Education Commons^™

Basics: Building A System To Ingrain Core Competencies Within Students, David Dorran

Teaching Fellowships

The aim of the project is to develop a system which will promote a solid knowledge of programmes’ “core competencies” amongst students. This will be achieved by building a set of online quizzes which students will undertake on a regular basis throughout the delivery of programme modules. Quizzes will include feedback with links to web-based activities/information to help students develop their understanding.

Towards An Improved Teaching Of Structural Behaviour, Colin C. Caprani

Teaching Fellowships

The interpretation of mathematical models and how they relate to the physical world is a key skill of the practice of structural engineering. At undergraduate level, there has been a noted reduction in students’ physical intuition in recent years. The teaching of structural engineering must therefore adapt itself to these new realities to maintain public confidence in the safety of society’s infrastructure.

The work carried out for this Fellowship project tacked the identified deficits at two ends of the spectrum of physical intuition. Third year students were introduced to basic structural models, whilst final year students were exposed to the …

Geolearn: Multi-Media Resources, Audrey A. Martin

Teaching Fellowships

This paper examines the potential of pedagogically designed video demonstrations in supporting the learning requirements of students in the Spatial Information Sciences (DSIS). Currently, over three hundred full and part-time students in the College of Engineering and Built Environment undertake a module in Land Surveying each semester and although these students range in discipline and academic level (NQAI 6-8), they all share a need for basic information and instruction in the area of practical land-surveying techniques. To accommodate this highly practical subject area, 50% of contact time is normally dedicated to group-based field exercises, the results of which are formally …

Dit Teaching Fellowship Reports 2009-2010, Jen Harvey

Teaching Fellowships

No abstract provided.

Improving The Undergraduate Laboratory Learning Experience Through Redesigned Teaching And Assessment Strategies Integrating Transferable Skills And Focusing On Feedback., Julie Dunne, Barry Ryan

Teaching Fellowships

This project aimed to improve the laboratory learning experience for undergraduate science students, focusing initially on first and third year cohorts, through specific objectives. Firstly, to incorporate novel teaching and assessment methods, including student led laboratories, in- house produced instructional videos, “Clickers” audience response devices, and pre-practical on-line multiple choice questionnaires (MCQ) assessments. Secondly, to develop timely feedback mechanisms, including peer review, tutor face-to-face and audio feedback, online automatic feedback, and report checklists. Finally, to embed transferable skills into the laboratory including group work, communication skills (written and oral), organisation and project planning, health and safety, and preparedness for laboratories, …

Techknow-Share: A Social Learning Framework For Group Projects, Mary Lawlor

Teaching Fellowships

Many marketing students at undergraduate level are exposed to experiential learning in Years 3 and 4 where, through more varied pedagogies such as case studies and industry projects, they have a taste of real work marketing practice. It is often a challenge to engage students at second year where the theory and concepts of marketing are required to be taught, often employing a traditional passive learning paradigm (lecture based). The need to foster engagement early in a student’s learning is ever greater with a generation of students that want to construct knowledge socially and leverage Web 2.0 tools in their …

Pre-Lecture Resources To Reduce In-Lecture Cognitive Load, Michael K. Seery

Teaching Fellowships

In order to reduce an observed gap in Year 1 performance between students who had and had not completed chemistry at Leaving Certificate in a first year chemistry group, an intervention based on cognitive load theory was implemented. Students completed ten pre-lecture resources before associated lectures. The resources took no longer than five minutes to complete and aimed to introduce students to the core terminology of the lecture. Resources were designed with the principles of cognitive load theory and multimedia resources in mind. They were administered through the DIT Webcourses virtual learning environment and students obtained feedback on a short …