Education Commons^™

Final Report Unesco-Unevoc International Experts Seminar, Dublin, Aidan Kenny

Conference Papers

UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) UNEVOC National Centre Ireland jointly organised an International Expert’s Consultation seminar from 18 to 20 August, 2008 at DIT Aungier Street Campus, in Dublin, Ireland. Since DIT joined the UNEVOC Network in early 2007, Mr. Aidan Kenny, co-ordinator of the National UNEVOC Centre Ireland and Dr. L. Efison Munjanganja, Head, UNEVOC Networks had in conversations and in correspondence been keen about the idea of a consultative seminar on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and capacity building in the UNEVOC Network. Central to the idea was the stimulation of …

The Global Obsession With Rankings: How Should Ireland Respond?, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

Globalisation And Challenges For Higher Education, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

The Global Labour Market And Graduate Employability: Challenges For Higher Education, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

The Emperor Has No Clothes?: Rankings And The Shift From Qa To World-Class Excellence, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

Challenges Facing Professionals In The Hospitality Industry, Frank Mcmahon

Conference papers

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Global Rankings On Higher Education Research, Ellen Hazelkorn

Other resources

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Assessment And Learning Strategies For A Logistics Undergraduate Education Programme, Margaret Farrell

Conference Papers

It is recognised that in today’s global competitive marketplace, where outsourcing continues to grow at an exponential rate, Logistics and Supply Chain Management (SCM) have grown in importance [1]. Research suggests that as logistics moves from being viewed as a stand alone discipline to one viewed as integrating the management of supply, the duties, managerial skills and knowledge of the Professional Logistician have changed [2] [3] . The challenge for logistics educators is to design and develop curricula, learning, teaching and assessment strategies that can support wide-ranging and integrative learning objectives. Research also states that universal logistics management skills must …

Dublin 7., Irish Independent Newspaper

Media

Proximity to the new DIT campus at Grangegorman is one of the principal attractions of a new development which goes on view for the first time tomorrow between 2-4pm.

Missed Opportunities For Children?:An Exploration Of The Impact Of New Funding Mechanisms For Early Childhood Education And Care (Ecec) In Ireland, Bernie O'Donoghue Hynes, Noirin Hayes, Siobhan Bradley

Articles

This presentation begins with a review of the overall funding structure for early childhood education and care in Ireland. It moves on to look in detail at the impact of the changes to the social inclusion funding measures. It concludes with a review of the reaction of various Irish stakeholders to these changes that have resulted in a 'missed opportunities for children'.

Supporting Children's Participation In Second Language Stories In An Irish Language Preschool, Maire Mhic Mhathuna

Articles

This paper considers how children learning a second language were supported as active participants during storytelling sessions in an Irish-language immersion preschool in Dublin. Audio-recordings and observations were made of the story sessions once a fortnight over a period of six months. The resulting transcripts were analysed from an interactionist perspective, recognising both the cognitive and social aspects of the process. The staff were also interviewed and a questionnaire was completed by the parents. The analysis showed that the practitioners provided support for the children through dynamic repeated readings of target books, scaffolded interactions, sufficient experience of storybook reading and …

Hidden River Will Flow In The Open After 200 Years, Paul Melia

Media

DUBLIN City Council plans to 'open' an underground river flowing through DIT's Grangegorman campus, which will act as a storage device for flood waters.

Preparation & Accreditation Of Level 7 Engineering Programmes, Mark Mcgrath

Conference Papers

Accreditation of 3rd level educational programmes by a suitably recognised professional body is of particular relevance in relation to engineering. The completion of a sequence of modules which leads to the attainment of this professionally recognised award is viewed as integral to the undertaking. The engineering technology fields are developing and expanding rapidly and the third level sector must keep abreast of these changes. This is essential if the third level institutions wish to continue delivering programmes which produce graduates who can successfully complete the transition from 3rd level to the various engineering sectors. This paper outlines various aspects of …

Impact Of University Rankings: Global Excellence Vs. Local Engagement, Ellen Hazelkorn

Other resources

Globalisation is helping to create a ‘single world market’ in higher education (Marginson, 2006). A feature of this process is the emergence of global university rankings which have taken the practice of accountability, quality assurance and benchmarking to a worldwide level. Today, the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times QS Ranking of World Universities are used by governments and HEIs as a measurement of competitiveness and reputation. An internationalist strategy is imperative not only for governments, but also globally-facing and regionally-focused HEIs. No one is immune. Many HEIs are using rankings to help define targets …

Rankings And The Battle For World-Class Excellence: Institutional Strategies And Policy Choices, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

University Research Management - Developing Research In New Institutions, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

Real-World Process Design For Mechanical Engineering Students: A Case Study Of Pbl In Dit, Kevin Delaney, John D. Kelleher

Conference Papers

Engineering education deals primarily with calculating quantitative performance of engineering objects, such as machines, circuits or dams, and with designing variations of these objects. However when engineering graduates enter the workforce they must be able to do a great deal more than solve the technical problems taught in engineering school [1]. More specifically they will need to deal with a great range of problems some of which are not technical engineering problems at all. Examples of such problems include working as part of a larger group, project management, negotiation, component sourcing and an awareness of the multi-disciplinary nature of engineering. …

The Unevoc National Centre Ireland (Unci) A Case Study: Description, Reflections And Opportunities, Aidan Kenny

Conference Papers

In this paper I adopt and merge elements from both Yin (2005) ‘Case Study Method’, and Guba and Lincoln (1989) ‘Fourth Generation Evaluation’ to provide the reader with some background information, insights and future directions of the recently established UNEVOC National Centre Ireland. This is presented in three separate sections; Section 1, Descriptions, provides details on the background of the Technological University Dublin, locates the emergence of the UNESCO-UNEVOC agenda in DIT, and DIT’s appointment as the UNEVOC National Centre Ireland. Section 2, Reflections, details the work of the National UNEVOC Centre Ireland during the period 2006-2008. I note some …

Entrepreneurship Education In The Third-Level Sector In Ireland, Thomas Cooney, Trudie Murray

Reports

Entrepreneurship education is now a key part of the tertiary-level educatin landscape in many countries around the globe. Institutions are creating the type of learning environments that are conducive to encouraging and supporting student enterprise and graduate entrepreneurship. Going byond notions of employability, entrepreneurship capacities enable graduates to create their own futures, exploit the opportunities that emerge in their complex and unpredicatable worlds, and better contribute to economic development and well-being. This report demonstrates that Ireland is no exception. The evidence presented illustrates that there is no shortage of entrepreneurial activity across the island. Institutions are spreading provision outside of …

Programme Oriented And Institutional Oriented Approaches To Quality Assurance: New Developments And Mixed Approaches, Deirdre Lillis, Tara Ryan

Articles

This paper considers the programme validation arrangements in place in one half of the Irish higher education sector. It outlines how responsibility for programme validation can be safely delegated to Institutions within a robust overarching framework for quality assurance. It compares programme validation in Institutions with self awarding status with Institutions that have their programmes validated by a national Awarding agency. The paper concludes that when programme validation in Ireland and (potentially) across Europe is examined more closely, processes that appear to be very different on the surface can be quite similar in reality. From a philosophical perspective it appears …

The Production Of High-Quality Video For E-Learning, Eugene Mcgovern, Audrey Martin, Roy Moore

Articles

As video capture, editing and transmission capabilities become more accessible, video is increasingly being considered when developing e-learning content. However, the skills required for video production are not commonly part of many e-learning developers backgrounds. This paper presents the experiences of academics from the spatial information sciences when developing high quality video content for an on-line e-learning module in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Video comprises one element of the module and is designed to, as far as possible, address the lack of ‘hands-on’ experience of GNSS equipment and observing procedures. The video element of the module was used by …

The Application Of Web 2.0 Technologies As An Experimental Method Of Teaching Remote Sensing At Dit, Ireland, Avril Behan

Conference Papers

This paper describes the implementation of an experimental method of delivery for a module of remote sensing material to second year students on the BSc (Hons) in Geomatics at the Dublin Institute of Technology. The project began as a reaction to poor levels of student engagement and unsatisfactory grades, as well as the requirement to focus more on real-world type problems due to the implementation of a work-placement semester for third year students. Both pedagogical considerations (movement towards formative feedback, interactivity and group-based work) and the effect of technological drivers, such as the popularity of the internet in general and …

Are Rankings Reshaping Higher Education?, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

Rising Popularity Of Rankings, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

University rankings are creating a furore wherever or whenever they are published or mentioned. Politicians regularly refer to them as a measure of their nation’s virility or aspirations, universities use them to help set or define targets mapping their performance against the various metrics, while academics use rankings to bolster their own professional reputation and status. Despite their relatively short lifespan and mounting criticism of the methodologies employed, rankings have become a permanent feature of higher education in a growing number of countries around the world. Today, over 33 countries have some form of ranking system, operated by, interalia, government …

Discourse Analysis As An Approach To Intercultural Competence In The Advanced Efl Classroom, Sue Norton

Articles

In 1991 Michael McCarthy wrote in his Preface to Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers that discourse analysis is ‘not a method of teaching languages; it is a way of describing and understanding how language is used’. By 1994 he had reformulated his position and, with Ronald Carter, published Language as Discourse: Perspectives for Language Teaching, which argued in favour of providing students with a metalanguage by which to analyse the language they were learning. These days, owing to the work of McCarthy, Carter, and others, the basics of discourse analysis can indeed comprise an appropriate subject matter for the advanced …

Towards A Model Of Critical Ethics To Inform The Research Process In Postgraduate Research, Aidan Kenny

Articles

The ethics narrative has become embedded in the contemporary research process, as evident in the emergence of Ethical Committees in faculty and both public and private organisations. Ethics have been codified, made visible and accessible as text artefacts in the forms of (both voluntary and regulatory) codes, statements, conventions, guidelines, principles, procedures, practices. In this short paper I explore this codification of ethics from the period post WWII, detailing some of the milestone text artefacts.

The Interface Between Academic Knowledge And Working Knowledge: Implications For Curriculum Design And Pedagogic Practice, Anne Murphy

Articles

This paper considers some aspects of the theory and practice of work-based learning (WBL) that may be of interest to academic staff in higher education who have responsibility for negotiating, designing, delivering and assessing programmes for, and with, Irish workplaces, companies, organisations and sectors of the workforce. The paper does not claim to be breaking significant new ground: rather it is trying to connect aspects of the field to inform underpinning of WBL curriculum design and related pedagogic practice as the start of a conversation rather than the last word.

The Rising Popularity Of University Rankings: Lessons And Implications, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

'Be Mission Centred, Market Smart And Politically Savvy': Challenges For Higher Education, Ellen Hazelkorn

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No abstract provided.

An Integrated Approach To The Teaching Of Numerical Methods To Engineering Students, Garrett Keane, Michael Carr, Patrick Carroll

Conference papers

In Technological University Dublin, historically, numerical methods were taught to engineering students using a format of traditional mathematics lectures, to a large class group consisting of students from five different engineering disciplines, complemented by small class tutorials. Assessment was by a single, written exam only.

In order to improve the overall effectiveness of the students’ learning experience, it was deemed beneficial to also introduce practical computing classes in which the students would be required to apply the general mathematical methods covered in lectures to discipline-specific examples.

Three different practical computing assignments were devised for the students to undertake, and 20% …