Education Commons^™

Irish Plan Offers European Roadmap To Improve Teaching, Roisin Donnelly, T. Maguire

Articles

How do you improve teaching quality in higher education? It’s a question that is never too far from the headlines as students, parents and politicians demand more from universities. Publishing more data appears to be the UK’s favoured approach in recent times, with the introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework adding to other data sets available on student satisfaction and graduate employment rates. Tougher regulation, more student participation in curriculum design or asking industry to step into the classroom are a few other approaches tried in some quarters.

Case Study: When It Goes Wrong, How Do I Know I Am An Excellent Teacher, (Just Having A Bad Day)?, Roisin Donnelly

Other resources

We all doubt ourselves at times, and we all have bad days in the classroom! Being an excellent teacher is a challenge to achieve consistently, made more difficult by trying to measure how we as teachers make decisions in the classroom, and what impact those decisions have on what and how our students learn. This case study is offered from the perspective of an academic developer, working as a ‘third space’ professional (Whitchurch, 2008), and as a facilitator of discussions about excellent teaching in higher education on DIT’s teaching qualification – the Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level learning and Teaching.

Social Care Graduates’ Judgements Of Their Readiness And Preparedness For Practice, Fiona Mcsweeney, David Williams

Articles

While research has been conducted on social work graduates’ views of their readiness and preparedness for practice, the views of social care workers have not been specifically researched. This paper reports on the views of social care graduates in Ireland of how ready they are to join the workforce and how their educational programme has prepared them. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the same participants. The first was at the end of their final year in college and the second between 9 and 12 months later when they were in employment. Findings indicate that participants, while apprehensive, felt ready …

The Impact Of The Professional Development Framework On Dit’S Information Literacy Programme, Allison Kavanagh

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter presents a case study of the influence engaging with the Professional Development Framework (PDF) has had on the Information Literacy (IL) programme in a Library of the Technological University Dublin (DIT), since 1 January 2019 the City Campus of Technological University Dublin. The PDF was developed by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. For over a decade (2008-2018), a team of DIT library staff has used a ‘menu’ of one-hour classes to deliver its IL programme in a standardised way. Participation by some team members in L2L (Librarians Learning to Support …

Active Learning Strategies For Higher Education: The Practical Handbook, Centre For Higher Education Research, Policy And Practice, Shaun Ferns, Nicola Duffy

Books

The manual itself is based on a sound method that the Educator can easily deploy. This is made up of easy stages for each activity which they and their students can embrace. This student-centred pedagogical approach allows learners to build their understanding while also taking responsibility for their own learning where the educator acts in a facilitator or enabler role. This active, enquiry-based approach is at the heart of what Durham College, UOIT and TU Dublin endeavour to provide to students as it can be applied to diverse problems and contexts within their educational journey and across disciplines. It also …

Open Practices In Academic Professional Development Programmes, Roisin Donnelly, Pauline Rooney, Claire M. Mcdonnell, Muireann O’Keeffe

Conference papers

In this reflective practice work, we will examine critically the process of evaluating and redesigning academic professional development programmes through the lens of open educational practices and resources. For over 15 years, the DIT’s Learning Teaching and Technology Centre (LTTC) has offered a suite of accredited postgraduate programmes and modules for staff. Demand for these programmes and modules has increased since 2013 with 187 participants graduating and a further 221 completing modules for continuing professional development (CPD). DIT was the first higher education institution (HEI) in Ireland to state a requirement that newly appointed lecturers complete a postgraduate qualification in …

Developing Data Literacy For Data Enabled Student Success, Pauline Rooney, Geraldine Gray, Phelim Murnion, James Doody, K.C. O'Rourke, Catherine Deegan, Gordon Cooke, Carina Ginty

Other resources

Tapping in to the potential benefits of learning analytics requires staff and students in higher education to be proficient in data literacy. This poster reports on a project to review and identify professional development needs for learning analytics, with an emphasis on the effective use of learning data to promote student success.

We report on the development of an evidence based strategy and implementation plan that addresses the skills gaps and professional development requirements of students and higher education staff who teach or lead teaching and learning enhancement. The outputs will enable upskilling of staff and also facilitate students to …