Education Commons^™

Institutional Mission Vs. Policy Constraint?: Unlocking Potential, Ellen Hazelkorn

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The research-intensive and competitive knowledge society is putting HEIs (higher education institutions) under the spotlight. While many HEIs around the world do not proclaim or wish to be research-intensive institutions the majority desire to intensify their research activity because it is seen as a sine qua non of higher education. Accordingly, HEIs are busy making critical strategic choices concerning human resources, the research environment, the teaching-research nexus, organisational and management structure, and funding. Governments are also making choices, using policies and financial instruments to help shape institutional mission, priorities and HE systems. But if governments genuinely desire to widen access …

Drama In The Docklands, Mary Moynihan

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An article by Mary Moynihan in IN2 Magazine, issue number seven, Winter 2005, on Drama in the Docklands, a project run by Smashing Times Theatre Company that promotes access to creativity in the docklands area of Dublin, bringing drama into two primary schools - St Joseph's Primary School, East Wall and City Quay Primary School, City Quay. The article documents the project and the year-end show by children at Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College, Dublin.

Where Does Ap(E)L Fit In Higher Education?, Anne Murphy

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On an EU policy level the paper acknowledges the impact on thinking about AP(E)L as a result of the agreement of common European principles for validation of non-formal and in-formal learning in 2004 at the Dublin Conference during Ireland’s presidency of the EU (note 1).This conference also addressed the possible areas of agreement across vocational education and training (VET) and higher education (HE) on contiguous issues such as a common European Qualification Framework, common arrangements for credit transfer and common arrangements for quality assurance. Additionally, the paper is written contemporaneously with the introduction of such mechanisms as the Europass, European …

Cooking Online: Investigating The Effectiveness Of Providing Online Support Material To Students On A Professional Cookery Apprenticeship Course, Nuala Harding

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Having worked as a lecturer for five years, I was given the opportunity to undertake the postgraduate diploma in third-level learning and teaching at the Technological University Dublin. The elective I chose as part of this course was online learning. The requirement to compile a reflective journal during the module has provided the catalyst for me to write this paper. This Paper describes work in progress for proposed research within the Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Studies in Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT). The purpose of this research is to investigate the feasibility of providing and the effectiveness of …

They Don't Really Want To Know Us: Experiences And Perceptions Of International Students At The Technological University Dublin, Almut Schlepper

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This paper seeks to explore the experiences and perceptions of international, non-EU students at the Technological University Dublin. My interest in the subject derives from my work as a lecturer at a college with an increasing number of international students and from my participation as a student on a course which made me appreciate the value of a diverse student and lecturer body. The sample of the survey I carried out included international students and lecturers at one campus of the Technological University Dublin. While the results indicated that international students are just as heterogeneous as Irish students, they are …

Tradition Versus Technology: Careers Fairs In The 21st Century, Christiane Brennan, Margaret Daly, Eileen Fitzpatrick, Edward Sweeney

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The traditional methods of graduate recruitment do not adequately meet the needs of the changing profile of students and graduates. As industry becomes internationalized, the needs of employers are also changing. Graduate recruitment is in response to short term needs and varying levels of experience are required. A case study method was used in Technological University Dublin to evaluate effectiveness of a virtual careers fair in providing greater access to job opportunities for students and graduates. Access by employers to potential employees was also measured. Findings showed that while access improved, other issues requiring attention emerged.

Fostering Of Creativity Within An Imaginative Curriculum In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly

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Psychology is frequently used as a foundation discipline in the training of adult educators because it addresses those questions which naturally emerge from an engagement with adult learning and teaching (Tennant, 1997). The professional context which forms the focus of this article is no different. By providing academic support for lecturers in a higher education institution in Ireland, there is a desire to develop a sustainable curriculum model whereby by working with them on designing and developing creative curricula in their various subject disciplines in the arts and sciences they, in turn, pass the benefits of this on to their …

Online Learning In Teacher Education: Enhanced With A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Roisin Donnelly

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This paper describes research undertaken by an academic tutor in a Learning and Teaching Center (LTC) on the design of a module on Online Learning on a Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching. The LTC supports academic staff (Faculty) at the Technological University Dublin in learning, teaching and assessment activities, including integrating learning technologies. This work is supplemented by increasing awareness of current national and international research and strategies related to learning and teaching in higher education. The goal of the LTC is to offer resources, consultation, and a forum for discussion to help academic staff provide a …

Critical Evaluation Of The Impact Of Global Educational Reform: An Irish Perspective, Roisin Donnelly

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Global trends in the new public management of education have manifested themselves differently in different countries. Its manifestation, the significant issue that this paper addresses, is whether it has led to any changes in education in the third level sector in the Republic of Ireland in the last ten years. This will be achieved through a critical exploration of the expression of higher educational reform worldwide, and a review of its impact on Higher Education (HE) in Ireland. Within this, there are a number of specific objectives: - to discuss the context of higher education (including policy issues and stakeholders) …

Architectural Registration And It's Diversity Vortex., Shannon Chance

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Architects: take a serious look at your demographics. While other professions are making strides to represent the diversity of America's population, yours lags markedly behind. Most U.S. architecture schools began admitting women and minorities between 1965 and 1972, but many who completed architecture degrees in the interim haven't yet received professional licensure. The ranks of licensed architects remain mainly white and mainly male, which denies society fair representation in shaping the built environment. Consider that African-American females comprise roughly 7% of the U.S. population but less than 0.2% of licensed architects; they've achieved proportionally higher success in law, medicine, and …

Information Literacy Programmes And Course Curricula: The Case For Integration, Anne Ambrose, Brian Gillespie

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The advent of the Internet and the profusion, complexity and haphazard nature of the information available through electronic and digital resources has highlighted the issue of information literacy in third level institutions worldwide. How do we deal with the information explosion to which we are subjected on a daily basis? In particular how do our students learn to exploit the range of resources available to advance their studies and research? Can these students become fully independent learners as proposed by the new teaching and learning methodologies without the necessary foundation skills? The authors argue, based on international standards and benchmarking …

Towards The Promotion Of Effective E-Learning Practice For Academic Staff Development In Dit, Roisin Donnelly, Frances O'Brien

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Despite the many challenges facing educators today, as well as the array of teaching paradigms on offere, the principal goals of higher education remain the same.

Situated Learning, Distributed Cognition: Do Academics Really Need To Know?, Anne Murphy

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The dominant approach to the study of learning throughout most of the twentieth century was to view learning as cognitive only, as if it were a process contained in the mind of the learner, decontextualised from the lived-in world

Mature Students - An Examination Of Dit’S Policy And Practice, Dáire Mag Cuill

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This paper examines the current position of mature students in the Technological University Dublin, the largest third-level institute in Ireland. It also deals with the treatment of mature applicants, and the position of mature students in the Republic of Ireland in general. The focus of the paper is on equity issues, and in all discussions of equity the underpinning principle is equality of opportunity. Where places on a third-level course are limited, for example, all applicants must be treated equally and the places allocated in a ‘fair’ manner. This does not mean that one cannot discriminate in the true sense …

Dit And Student Retention, Frank Costello

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No abstract provided.

Experimental Energy Performance Of Open Cooling Towers Used Under Low And Variable Approach Conditions For Indirect Evaporative Cooling Of Buildings, Ben Costelloe, Donal Finn

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The success of chilled ceilings and displacement ventilation systems as a means of sensible cooling in buildings has prompted a review of evaporative cooling technology as an effective means of generating the required cooling water. When such cooling water is generated at low approach conditions (2–5 K), at the higher temperatures required in these systems (14–18°C), very high levels of availability result. In many north western European locations the levels of availability are such that the prospect of supplanting rather than simply supplementing the refrigeration system, for sensible cooling purposes, arises. The viability of the technique, however, largely depends on …

Using Problem-Based Learning To Explore Qualitative Research, Roisin Donnelly

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The aim of this article is to discuss an approach to deliver a component on qualitative research on a research methods module in a postgraduate diploma in third level learning and teaching using problem-based learning (PBL). The Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching is on offer to a variety of academic staff (lecturers) in higher education at a higher education institute in Ireland, hereafter referred to as participants. The 10-week Research Methods module is one of eight offered on the Postgraduate Diploma, all designed and delivered using the pedagogic strategy of PBL. The entire Postgraduate Diploma is voluntary, and …

Researching And Acting: Exploring And Improving The Provision Of Academic Support For Newly Appointed Staff In A Higher Education Institution In Ireland, Roisin Donnelly

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As an academic working for the past three years in a learning and teaching centre in a higher education institution inIreland, I have only recently asked myself if I have been living in the direction of my educational values (Whitehead, 1989). These are my ideas about what constitutes an educationally worthwhile process of teaching and learning by defining the relationship between knowledge, teachers and learners.

My professional role involves the provision of academic support for newly appointed staff at the Institute. I felt there was a discrepancy between what I felt should be happening for these new staff members and …

Integrating The Use Of Teaching Portfolios With Experiential Learning In A Postgraduate Certificate For Academic Staff In Third Level Learning And Teaching, Roisin Donnelly

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No abstract provided.

Sharing Systems, Sharing Language: Designing And Working In A Virtual Department, Claire Mcavinia, Jane Hughes

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Less widely taught languages present special problems. Often students may be ab initio learners who must progress very rapidly from beginner to highly competent. Appropriate learning materials are scarce. Small student numbers restrict the range of learner tasks. To address these problems, and drawing on research methods from both CALL and Computer Science domains, we investigated the use of a virtual learning environment (WebCT) as a tool for collaborative language teaching and learning. A web-based virtual department was created, bringing students and tutors from different institutions together to practise the target language (students) and share the development of quality resources …

Indirect Evaporative Cooling Potential In Air-Water Systems In Temperate Climates, Ben Costelloe, Donal Finn

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Recent developments have prompted a review of evaporative cooling technology as an effective means of cooling modern deep plan buildings. Prominent among these developments is the success of high temperature sensible cooling systems, particularly, chilled ceilings, which require a supply of cooling water at 14–18 °C. Crucial to the success of evaporative cooling technology, as a significant means of cooling in modern applications, is the ability to generate cooling water, in an indirect circuit, at a temperature which closely approaches the ambient adiabatic saturation temperature (AST) or wet bulb temperature (WBT). Recent experimental research has demonstrated that it is technically …

Key Skills By Design: Adapting A Central Web Resource To The Departmental Context, Claire Mcavinia

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Web-­based delivery of support materials for students has proved to be a popular way of helping small teams to implement key skills policies within universities. The development of ‘key’ or ‘transferable’ skills is now encouraged throughout education, but resources (both in terms of staffing and budget) tend to be limited. It is difficult for key skills teams to see learners face to face, and not feasible to print or distribute large amounts of paper­-based material. Web-­based delivery presents a means of overcoming these problems but it can result in generic study skills material simply being published online without due consideration …

Using A Toolkit To Support Practioner Evaluation, Jen Harvey, Grainne Conole, Ed Crew, Martin Oliver

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No abstract provided.

What Does 'Impact' Mean In The Evaluation Of Learning Technology, Jen Harvey, Martin Oliver

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Whilst many projects in Higher Education are expected to demonstrate their impact, quite what this requirement means is often left unspecified. This paper draws on the experiences of the EFFECTS project in an attempt to illuminate this issue. The EFFECTS evaluation framework is used to structure this discussion, which explores the complexities associated with identifying impact in terms of student learning, changes in practice for academics, changes within an organisation and national development. Common themes arising from these areas are then identified.

Continuing Education In Irish Higher Education: A New Era Ahead, Frank Mcmahon

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No abstract provided.

Planning And Developing An Interactive Computerised Tutorial For Learning In Higher Education., Roisin Donnelly, Michael Gorman

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This paper describes how a researcher-lecturer in higher education attempted to identify, in her course, the constraints within which the teaching was required to operate. To better understand this particular problem area in her professional practice, it was necessary to take the student voice seriously and to suggest a possible solution to the problem. It appeared that the 'Information Technology' module on a specific postgraduate course was particularly unattractive to the postgraduate students required to take it. The solution proposed was to develop and introduce into the module a form of innovation in course development, namely a Computer Assisted Learning …

The Planning And Development Of An Interactive Computerized Information Technology Tutor For Postgraduate Students, Roisin Donnelly, Garry Patterson

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This paper describes the design and implementation of a computer‐assisted learning tool to support the learning environment provided for postgraduate students following courses in Information Technology. The tool is called ‘ICITT’ — an acronym for Interactive Computerized Information Technology Tutor. The paper presents the unique aspects of this tool and the overall educational benefits of the system are briefly discussed.

An Interactive Computerised Assessment System., Roisin Donnelly

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No abstract provided.