Digital Commons Network^™

Serious Games Integrated Framework: Keep Them In The Flow, Ayman Tobail, Amr Arisha

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

Serious games aim to improve the learner experience, allowing them to build knowledge and skills using untraditional learning tools. Supply chain management (SCM) and similar complex fields are promising areas for the adoption of such technology. Complex interrelated concepts and the difficulties faced by the student in understanding and managing the complete image of the field prompts teachers to search for alternative learning tools. This paper proposes an integrated simulation-based serious games framework and describes an implemented serious game called AuSuM (AUtomobile SUpply chain Management). The framework explains the required components and the relationships between them in order to improve …

Community-Based Learning: A Primer, Zeinab Bedri, Ruairí De Fréin, Geraldine Dowling

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

Employers are increasingly demanding graduates with industry-ready communication, leadership, emotional intelligence and social ethics skills. Community-based learning (CBL) is a pedagogical approach which has tremendous potential to produce graduates with these attributes. However, for many early-career lecturers, distilling the insights from the teaching and learning literature, and then producing a well-designed CBL module, can be an intimidating task. What is missing is a primer which presents the core ideas of CBL in a way that is independent of subject-specific jargon. Ideally, this primer should provide the reader with the means of either drafting an initial project plan or, at the …

A Comparison Of The Progression Of International Students To First Year Undergraduate Studies By Entry Route In An Irish Higher Education Institution: Part One - A Quantitative Study, Fiona Faulkner, Deirdre Ryan, Anne Hurley, Qi Wang

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

Increasing international student numbers in higher education institutions has long been an educational priority internationally due to the cultural, educational and economic benefits it brings (Ireland’s International Education Strategy, 2010). Little research however has been conducted in the area of varying entry routes to higher education by international students and the potential benefits/disadvantages if any of pursuing one entry route over another (Terraschke & Wahid, 2011). This research examines the first year undergraduate progression rates of international students in the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) in Ireland to determine if students who complete a one year International Foundation Programme (IFP) …

The Meet Project: Engaging Students In Pre-Departure Socialisation And Learning For Study Abroad, Catherine Spencer, Susana Olmos

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

This paper explores the aims, operation and outcomes of the MEET project (Maximise Erasmus Exchange Together), a project which commenced in the Department of Languages, DIT in the 2014/2015 academic year, and contributes to wider discussion on learning in study abroad (SA) contexts. The staff-led MEET initiative sought to engage students more effectively in their preparation for year abroad study and work placements. It brought together approximately twenty 20 students in second-year and fourth-year of BA (Hons) programmes in Languages and International Business or Tourism as well as Erasmus students from a variety of different programmes, who were studying at …

The Changing Role Of The University: A Discursive Analysis Of Good Teaching And Positioning Of Academics And Students In Improving The Quality Of Teaching And Learning In Europe’S Higher Education Institutions, Fiona Mcsweeney

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

Using the approach of critical discourse analysis this paper presents an examination of the notion of good teaching as constructed in the strategy document Improving the quality of teaching and learning in Europe’s higher education institutions. The aim is to draw attention to, and question how the language used in educational policy documents constructs particular meanings and purposes to concepts such as teaching and learning, as well as creating a particular version of the social relations within educational institutions. This in turn positions teachers and students in particular ways, constructing and limiting who they are and what they do. While …

The Impact On Assessment Results Of Changing To An Active Learning Approach: A Case Study From An Undergraduate Computer Science Degree Programme, Ciaran Cawley

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

This paper examines the impact of delivery and assessment changes in a module provided in the third year of a four-year undergraduate honours degree in computer science. It begins by outlining the initial structure of the module, and then discusses the rationale for alterations made to the hourly allocation of lectures versus hands-on laboratory classes, along with changes to the weightings of marks for written examination versus continuous assessment (CA). The paper next analyses the impact on student performance pre- and post-intervention and across the different assessment types, both written examination and CA project. Substantial effort was taken to ensure …

Investigation Of The Use Of An Authentic Learning Environment For Development Of Graduate Attributes In Third Year Chemistry Students, Aine M Whelan, Vanessa Murphy

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

This work describes the redesign of a Quality Assurance and Validation module for third year students in the School of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland. The module, which had been previously assessed by summative examination, was changed to a completely continuously assessed module. The students had to work in teams to complete a series of tasks, reflective of those performed in various regulated environments. The development of graduate attributes during the module was assessed by a survey instrument. Students from two class groups (2016 and 2017) were assessed on their perception of the development …

Writing With Purpose(S): A Reflection On Different Conceptions Of Academic Writing In Contemporary Higher Education, Ita Kennelly

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

Educational research literature presents three theoretical approaches for understanding academic writing. These are: writing as text, writing as process and writing as social practice. This paper explores these theoretical approaches and presents different ways to consider academic writing with the aim of sharing these ideas among the wider academic community, particularly novice academic writers who find the writing process challenging or unfulfilling. Exploring academic writing from these alternative perspectives is an opportunity to question and to reflect upon how and why we write.

Academic writing is first explored with a textual or product focus. It assesses some of the …