AISHE-J - The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
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Evaluating Online Asynchronous Support in the Institutes of Technology Ireland
No full textAs the uptake of e-learning continues to increase, it has come to light that engaging students in e-learning requires a large time commitment on the part of the lecturer. The burden may be eased by the expedient use of online asynchronous support tools. This research evaluates the use of asynchronous support tools in the Irish Institutes of Technology (IoTs) and their application to the provision of online support to IoT students. It provides an evaluation of the perception of IoT students as to the adequacy of asynchronous support offered to them and prescribes for improvement of that support. The research suggests that asynchronous support tools are substantially underutilised within the IoTs and consequently that student engagement via asynchronous support is insufficient in meeting their learning needs. While email is identified as the preferred and dominant means of communications, discussion boards and weblogs are not employed to anywhere near potential. The findings suggest that improved use of asynchronous support tools would help redistribute scarce lecturer's time and address the important issue of providing online support to students in a ‘just-in-time’ learning manner, rather than a ‘just-in-case’ data repository. In addition it recommends the integration of e-learning platforms and their constituent tools with a knowledge base. This would facilitate the lecturer in providing ‘reusable’ and ‘in context’ online support to be used by students if and when required. The findings therefore present two major challenges to IoTs: to enhance student support by substantially improving the current use of online asynchronous support tools and to employ the expedient use of semantic technologies. Facing and surmounting these challenges are a vital step in creating and sustaining a quality online supportive environment for both lecturer and student
The Place and Efficacy of Simulations in Legal Education: A Preliminary Examination
No full textThe American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes once famously said that “[t]he life of law has not been logic; it has been experience”. This paper examines the experiential learning technique of simulation, particularly the use of moot courts and mock trials, in the context of legal education. It provides an overview of extant literature along with an outline of the current place of simulation activities in Irish legal education and the results of a project carried out to examine the efficacy of simulation activities as a teaching and learning tool. The development of formal legal education and the place of mooting within both academic and vocational training are considered within this paper. The combination of the literature review and the findings of the study carried out in the authors’ institution lead to the suggestion that experiential learning techniques, such as moot courts and mock trials, ought to form an integral part of modern law curricula, both in this jurisdiction and in others, both at undergraduate level and beyond
Usage and Uptake of Virtual Learning Environments in Ireland: Findings from a Multi Institutional Study
No full textIn early 2008 five Irish tertiary institutions conducted an online survey of their students’ usage of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in their respective institutions. In 2009, the survey was run again with an expanded set of institutions and supplemented by a staff survey and detailed institutional case histories. The survey instruments used a common set of questions, and on condition of anonymity, the institutions pooled their results to allow us to compare and contrast the results. While many institutions routinely conduct in-house surveys or studies from time to time, this study is relatively unique in that it draws on data from multiple institutions, across multiple years, and diverse VLE platforms. The institutions who participated represented a diversity of organizational histories and VLE systems. The study identifies some of the key drivers and barriers to uptake and usage of an institutional VLE and identified that it is organizational factors, such as system maturity, rather than technical ones around system choice, that are the most significant factors in the uptake, usage and utility of the VLE systems. The paper also notes issues around the conduct of the survey, confidentiality and data sharing, and lessons from the experience
Editors' Introduction
No full textThe AISHE-J Editor, Sylvia Huntley-Moore, and the ILTA Special Issue Editor, Catherine Bruen, provide a summary of this issue, and report briefly on the wider context for organisational collaboration to promote teaching and learning in higher education in Ireland
The Use of a Supplementary Online Learning Course, and its Effect on Academic Achievement within an Undergraduate Nursing Programme
No full textBackground: There has been much research into innovations, quality, barriers and satisfaction with online learning. In the rush for development however, there has been little empirical evidence of the effectiveness of online courses in promoting student learning. Study Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of an online learning course on student exam results.Methods:Methods: The study design was a cross-sectional survey. The online learning course was supplementary material for a first year biological sciences module in a four year nursing degree programme. Students’ access to the course was monitored automatically throughout the academic year. Student exam results and profile were collated from the School database. The data was analysed using SPSS version 16. Results: 195 students participated in the study of which 95% were female and 36% mature students. The sample consisted of students from two strands of the degree: General nursing (84%) and Intellectual Disability (ID) nursing (16%). There was a significant difference in the exam results of General and ID nursing students. There was a significant difference in the usage of the online course depending on mode of entry to the degree programme with mature students making greater use of the online learning course. Spearman's correlation identified a very significant relationship between exam results and usage of the online course (n = 185, r = 0.288, p = 0.0001 (one tailed)). This indicated that usage of the online course accounted for 8% of the variability in exam results. Conclusions: This study would appear to indicate that usage of the online course was related to improved higher exam results as students who used it most had better exam results. These findings go some way in establishing the evidence that is needed to justify the time, effort and cost of the implementing online courses
Support for Learning in the Clinical Area: The Experience of Post-Registration Student Midwives
No full textPrior to 2006 Irish midwifery education was available only in the form of postgraduate in-hospital training to registered nurses. Since 2006 midwifery education continues to be offered as a postgraduate course but it is also available as a direct entry undergraduate programme in a number of Irish third level institutions. In line with these changes in Irish midwifery education, the National Council for the Professional Development of Nursing and Midwifery (2005) identified, among other priorities, the need to provide educational support for student midwives in the clinical area because acquisition of fundamental skills will facilitate their smooth and sound transition into the workforce given that they will be the future functioning midwives. This study explores postgraduate post registration student midwives' experiences of learning support in the clinical area. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used. The students were registered in one of the Schools of Midwifery in an Irish third level institution. A purposive sample of six student midwives participated in individual face-to-face tape-recorded interviews to discuss their experiences. Data analysis revealed six major themes that represent student midwives' experiences of support for learning in the clinical setting — lack of support, learning environment, employee status, support strategies, ways of learning, and theory-practice integration. During the clinical learning process participants felt abandoned by the more senior staff while the senior students and the newly qualified midwives were supportive
Reflecting on Models for Online Learning in Theory & Practice
No full textThis paper investigates the application of several well-known pedagogical models to the design and delivery of a series of blended workshops on online learning. The models were the five-stage e-moderating model for teaching and learning online, e-tivities, the e-learning ladder and communities of practice.The workshop series was aimed at academics and teaching librarians in a campus-based university. Its objective was to introduce them to some of the pedagogies and technologies in blended learning. Some of the participants were interested in delivering library and information skills classes online while others wanted to learn how to enhance the online elements of their existing courses.The tutor/moderator designed the workshops using the five-stage model for e-moderating as a framework. The model was presented to the participants as they progressed through the stages. Issues raised by the workshops included socialisation, technology, the role of the moderator, face-to-face classes, pace of progress through the stages and transfer to teaching practice. The class compared the five-stage model to the e-learning ladder and communities of practice to see how they addressed these issues.The paper looks back at the workshop and the practical and theoretical issues that it raised. It concludes with some issues for future research
Introduction to the Issue
No full textThe AISHE-J Editor provides a summary of this issue, and reports briefly on the wider context
Reflections on the Experience of Mandating Lecture Attendance in One School of Nursing in the Republic of Ireland
No full textAttendance levels at lectures amongst university students appears to be a universal challenge. While the university culture generally does not embrace a mandatory attendance policy, the debate concerning the implications of non-attendance continues amongst educators. The literature in this area does little to dampen the debate, offering apparently sound rationales on both sides of the argument. Non-attendance is of particular concern when there is a professional element to a programme, such as Nursing. Student failure to attend lectures may elicit tensions between professional and academic values, particularly when a mandatory attendance policy is being seriously considered within a department. Advice from professional regulatory bodies in this area is frequently ambiguous, compounding the dilemma for academics in the higher education sector resulting in a variety of local interpretations. Further input from the relevant regulatory bodies would be useful in this regard. The underlying motivation for generating policies that mandate attendance must be given careful thought to ensure that the implications for all potential stakeholders are duly considered. Reasons for student non-attendance at university are many and varied and the perceived link between attendance and academic achievement is an area that requires further scrutiny. More innovative, student-centred approaches to teaching, learning and assessment could encourage greater levels of engagement with the programme of education. This needs to be considered at both an individual and departmental level if student learning opportunities are to be truly maximised
Responding to the Writing Development Needs of Irish Higher Education Students: a Case Study
No full textIn contrast to other countries, particularly the USA, systematic writing support for students at Irish higher education institutions has until recently been restricted to ad hoc interventions. However, there is now a growing awareness of the need to adopt a systematic approach to writing support for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and an increasing recognition of the value of such support in fostering meta-cognitive awareness among writers so that they not only produce better written texts but develop a greater consciousness of the processes leading to them (North 1984). The main aim of this paper is to report on a study that inquires into student and staff attitudes towards academic writing and into the specific writing-related needs of students at one Irish university, the University of Limerick (UL), in order to justify what we feel to be an appropriate response to a multiplicity of writing-related needs in the Irish context. The paper reports on the two main phases of the project, namely the research phase that would inform the response adopted by the University (2005-2007) and the action-response phase which outlines the course of action taken by the University to respond to the writing needs of its students (2007 to date), including collaboration with other institutions. The primary research on which this paper reports highlights an awareness of the importance of writing skills for the development of students’ academic and professional lives, yet it also draws attention to the lack of support for the development of student writing. Having investigated the many options available, this paper concludes that a formal writing centre has an important role to play in providing a coordinated and systematic approach to the development of writing. The creation of a writing centre is an expression of the recognition of the centrality of writing to teaching and learning at higher education and the importance of writing as a means of learning