Education Commons^™

All Things Merge Into One, And A River Runs Through It: Exploring The Dimensions Of Blended Learning By Developing A Case Study Template For Blended Activities, Damian Gordon, Paul Doyle, Anna Becevel, Tina Baloh

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The BLITT (Blended Learning International Train the Trainer) Project is focused on developing a training programme to equip teachers to become proficient in championing the use of Blended Learning in the classroom. The training programme will be developed in two phases, in the first phase involves the development of a series of case studies relevant to Blended Learning, followed by a second phase where the BLITT training programme will be designed and developed, using input from these cases. In developing the blended learning case studies, two key documents were identified as being essential, first, a case study tracking template to …

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.

Two Roads Diverged: Iaas @ 50, Sue Norton

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This article joins others in The Irish Journal of American Studies reflecting back on the history of the Irish Association of American Studies and the teaching of American literature and American Studies in Ireland.

Irish Plan Offers European Roadmap To Improve Teaching, Roisin Donnelly, T. Maguire

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How do you improve teaching quality in higher education? It’s a question that is never too far from the headlines as students, parents and politicians demand more from universities. Publishing more data appears to be the UK’s favoured approach in recent times, with the introduction of the Teaching Excellence Framework adding to other data sets available on student satisfaction and graduate employment rates. Tougher regulation, more student participation in curriculum design or asking industry to step into the classroom are a few other approaches tried in some quarters.

Harry Flechtner--A True Teacher/Scholar, With Rhythm, Ronald A. Brand

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This is a tribute to Professor Emeritus Harry Flechtner upon his retirement from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Professor Flechtner was a leading scholar on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), a stellar teacher, a musician who used that skill in the classroom as well as the Vienna Konzerthaus, and a genuinely nice person.

Potential Impacts Of An Academic Writing And Publishing Module On Scholarship And Teaching: A Qualitative Study, Roisin Donnelly

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This paper reports on a qualitative study exploring the extent to which an accredited Academic Writing and Publishing (AWP) module for faculty and graduate students helped them develop as scholars and how, over time, it affected their instructional beliefs and attitudes in working with their own undergraduate students. For the two module tutors, it was important to know how the participants applied what they learned from the module in their own teaching practice and to identify particularly effective aspects of the module that translated to this other context. Therefore, key themes explored in this paper are the impact of the …

Syllable Circles For Pronunciation Learning And Teaching, Charlie Cullen, Keith Gardiner, John B. Whipple

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Syllable Circles is an interactive visualization representing prominence as a feature in short phrases or multi-syllable words. They were designed for Computer Aided Pronunciation Teaching as a part of English Language Teaching. This study explores the question of if and how interactive visualizations can affect English Language Learners’ awareness of prominence, or stress, in English pronunciation. The study followed seven learners and three teachers. Think-aloud protocols, notes from direct observation and interviews of two groups allowed for six streams of data. It was found that interactive visualizations of syllable circles facilitate noticing prominence. Learners and teachers believed interactive visualizations were …

Preparing For Service: A Template For 21st Century Legal Education, Michael J. Madison

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Legal educators today grapple with the changing dynamics of legal employment markets; the evolution of technologies and business models driving changes to the legal profession; and the economics of operating – and attending – a law school. Accrediting organizations and practitioners pressure law schools to prepare new lawyers both to be ready to practice and to be ready for an ever-fluid career path. From the standpoint of law schools in general and any one law school in particular, constraints and limitations surround us. Adaptation through innovation is the order of the day.

How, when, and in what direction should innovation …

Computer-Supported Peer Review In A Law School Context, Kevin D. Ashley, Ilya Goldin

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Legal instructors have been urged to incorporate peer reviewing into law school courses as a way to provide students much needed feedback. Peer review can benefit legal education, but only if law school instructors adopt peer review on a large scale, and for that, computer-supported peer review systems are crucial. These web-based systems orchestrate the mechanics of students submitting written assignments on-line and distributing them to other students for anonymous review, making it considerably easier for instructors to manage.

Beyond the problem of orchestrating mechanics, however, a deeper obstacle to widespread acceptance of peer review in legal education is the …

Examples: What Teachers Are Doing With Poetry, Penny Miller, Sarah Duffer, Carole Damin, Libby Duggan

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In November, 112 teachers from across Indiana attended a full-day professional development workshop with renowned poet Georgia Heard. Here is a sampling of the things these teachers are now doing in their schools and classrooms as a result of that workshop.

Bringing Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Into The Tax Classroom, Anthony C. Infanti

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A recent piece in the Journal of Legal Education analyzing student surveys by the Law School Admission Council reports that, despite improvement in the past decade, LGBT students still experience a law school climate in which they encounter substantial discrimination both inside and outside the classroom. Included among the list of "best practices" to improve the law school climate for LGBT students was a recommendation to incorporate discussions of LGBT issues in non-LGBT courses, such as tax. In a timely coincidence, the Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues held a day-long program at the 2009 AALS annual meeting …

A Critical Exploration Of The Rhetoric Of Equity Belied By Practice In Postgraduate Teacher Education, Roisin Donnelly

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This paper presents the initial results of an investigation into the current awareness and perceptions of equity issues amongst academic staff working on a postgraduate learning and teaching course for teachers in tertiary education in the Republic of Ireland. The study is set in the contemporary landscape of discourses around equality, egalitarianism and equity in education generally. The Irish White Paper on Adult Education Learning for Life (2000) recommends that adult education should be underpinned by three core principles, one of which is to promote equality of access, participation and outcome for participants in adult education, with pro-active strategies to …

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

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No abstract provided.

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

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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.