Education Commons^™

Numeracy-Meets: An Innovative Professional Development Model For Adult Numeracy Practitioners In Ireland, Mark Prendergast, Annette Forster, Niamh O'Meara, Kathy O'Sullivan, Fiona Faulkner

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Despite the clear and obvious need for adults to be proficient in numeracy, international studies suggest that many continue to struggle in this area. In Ireland, one of the main challenges continues to be the availability of effective adult numeracy education. This is a diverse sector, and little is known about the varied provision of adult numeracy courses and of those who teach on them. Recent research has highlighted an unmet demand for the professional development of adult numeracy practitioners with many looking for opportunities to network and further develop their practice. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate …

Understanding Professional Skills In Engineering Education: A Phenomenographic Study Of Faculty Conceptions, Una Beagon, Brian Bowe

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Abstract Background Globalization and socially complex problems will greatly affect the way engineers work in the future. Therefore, efforts to transform engineering education must focus on professional skills and engagement of faculty as key change agents.

Purpose/Hypotheses For engineering programs to address the needs of society, graduates must have the skills to tackle future challenges. Transformation will only be successful if faculty fully engage in all curriculum design aspects; however, little is known about how faculty view professional skills. This understanding is critical if we wish to support and encourage their participation in the transformation effort. This novel study reveals …

Discovering Child Sexual Abuse Material Creators’ Behaviors And Preferences On The Dark Web, Vuong Ngo, Rahul Gajula, Christina Thorpe, Susan Mckeever

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Background: Producing, distributing or discussing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) is often committed through the dark web in order to remain hidden from search engines and regular users. Additionally, on the dark web, the CSAM creators employ various techniques to avoid detection and conceal their activities. The large volume of CSAM on the dark web presents a global social problem and poses a significant challenge for helplines, hotlines and law enforcement agencies.

Objective: Identifying CSAM discussions on the dark web and uncovering associated metadata insights into characteristics, behaviours and motivation of CSAM creators.

Participants and Setting: We have conducted an …

Childminding Professionalism And Professionalisation In Ireland: A Different Story, Miriam O'Regan, Ann Marie Halpenny, Noirin Hayes

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This research focussed on documenting the praxis and paedagogy of paid, professional childminding (family childcare/day care) in Ireland. It explored professionalism and professionalisation among childminders in the context of the evolving understanding of professionalism in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) nationally and internationally. The research was conducted within the framework of Ecocultural Theory (ECT) on the eve of mandatory regulation of childminding against the backdrop of Irish ECEC policy. A mixed method approach was adopted, using the Ecocultural Family Interview for Childminders (EFICh), including participants’ photographs, case study surveys, researcher field notes and holistic ratings. We present findings related …

Opportunities And Barriers Faced By Early-Career Civil Engineers Enacting Global Responsibility, Shannon Chance, Inês Direito, John Mitchell

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The term ‘global responsibility’ projects a holistic sense of ethics, sustainability, and obligation. To achieve the long-term viability of human life on Earth, civil engineering must be conducted in increasingly responsible ways, and civil engineers must value and enact global responsibility in their work. Interviews conducted with nine civil engineers in London provide insight regarding engineers’ familiarity with the term, how they learned about it, what opportunities and barriers they face, and what might be done by professional and educational institutions to help them practice more responsibly. Results indicate: the term itself is novel but underlying concepts are not; continuing …

Analytics Capability In Marketing Education: A Practice-Informed Model, Justina Setkute, Simone Kurtzke Dr.

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As marketing continues to be transformed by technology and the explosion of big data, academic research has identified a significant need for analytics skills in marketing education. However, it is unclear whether current curriculum approaches to marketing analytics equip students with the skills employers need and prepare them effectively for data-driven marketing roles. This study identifies the knowledge and skills marketing graduates require for analytics practice to bridge the theory-practice gap and increase students’ employability. Our research reveals that a blend of knowledge, soft and technical skills is needed, and that the ability to communicate insights from data to stakeholders …

Thoughts On The Future Of Higher Education In The Uk: A Personal View With A Historical Context, Jonathan Blackledge

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Before the effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there had been continued debate about the future of Higher Education (HE) in the UK. It is now accepted that the effect of the pandemic will have a long-lasting effect on HE in the UK and elsewhere. This paper addresses the changes that are currently taking place, based on a strategy that aims to develop a future knowledge-based economy, following the UK governments 2019 landmark review of HE. It explores the underlying parallels between the current situation and certain historical events that catalysed the development of a new approach to HE in the …

Parents' Experiences Of A Language-Focused Home Visiting Scheme In Ireland, Aisling Ni Dhiorbhain Dr, Maire Mhic Mhathuna, Padraig Ó Duibhir Dr

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This article reports parents’ experiences of the Tús Maith (Good Start) home visiting scheme in South-West Ireland. The goal of Tús Maith is to support parents who wish to speak Irish to their children at home in the Kerry Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking heartland area. Home visitors spend an hour a week, over a period of six weeks, interacting with children and parents with varying levels of competency in Irish. Home visitors who are native speakers of Irish, offer individualised guidance on how to promote the use of Irish as a home language, while encouraging families to engage in activities …

Here You Have To Be Mixing: Collaborative Learning On An Engineering Program In Ireland As Experienced By A Group Of Young Middle Eastern Women, Shannon Chance, Bill Williams

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This research project uses grounded theory to analyze interviews conducted with eight women from Oman and Kuwait. Members of the sample group were studying together at an institute of technology in Dublin, Ireland. The paper reports patterns in 15 interviews collected in the years 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 to provide a longitudinal overview of the experience of the learners. During the coding process, three major themes emerged having to do with the experience of learning with others and/or learning in groups. The first theme involved communication within the group and the group's approaches to working together. The second identified …

What The Post-Coronavirus University Will Look Like, Thomas Power

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The opportunity of a crisis is that it forces an industry to re-examine its policies and practices. Since the coronavirus pandemic university leadership teams have been forced to re-examine its policies and practices on teaching, learning, research and funding.

Share Buybacks And Income Inequality, Thomas Power

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Should you care what companies do with their profits? Two U.S. democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders, in an article in the New York Times, argue that we should all care because what companies do with their profits can damage the economy and jobs.

An Examination Of The Role Of Spatial Ability In The Process Of Problem Solving In Chemical Engineering, Sheryl Sorby, Gavin Duffy, Norman Loney

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Engineers often communicate with one another through drawings or sketches and understanding technical information through graphical representations is a skill necessary for engineering practice. Well-developed spatial skills are known to be important to understanding technical drawings and are therefore, important to success in engineering. Unfortunately, of all cognitive processes, spatial skills show robust gender differences, favouring males, which could contribute to the underrepresentation of women in engineering. In this research, we administered a test of spatial cognition to students enrolled in a common 3rd year course in chemical engineering . In a second session, students were given a set of …

The Study Of Grit In Engineering Education Research: A Systematic Literature Review, Shannon Chance, Inês Direito, Manish Malik

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Researchontheroleofgrit–definedasbothperseveranceandpassionfor long-termgoals–onhumanperformancehasbeenconductedforthepast decade. It has been suggested that this non-cognitive factor is a better predictor of students’ retention than traditional academic measures. These findings hold relevance for engineering education research but studies on this area are still scarce. This paper provides a systematic review of the current state of research on grit and its correlates in engineering higher education research. Publications were identified using three types of databases specific to engineering education; a final set of 31 relevant records was analysed by type of population, methods, research topics and main results. Most of the reviewed studies implemented quantitative methodologies to …

An Introduction To Positive Sum Design, Ian Gonsher

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No abstract provided.

Developing Appropriate Educational Modules Aimed At Industry - An Example From Surveying At Masters Level, Audrey Martin

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This paper describes the process from inception to completion of developing academic modules appropriate for upgrading survey professionals engaged in the public sector. It focuses on one such module continuing professional development module in ‘Gravity and Height’ for National Mapping, developed by the Technological University Dublin Spatial Information Sciences Group for the National Mapping Agency, Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) and staff from similar organisations.

Positive Sum Design And The Economics Of Sharing, Ian Gonsher

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No abstract provided.

Double Or Nothing: Reflections On Bridge Design, Hillary Brown

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Post Critical Again, Charlie Cannon

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Introduction To Making Futures, Pelle Ehn

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Beyond Design Thinking, Ian Gonsher

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Dit-Topcon Internship Experience, Audrey Martin, Abigail Iversen

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The Technological University Dublin (DIT: http://www.dit.ie/) is one of the largest Higher Education Institutes in Ireland, with 20,000 students registered and over 2000 members of staff. It has been providing technological higher education for over one hundred and twenty years encompassing the full spectrum of Third Level programmes. During that time the Institute's alumni have played important roles in technical and scientific innovation, economic and social development and culture and education both in Ireland and internationally.

The CEO of Topcon Positioning Systems Inc., Ray O’Connor is a DIT School of Surveying alumnus and in October 2013 Ray visited his …

What Makes A Technology Appropriate?, Barrett Hazeltine

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No abstract provided.

A Company Town, Daniel Peltz, Sheridan Coleman

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No abstract provided.

Matafunctional/Metafictional Objects, Paolo Cardini

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Urban Eden, Anne Tate

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Design For Transitions - From And To What?, Cameron Tonkinwise

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Critical Design And The Critical Social Sciences, Damian White

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On Creative Dialectics, Ian Gonsher

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No abstract provided.

The Literature Of Political Things And Places: Reading And Writing Design, Susan Yelavich

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No abstract provided.

Phenomenology And Hermeneutic Phenomenology: The Philosophy, The Methodologies And Using Hermeneutic Phenomenology To Investigate Lecturers' Experiences Of Curriculum Design, Arthur Sloan, Brian Bowe

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This article investigates the philosophy of phenomenology, continuing to examine and describe it as a methodology. There are different methods of phenomenology, divided by their different perspectives of what phenomenology is: largely grouped into the two types of descriptive and interpretive phenomenology. The focal methodology is hermeneutic phenomenology – one type of phenomenological methodology among interpretive phenomenological methodologies. The context for phenomenology and the location of hermeneutic phenomenology is explained through its historic antecedents. When using phenomenology as a methodology there are criteria for data gathering and data analysis and examples of these are cited in this paper. Also in …