AISHE-J - The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
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Encouraging Active Learning in Lectures
No full textThe passivity of students in lectures and large group teaching sessions has long been observed and criticised. In response some have argued for the abolition of this form of teaching. However, expansion in Higher Education, increases in student numbers and a desire to maintain face to face contact does seem to be a little at odds with this view. In fact, it seems that, for the foreseeable future, the lecture will remain a cornerstone of the tertiary education experience and many students will continue to spend considerable amounts of time sitting amongst, perhaps hundreds of, their classmates in a tiered lecture theatre, as an important part of their studies. The view expressed in this article is that most of the good things about lectures can be extended and expanded upon and most of the bad things can be reduced or erased by getting the students to play a more active and interactive role in the larger group teaching sessions they attend. Although this sounds a very simple idea the practice usually turns out to be a little more difficult to achieve. In particular, a simple thing such as introducing a quiz, or a discussion task, into a lecture actually challenges both learners' and lecturers' attitudes alike on three important questions: What are lectures for? What should good teachers do?What should good learners be doing
Development of All Students’ Research Skill Becomes a Knowledge Society
No full textThe political will towards developing strongly as a knowledge society will inevitably remain an aspiration in any country, and Ireland is no exception, unless there is substantial guidance emerging from within the university sector. This present paper introduces a model that was devised to conceptualise exactly the type of development that enables enrolling HDR (Higher Degree Research) students to be research-ready, and students, undergraduate or postgraduate, heading for employment to have research skills utilisable in work environments. I suggest small-scale trials of this model, thoroughly evaluated, well in advance of any policy directives, as the starting point towards evolving a set of approaches to enable the development of a knowledge society
Creating And Sustaining Effective Learning Environments
No full textThe nature of learning environments and how they can be enhanced to the benefit of student learning are central matters of concern for all of us involved in higher education. The first part of this presentation discusses some of the issues which arise if you start thinking about 'what is a learning environment anyway?'.It involves considering the role of representations, and particularly metaphors, in articulating and analysing the structures, processes and interactions entailed in learning and teaching, and leads on to a closer look at 'learning environments' and how students in particular are positioned. The focus in the second part is more practical, turning attention to some of the general challenges entailed in creating and sustaining effective learning environments and to some strategies and teaching approaches that may prove productive. Particular use is made of the findings of the ETL Project ('Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses', 2001-05)
Designing the Curriculum for Student Engagement
No full textOver the past few years there has been considerable emphasis on the concept of 'student engagement'. However, in a context of mass higher education, increasing diversity of the student population, globalization and the new marketing of education, and increased competition between universities exacerbated by 'league tables', it is problematic to define 'the best learning environment possible for all students. It is also becoming more problematic to articulate the purpose of a university education with so many different agendas to satisfy. The overarching aim of this paper is to highlight the need to articulate a powerful pedagogical idea which underpins university level education that can act as the driver for sustainable curriculum and institutional change. Engaging students in the learning process and encouraging them to understand the attributes that will enhance their employability in a fast changing chaotic world must be at the core of the powerful pedagogical idea. This paper will explore the idea of student engagement and how it is being conceptualized; examine the ways in which 'engagement' is currently 'measured' and critique different examples of curricular innovations with the intention of identifying the aspects of learning and assessment which 'engage' and challenge the learners
Following-Up On Feedback Through Repetition In Assessments
No full textIn practice, the student learning cycle involves learning, assessment and feedback. The student learns about a particular topic through a combination of lectures, research and/or action. They are then assessed on what they have learned and are given formative feedback on their performance. Unfortunately, the cycle seems to end at this point. A new topic is presented and the learning cycle repeats. This is typical of a module in which several different topics are covered over the course of a semester. However, some obvious questions emerge. What do the students do with the feedback? Do they really learn from it? How do we know?
This paper proposes to follow-up on feedback by simply ensuring that a proportion of the next assessment covers material that students had difficulty with on the previous one. Students are informed of this fact so as to encourage them to actively engage with the feedback. Test results show a marked improvement in the students’ performance, particularly in the case of the repeated material, while student feedback responds favourably to this method of ensuring that the student learning cycle is properly completed. Details of the assessments, test results and student feedback, as well as some personal observations and discussions, are presented within
The Production and Deployment of an On-line Video Learning Bank in a Skills Training Environment
No full textoai:ojs.aishe.org:article/3Context and Background With the introduction of the pre-registration degree in nursing in Ireland in 2002, the formerly hospital-based schools of nursing amalgamated into larger programmes with their affiliated higher education institutes (HEIs). The result was a considerable increase in class sizes. The current average cohort in the School of Nursing, Dublin City University (DCU) is 240 students. This has resulted in a need to review the way we teach clinical nursing skills on campus. These skills form a large part of the programme and are taught to students in the school-based simulated nursing environment to prepare them for their practical experience in the clinical environment. To date the skills have been taught to groups of 25-30 students using a demonstration and practice technique. This teaching method has posed a number of problems: It is highly resource intensive Learning experiences vary depending on the mix of demonstration and practice in each session It can be difficult for students to absorb all of the information presented in a single demonstration. It was decided that video technology incorporating a large scale deployment of skills videos over a video web server, in conjunction with a shift in emphasis in the teaching contact sessions could offer a useful tool to aid the teaching process. This paper will discuss the production process, the implementation of the project in the teaching environment and the evaluation findings
Towards Assessment as Learning
No full textIt is widely accepted that in higher education internationally, assessment drives students’ learning. As a consequence, students become ever more strategic, and only put energy into things that count towards their overall assessment. This article suggests a practical way of setting about reflecting on the assessment processes and instruments you use.
Many institutions have now adopted �assessment for learning� approaches, to make better links between assessment and learning. In this paper, I argue that we can go even further and work towards �assessment as learning� where all of our elements of assessment are designed with learning in mind. The paper provides you with a scoring grid, using which you can interrogate your own assessment elements, and determine how well they measure up to a combination of �assessment for learning� and �assessment as learning�