solving and project-based interaction. This represents a shift in the type of communication practice that now characterises the technology company, with its main focus on “agile” frameworks of teamwork. This report examines the context for this development, and explores the role of assessment and pedagogy in preparing the student for these communication competencies, from the perspective of the technology …


Feedbackly – A Tool For Collecting Real-Time Feedback On The Student Experience., Steve Meaney Jan 2016

Feedbackly – A Tool For Collecting Real-Time Feedback On The Student Experience., Steve Meaney

Teaching Fellowships

In higher education institutes feedback is collected via various formal (e.g. quality assurance processes) and informal (e.g. one-to-one discussion) methods. A core distinction between these approaches is the immediacy of informal feedback set against a slower, but potentially more powerful, formal feedback mechanism. This project aimed to explore a real-time mechanism to explore the student experience, using a simple data entry point connected to a webaccessible dashboard which summarises the data. A prototype was successfully developed and deployed, and collected feedback from students across the College of Sciences and Health. The system was broadly used by students, with more than …


Informing Instructional Design By Cognitive Load Assessment In The Classroom., Luca Longo Jan 2016

Informing Instructional Design By Cognitive Load Assessment In The Classroom., Luca Longo

Teaching Fellowships

Cognitive Load Theory is an approach that considers the limitations of the information processing system of the human mind. It is a cognitivist theory that has been conceived in the context of instructional design. One of the main open problems in the literature is the lack of reliable models and technologies to assess cognitive load of learners, thus limiting the application of the theory in practice. This project was aimed at tackling this open problem through the use of a previously developed mobile, responsive web-based prototypical technology, to assess the cognitive load of students in a typical third-level classroom. It …


“Scoring History” With The Vanbrugh Quartet: Developing An Online Archive And Teaching Resource., Cliona Doris Jan 2016

“Scoring History” With The Vanbrugh Quartet: Developing An Online Archive And Teaching Resource., Cliona Doris

Teaching Fellowships

DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and the National Concert Hall collaborated on a three-year residency for the internationally renowned Vanbrugh Quartet from 2014–2017. Six themed concert series explored a wide range of chamber music, including “Scoring History” curated by composer Ian Wilson, a Haydn and Schubert Series, Mozart and Brahms Chamber Music, the complete cycle of Beethoven String Quartets, Chamber Music of Ireland 1916–2016 and a Russian Season. An online archive and educational resource relating to and deriving from the residency, interweaves archival concert recordings, profiles, interviews and contextual information on the musical works.


An Exploration Of Fairness In The Assessment And Process Of Student Group Work, Rita Gibson, Emma Geoghegan, Oscar Macananey, Andrew Hines, Lorraine D'Arcy Jan 2016

An Exploration Of Fairness In The Assessment And Process Of Student Group Work, Rita Gibson, Emma Geoghegan, Oscar Macananey, Andrew Hines, Lorraine D'Arcy

Practitioner Research Projects

This project was driven by a motivation to be as fair as possible in the assessment of students' group work. Achieving fairness in assessment is a recurrent them in group project assessment literature (Nordberg, 2009). All authors of this report teach modules with group projects, and acknowledged that discrepancies often exist between a mark assigned to a group and an individual's contribution. Our aims were to (a) collectively enhance our understanding of the issues that need to be considered when assessing a group work project and (b) collectively build our confidence in approaches chosen to overcome these challenges. The findings …


Methods For Deriving Individual Marks From Group Work, Miriam Delaney, Lucy Bowe, Breiffni Fitzgerald, Peter Maccann, Christina Ryan Jan 2016

Methods For Deriving Individual Marks From Group Work, Miriam Delaney, Lucy Bowe, Breiffni Fitzgerald, Peter Maccann, Christina Ryan

Practitioner Research Projects

Group assessment is a valuable teaching and learning method (Springer et al., 1999). This has been comprehensively demonstrated in the teaching and learning literature both in general (Johnson et al., 1991) and in specific contexts. This assessment practice promotes questioning, discussion and debate and encourages students to become active team players (DIT, 2013). However, when using this form of assessment, it is important to recognise that it is "individuals who graduate and gain qualifications" (Gibbs, 2009, p.4). The problem of freeloading has been identified and one of the suggested methods of reducing this is to incorporate individual assessment into the …


Facilitating Group Work: A Guide To Good Practice, Ronan Mccrea, Irene Neville, David Rickard, Ciara Walsh, David Williams Jan 2016

Facilitating Group Work: A Guide To Good Practice, Ronan Mccrea, Irene Neville, David Rickard, Ciara Walsh, David Williams

Practitioner Research Projects

Oakley et al. (2004) and Gibbs (2009) observe that owing to the extensive literature on group work, lecturers searching for a succinct guide on how to facilitate this activity effectively would find it challenging to digest such a large corpus. We extensively reviewed the literature in order to produce a quick and accessible guide for lecturers to use. It is our aspiration that this could be referred to when planning and facilitating group work projects with insights and recommendations informed by our research. Moreover, as this work draws on publications from educators in a wide range of disciplines, we expect …


Gamification To Improve First Year Engagement, John Colleran, Aoife Lloyd Mckernan, Julie Ann Naughton, Brian Vaughan Jan 2016

Gamification To Improve First Year Engagement, John Colleran, Aoife Lloyd Mckernan, Julie Ann Naughton, Brian Vaughan

Practitioner Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to examine the role of Gamification in increasing first year student engagement within the third level educational setting. A literature review was carried out in order to explore the teaching philosophy behind gamification in education and review the quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding its use. Gamification can be broadly described as the application of gaming methods and elements in non-gaming contexts in order to improve user engagement and user experience (Deterding et al., 2011). Qualitative analysis suggests these factors result in beneficial emotional and social impacts on students, particularly in the area of increasing …


Exploring The Student Experience Of The Final Year Of A Professionally-Oriented Undergraduate Degree In Education Studies, Julie Uí Choistealbha, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice Jan 2016

Exploring The Student Experience Of The Final Year Of A Professionally-Oriented Undergraduate Degree In Education Studies, Julie Uí Choistealbha, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice

Articles

Within Higher Education there is growing expectations that graduates will enjoy smooth transitions into practice or further study and thus it is important to understand how higher education students’ experiences in university should be best organised and integrated to realise these purposes. This qualitative research study investigated the impact of the curriculum design of the final year on student experience, engagement and progression routes post-graduation in a new four year professionally-orientated degree for students in a BSc in Education Studies in an Irish education institution. This study involved 26 lecturers and 25 recent graduates from the programme. Students were required …