Education Commons^™

Phenomenological Study Of Postgraduate Researchers' Experiences Of Nanoscience And Nanotechnology Research, Deepa Chari, Paul Irving, Robert Howard, Brian Bowe

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Over the past few decades, scientific disciplines have changed significantly with the introduction of new and complex aspects of interdisciplinary research, particularly in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology (N&N). The current attempts to develop science education programmes in N&N area to adopt these complex changes however are mainly focussed towards the core scientific knowledge, and, not much attention has been paid to identify the attributes knowledge, skills and competences necessary to successfully undertake N&N research. Identification of these attributes is important so that the core scientific knowledge can be embedded in the curricula more effectively. Also, to work successfully …

Identifying The Knowledge, Skills And Competences For Nanoscience And Nanotechnology Research, Deepa Nathamuni Chari, Robert Howard, Brian Bowe

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Nanoscience and nanotechnology research has influenced the research activities in various scientific disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, molecular biology and biotechnology. The postgraduate researchers working on nanoscience and nanotechnology related research projects in any of these scientific disciplines experience the world of nanoscience and nanotechnology research closely. The examinations of the postgraduate researchers’ lived experiences can certainly unfold the characteristics of nanoscience research as experienced by the researchers themselves and can further illuminate the knowledge, skills and competences required to successfully undertake this research.

Who Benefits From Early Childcare Subsidy Design In Ireland?, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

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Best Newcomer Article

The design of policy tools reveals underlying biases that are not easily identified in policy documents. A review of two early childhood education and care subsidies in Ireland aimed at different target populations exposes differential treatment of children, parents and service providers. It also demonstrates how in a split system ‘early education’ is prioritised over ‘childcare’. The designs serve to reinforce stereotypes that enable the powerful and advantaged to accrue benefits while those perceived to be less deserving are burdened through the maldistribution of resources.

Building A World-Class System In Ireland’S Financial Crisis, Ellen Hazelkorn

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Irish higher education faces particular difficulties given the severity of its economic crisis. Like other countries, it is engaged in significant system restructuring coupled with managed policy direction. Where Ireland does differ is in its emphasis on a 'whole of country strategy' and commitment that teaching and research go hand-in-hand. This paper looks at the fortunes and mis-fortunes of Irish higher education.

Can The Use Of Clickers Or Continous Assessment Motivate Critical Thinking?: A Case Study Based On Corporate Finance Students, Lucia Morales

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This study explores the use of clickers as a tool to support, encourage and motivate critical thinking in higher education students. A case study was carried out with a cohort of undergraduate students undertaking the BSc. in Accounting and Finance during the academic year 2009/10, were corporate finance was a major component. Since the students in this sample had previously demonstrated passivity during their corporate finance classes, it was proposed that clickers would help motivate them to participate during face to face sessions. Previous research on the use of clickers shows evidence that this tool has a positive effect on …

An Evaluation Of The Community Childcare Subvention Scheme Using Policy Design Theory, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes

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This paper utilises Policy Design Theory to evaluate policy tool design and selection in Ireland in order to look beyond policy goals and rhetoric to the meanings and assumptions within policy design. A review of the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS) reveals it to be an ‘incentive’ tool that is structured around a negative social construction of the target populations as ‘dependants’ with little capacity to solve their own problems. While immediate policy objectives are met through the design of the CCSS, if viewed in a wider context of overall national policy objectives a range of negative side-effects are evident …

Tracking The Use Of Leed® In Facilities For Higher Education, Shannon Chance

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America’s 4391 institutions of higher learning own roughly 240,000 buildings according to The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2009) and the United States Green Building Council [USGBC] (n.d.). Most of these buildings’ designs reflect a time when energy was cheap and material abundant. Throughout the past century, building designs frequently ignored their surroundings, usurped energy at appalling rates, and did little to teach inhabitants respect for the environment

Geolearn - Multi-Media Resources, Audrey Martin

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This paper examines the potential of pedagogically designed video demonstrations in supporting the learning requirements of students in the Spatial Information Sciences (DSIS). Currently, over three hundred full and part-time students in the College of Engineering and Built Environment undertake a module in Land Surveying each semester and although these students range in discipline and academic level (NQAI 6 - 8), they all share a need for basic information and instruction in the area of practical land-surveying techniques. To accommodate this highly practical subject area, fifty per cent of contact time is normally dedicated to group-based field exercises, the results …

Whats Wrong With Higher Education Policy?, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

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

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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 …

Rankings: Does What Gets Counted Get Done?, Ellen Hazelkorn

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Much of the debate around rankings has focused on methodological problems—which indicators and weightings, the credibility of the statistical process, and why (or why not) inconsistencies arise. There are also complaints about the overreliance on research rather than teaching. Yet, there has been little commentary about the increasing use of quantitative methodologies to drive decision making at the national or institutional level—what I call policymaking by numbers. The same issues arise about performance indicators, in general.
Have rankings accelerated this trend? And, because indicators incentivize
behavior, are we measuring what counts or are we doing what gets measured—a classic case …

The Role Of The Pbl Tutor Within Blended Academic Development, Roisin Donnelly

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The central idea of this study is using blended problem-based learning (PBL) in an academic development context with key roles emphasised: academic staff in the role of students and the academic developer as the tutor. The context is a module entitled „Designing eLearning‟ on a postgraduate programme for academic staff in Ireland. It is acknowledged that an e-learning literature exists that calls for more effective use of technology. Part of that exploration of e-learning value requires a refocusing on pedagogy. Increasingly PBL is one of the pedagogies associated with the learning technologies available to educators today. Data was collected from …

Towards Productive Reflective Practice In Microteaching, Roisin Donnelly, Marian Fitzmaurice

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This paper details a small-scale, research study into lecturers‟ perceived impact of microteaching within a postgraduate certificate in teaching in higher education in Ireland. Participants engage on the programme for a range of reasons: to broaden expertise and knowledge beyond the disciplinary boundaries within which they primarily operate; to build on and develop their scholarly profiles; and to reflect on their teaching experience to date. Participation in microteaching has provided a sense of validation for much of what these lecturers do and how they do it, which has resulted in ongoing critical reflection and peer discussion. Although initially giving rise …

Exploring Lecturers Self Perception Of Change In Teaching Habits, Roisin Donnelly

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No abstract provided.

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

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

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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 …