Education Commons^™

Narratives Of Creativity Among Social Care Educators In Irish Higher Education, Louisa Goss

Theses

Research on creativity in the delivery of social care highlights growing evidence of its importance for the wellbeing and quality of life of those in receipt of care, as well as benefits for the workforce. However, what is less well understood and overlooked in the literature is how creativity is conceptualised and operationalised in practice and education. This thesis attends to this gap in research from the perspective of social care educators. With the aim of deepening understanding of higher education teachers’ construction of creativity, the study explores small stories about creativity from six educators teaching into an undergraduate degree …

Embedding Reflective Practice And Creativity To Link A Modularised Curriculum., Muireann Okeeffe, Roisin Donnelly

Books/Book Chapters

Providing space for students to reflect and integrate their learning is the theme of this chapter, where Muireann has researched ways of integrating ePortfolios into the curriculum to encourage students to develop and reflect on their learning through student-led communities of practice.

Merging Creative Design And Cad Learning Activities In A Product Design Programme, Pearl O'Rourke, Colm O'Kane, Leslie Smith, Michael Ring

Conference Papers

Traditional learning and teaching methods for creativity differ from those used in a scientific context. Although the creative process can benefit from a certain level of prescription and structural constraint - with time allocated to research, problem definition, conceptualisation and idea development - flexibility and fluidity are necessary for creative innovation. In contrast, the more linear and rigid pedagogies associated with science and engineering education facilitate efficient learning of subjects such as those based on software packages, manufacturing and materials theory or mechanics. This paper describes the development of a project which aims to establish constructive links between the learning …

Exploring Supports Provided For Student Eportfolio Development In A Professional Development Context, Muireann Okeeffe

Articles

This small scale study aimed to explore and establish if support strategies implemented to enhance student ePortfolios were helpful to students and to identify useful ways of supporting ePortfolio development with future cohorts of students. This action research study was informed through focus group discussion and individual interviews with students.

The importance of reflection for the development professional practice and of creative abilities is discussed. The substantial benefits of creativity within education are investigated and characteristics of creativity that might be developed with students’ ePortfolios are revealed. Specifically this paper seeks to foster Crafts (2011) four characteristics of creativity, pluralities, …

The Human Computer Interaction Issues Associated With The Creation Of Personalized Role Playing Simulations, Eileen O'Donnell, Catherine Mulwa, Mary Sharp, Vincent Wade

Conference Papers

The human computer interaction issues associated with the creation of personalized role playing simulations are discussed in this paper. This paper is aimed at those who are interested in building authoring applications which enable educators to build role playing simulated e-learning resources to use with their students. One of the main issues which have come to our attention is that many learning designers and educators do not understand what exactly it is we are trying to achieve by creating personalized role playing simulations. Also, how to gauge the pedagogic merits which can be achieved by using these e-learning resources. Potential …

Do Eportfolios Foster Creativity? An Evaluative Study In A Professional Development Context, Roisin Donnelly, Muireann Okeeffe, K.C. O'Rourke

Conference papers

The nurturing of creativity as a key skill in students is a current and topical issue due to the potential important economic and social benefits it can imbue. This paper outlines a case study in progress in an Irish higher education institution, which initiated as an evaluation of student ePortfolios and transformed into an examination of creativity within students ePortfolios. The context for the research is a group of postgraduate students using ePortfolios to build evidence of their learning experience on the programme. This research seeks to explore the notion of learner empowerment through creativity in ePortfolio use, specifically if …

How Can We Nurture And Develop Creativity In First Year Design Students, Kerry Meakin

Theses

This research paper investigates the perceptions of first year third level design students regarding their creative thinking and use of creative strategies, while studying a first year design based curriculum in an Institute of Technology in Dublin. The research was conducted in a three-phase, sequential project. The first phase, questioned twenty seven students by issuing anonymous questionnaires to gather data on their methods of incubating design ideas, if they experienced any levels of anxiety when doing so, and their satisfaction levels in their design and creative abilities. Literature was reviewed to discover the attributes of those we perceive as creative …

Students' Overview: The Impact Of Technology On Learning In Higher Education, Eileen O'Donnell, Mary Sharp

Other resources

This research explores students’ views on the impact and transformations that technology has brought to the learning experience of students in higher education. The students who kindly participated in this study are from: The School of Computer Science and Statistics, Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science, Trinity College Dublin and The Faculty of Business, Technological University Dublin, both based in Dublin City, Ireland. The use of technologies in third level education facilitates flexible learning environments. The pedagogic approach employed by e-learning development officers or lecturers when designing e-learning platforms or learning management systems has the capability to transform student learning. …

Fostering Of Creativity Within An Imaginative Curriculum In Higher Education, Roisin Donnelly

Articles

Psychology is frequently used as a foundation discipline in the training of adult educators because it addresses those questions which naturally emerge from an engagement with adult learning and teaching (Tennant, 1997). The professional context which forms the focus of this article is no different. By providing academic support for lecturers in a higher education institution in Ireland, there is a desire to develop a sustainable curriculum model whereby by working with them on designing and developing creative curricula in their various subject disciplines in the arts and sciences they, in turn, pass the benefits of this on to their …