AISHE-J - The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
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Teaching Critical Thinking and Critical Consciousness through Literature in Third Level Education
No full textThis research focuses on teaching for thinking and educating for critical consciousness in third level students through the medium of modern literature. The objective of this research is education as the practice of freedom; a means by which students deal critically with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world, thus becoming what bell hooks refers to as enlightened witnesses (hooks 2000). This research takes a critical constructive action research approach which allowed me to refine my methods and gain further knowledge about my practice whilst enabling students to become more effective critical thinkers and more critically conscious citizens. Action research acknowledges the social character of knowledge and a key conclusion is that modern literature can provide a gateway to a shared understanding, through which students can learn to think critically and become more critically aware. Greene (1988) views literature as a culture’s secular scripture, an inexhaustible source of multiple perspectives on the human condition and ways to live more fully in the world, and this research confirms the study of imaginative literature as one way in which we can assist in our students’ existential quest to understand and construct a meaningful life.
Perspectives on Translating Higher Education Peer Feedback Approaches into Schools
No full textWith the aim of understanding whether the peer review processes and the implementation of the specific peer review model (Grion, Serbati, Nicol & Tino, 2017) have learning benefits in primary and secondary schools as well as in higher education, a group of researchers and practitioners carried out a research study in several Italian schools. The peer review model was implemented as a multi-case exploratory study in twelve classes. Eleven teachers and more than 200 students were involved. Pupils were asked to review their classmates’ products according to established criteria facilitated by teachers and to provide each other with feedback. Teachers’ written narratives and interviews, as well as students’ products and responses to three questionnaires were collected and analysed. Results so far show that teachers appreciated the peer review model as a valid instrument for making students active in their learning, thereby becoming more reflective in approaching their assignments and as a result, activating processes of self-assessment among their pupils (as suggested also by Harris & Brown, 2013). Their perceptions confirm the possibility of obtaining significant results also in school contexts.
Introduction to the Issue: Assessment and Feedback in the 21st Century: Lessons Learnt from the Past and Future Directions.
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An Evaluation of UniDoodle – A Highly Effective Student Response System for the STEM Disciplines
No full textExisting student response systems, such as Clickers, have limited input capabilities and lack the necessary features to gather the insightful and necessary information that is relevant in STEM-based disciplines, where the methodology is often more important than the final answer itself. Here, we propose the use of a new student response system, called UniDoodle, which uses tablets and smartphones to deliver a system that captures an extensive range of information in the form of sketches and annotations. Thus, information relating to equation solving, graph sketching, and diagram annotations can now be obtained in large classes in a quick, convenient and user-friendly manner. This information is obtained in real-time allowing for teachers to respond immediately to any issues that may arise in their students’ understanding of material. In this paper, we summarise the key features of the UniDoodle system and we carry out an extensive evaluation of its use in a live classroom environment. The context of the evaluation and the feedback obtained are presented within
Here’s my story: Mature students’ narratives of Further Education
No full textPublic policy in Ireland continues to encourage increasing participation by non-traditional learners in Further and Higher Education. Mature students account for 50% of the Further Education (FE) population and while their experiences are well studied in Higher Education (HE) there is surprising little work on FE. This study sets out to hear and understand the narratives of mature students’ experiences in FE and how they make sense of them.For this study, five mature students at an FE college in the North East of Ireland participated in a small-scale narrative inquiry. The interviews focused on the participants’ telling and understanding of their experiences of returning to study in FE. The findings suggest that the participants found their time in FE to be a very positive experience which provided them with a valuable qualification and a possibility of progressing to HE. They also recounted the many challenges encountered in returning to education including: low academic confidence, poor self-esteem, time management and finances. The participants understood that support from FE staff, family members and peers was crucial in helping to overcome the obstacles encountered. The findings also illustrate the students’ pride in their academic achievements and a resulting new-found confidence.It is concluded that, despite many challenges encountered and overcome, the participants viewed their experiences in FE to be very positive and having ‘dipped their toes in the water’, their experiences have led them to embrace lifelong learning and contemplate progressing to HE
The Power of Giving Feedback and Receiving Feedback in Peer Assessment.
No full textDespite well-documented promises of peer assessment, it is still unclear how peer assessment works and what contributes to students’ learning gains. In order to identify cognitive processes that lead to learning enhancement, this study examined 41 students’ responses to online surveys and also their online written interactions when they participated in a peer assessment activity. Data analysis revealed that students were engaged in various learning processes in the phases of giving and receiving feedback. While students acknowledged that both phases contributed to their learning, a greater number of students indicated that they perceived more learning benefits from giving feedback rather than receiving feedback. Interpretations and implications were discussed
Space for Learning Languages in the Institute of Technology Sector
No full textSome years ago, scholars called upon Irish Higher Education Institutions to rethink the positioning of languages in their curricula, nonetheless, today, with a substantial skills shortage in language graduates, and the challenges created by Brexit, this sea change has not taken place. More recently, the government’s Languages Connect Strategy 2017-26 has set an ambitious target for increasing the numbers of students learning modern languages at higher level institutions in Ireland. The goal is to broaden language provision to 20% of the entire student population. This represents a major challenge for policy makers in the IoT sector. Meanwhile, a nationwide investigation of the sector has revealed that there is a disconnect between grassroots demand for language provision and current institutional practices. This multimethod study collected quantitative and qualitative data from both students and lecturers across 14 IoTs. The same study revealed that the resistance to a broadening of provision may be linked to the perceived lack of curricular space for languages. Creating virtual space for language learning, by using digital media, could provide a catalyst for change, while at the same time solving the space problem. A possible model for such a space has been created in Letterkenny Institute of Technology, where students have designed a website and blog to showcase intercultural and linguistic activities. Speakers of different languages have shared experiences, cookery demos and other aspects of cultural interest. This digital space continues to operate, albeit on an informal, extracurricular basis, within and beyond the Institute in the local community, where second level schools have participated on this online platform. Given the success of this informal learning platform, there is a case to be made for creating more structured learning pathways, using learning management systems such as Blackboard/Moodle to develop oral and written linguistic competencies mapped to the Common European Framework.
An Investigation into the pre-enrolment characteristics of students to identify factors predictive of academic performance within first year computing and engineering programmes of study in a Higher Educational Institution
No full textFFirst year progression rates are a key performance indicator within the higher education sector. Business intelligence can inform initiatives, interventions and supports aimed at specific student cohorts in attempts to improve progression rates. This study investigates prior educational performance, particularly in the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subject categories, English and foreign languages to identify signif- icant factors predictive of academic performance of computing and engineering first year students within the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB).The methodology was quantitative with correlation and multiple regression employed for data analysis. First year computing (n=197) and engineering (n=247) samples were ana- lysed for the academic terms 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. The attribute accounting for the most variance in the end of first year Grade Point Average (GPA) for the computing sample was found to be the total Leaving Certificate points attained per student. For the engineering sample, the most significant factors predictive of end of first year GPA were Mathematics points achieved in the Leaving Certificate, age and to a lesser degree total Leaving Certificate points.The results of this analysis support the hypotheses that prior educational attainment in the Leaving Certificate is an important predictor of tertiary academic performance (R2 = .22) and that mathematical ability is an important factor influencing academic performance in engineering programmes. Outside of Mathematics, support for the hypothesis that prior educational attainment in STEM Leaving Certificate subjects is a significant influencing factor in the academic performance of computing and engineering students, proved less conclusive. Also of note, and in contrast to previous studies, Leaving Certificate perfor- mance in English was not found to be a predictor of tertiary academic performance within either of the computing and engineering cohorts analysed
Innovating with Digital Badges in Assessment: A Case Study Using Digital Badges in an Undergraduate University Module.
No full textDigital methods of learning are increasingly common in university education, and digital badges offer a new and evolving way of motivating and rewarding students’ learning achievement. The major learning outcome for undergraduate students on the second-year module, Social Media and Computing, was to develop a range of digital literacy competencies that will support their full social participation as digital citizens. To that end, assessment encompassed learning not only about new social technologies, but also about critical evaluation and social application of these technologies and concepts, such as digital ethics and privacy, to solve information problems in students’ academic work and future careers. Each digital badge was aligned with assessment learning outcomes. In particular, two methods of badging were trialled over a two-year period: an external open badge, recognising completion of particular skills acquisition that students could display via their LinkedIn accounts in support of their CVs; and an internal digital badge, matched to prescribed university achievement levels through the university’s learning management system (LMS), Blackboard. This project was conducted, in part, alongside a university level pilot scheme around digital badging, which provided support for digital badge creation and technical integration. This paper examines the implementation of the trial badging project with undergraduate students, including a comparison of different badging approaches and outcomes. Based on student reactions to badging and staff administrative and teaching roll out of badging for this module, suggestions around badging practices and strategies to enhance learning through assessment are offered