Education Commons^™

Using Technology To Support Project And Problem-Based Learning, Roisin Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter is aimed at supporting lecturers in universities and colleges who have begun or are considering introducing project or problem-based learning (PBL) for students’ learning. In order to keep up with rapid change and make the most of learning technologies as aids to both learning strategies, a range of practical insights based on research will be provided in sections, supplemented with a variety of examples of learning technology being infused into both strategies. The range provided are by no means exhaustive, and you may know of many more examples yourself. It is unlikely that any one student would experience …

Investigating The Effectiveness Of Teaching 'Online Learning' In A Problem-Based Learning Online Environment., Roisin Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter reports on the evaluation and subsequent re-design of an e-learning module that utilised a problem-based pedagogy. The module was a component of a Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching for lecturers from a range of higher education institutions in the Republic of Ireland. The online delivery took the form of using a range of electronic resources and online asynchronous and synchronous discussion to solve a problem-based learning scenario. In designing the original module I had envisaged that the key to the module participants’ success would be to collaborate online and share valuable information with colleagues from …

Improving Student Learning Through Theme Based Curriculum Design And Team Teaching: An Action Research Study, Brenda Dermody

Theses

This study is concerned with improving the design and delivery of the curriculum on a four year BA in Design Visual Communication programme in the Technologicl University Dublin. The study examines how aspects of curriculum design and delivery affect some of the key stakeholders - the students and academic staff – involved in the programme. It looks at how the design and delivery of the curriculum can be improved with a view to achieving two main aims. The first aim is to promote a deep approach to learning among visual communication students. The second aim is to promote a deep …

Learning Theories And Higher Education, Francis Ashworth, Gabriel Brennan, Kathy Egan, Ron Hamilton, Olalla Sáenz

Level 3

This paper offers a number of materials and resources which may be used as teaching aids for introduction-level courses in learning theories, especially those in higher education. The materials were developed during our participation in a postgraduate diploma module on the psychology of learning and learning theories in 2004, as part of the diploma in third-level learning and teaching at the DIT Learning and Teaching Centre.

The materials include:

• three timeline diagrams illustrating the development of learning theories which locate key thinkers and key ideas in their historic and socio-political contexts
• three summary diagrams of behaviourist, humanist and social learning …

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

Articles

No abstract provided.

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

Level 3

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. There is now, however, a growing interest in the study of learning as situated in a specific time, place and social activity – as ‘situated learning’ – and to view the locus of learning not as in the brain of the single individual (person-solo) but as ‘distributed’ among person, language, artefacts, activities and environment (person-plus) (see Lave and Wenger, 1999; …

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

Articles

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.