AISHE-J - The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
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Tell me a story: Using personas to enhance student engagement
No full textHealey, Flint and Harrington (2014) suggest that engaging students in dialogue concerning learning and teaching is crucial to the future of higher education. Furthermore, the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 highlights the 'Involvement of students in course planning, feedback and evaluation' as a priority for HE institutes. Students participate in decision making regarding teaching and learning in a variety of ways, through surveys, student representation on committees, engagement with individual lectures and through class representation (HEA 2016; NStEP 2020; Algeo 2021). These methods, however, have limitations. The majority of feedback or evaluation on teaching and learning adopts quantitative approaches which provide limited opportunities to represent the needs of all students, and in particular non-traditional students. For example, representation on committees often over-relies on the students union and class representatives. This paper will explore the use of a narrative inquiry approach, using personas as a methodology, for large scale student involvement in decision making regarding teaching and learning
Partnering with Students Through Peer Video Learning at University College Dublin
No full textAbstract.
This paper reviews the experience and outcomes of video creation for peer learning within an online, self-paced undergraduate module centred on building digital research skills for social science students. The project was inspired by the ‘students as partners’ model and allowed students to contribute to future students' learning through original resource creation. This paper explores the background and context for the project, the process of student engagement and video creation, and project outcomes and future directions. Because student participation was at the heart of the project design and intention, the paper also includes reflective contributions from two students who participated as well as the experience of the Master’s student who served as the Video and Project Assistant
‘You’re kind of taking this person under your wing…’: The experiences of cooperating primary teachers in engaging with student teachers during school placement in the Midwest of Ireland.
No full textAbstract.
This paper stems from a larger body of work undertaken as part of a postgraduate research study on co-operating primary teachers’ experiences of the school placement process in Ireland. Given that co-operating teachers play a key role in the initial teacher education process in Ireland (Teaching Council, 2013), the paper focuses on the types of engagement and interaction currently evident in the practice of a select number of co-operating primary teachers who intermittently host and work with student teachers in classrooms and schools. The factors which inhibit the development of significant pedagogy-focussed interactions are also explored. Through using a qualitative methodological and analytical lens, findings indicate that there are a range of factors which constrain engagement, and that co-operating teachers rely heavily on verbal pedagogic discussion to interact with student teachers. Participants also emphasised the challenges to engaging with student teachers as a result of uncertainty or unwillingness from the perspective of either party. The implications of this research are considered in terms of future research to extend the findings presented herein, and the current national priority to develop a formalised programme of co-operating teacher professional development in the Irish context (Teaching Council, 2019). While the research was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic has underlined the key role of co-operating teachers in the placement process and has highlighted the need to formally acknowledge and support them in their work with students
Perceptions of the Challenges and Effectiveness of Students on Internal Quality Assurance Review Panels: A Study Across Higher Education Institutions.
No full textTThis study evaluates the challenges and the effectiveness of students engaging in quality assurance (QA) review processes in higher education institutions. The research team set out to uncover and explore the benefits of working in partnership with students in QA processes and highlight the potential barriers to a more inclusive engagement, in order to work towards widening the diversity of student voices in these initiatives and academic development opportunities more broadly. We used a snowball sampling methodology and received responses from 35 higher education institutions. The main findings of this studyhave demonstrated the value of working with students as partners in QAprocesses, due to their fresh perspectives and expertise in student experience that can challenge the status quo. However, this study has also importantly highlighted the potential pitfalls of the recruitment processes, in particular the need for further action to be taken to diversify the pool of students from which the Student Reviewers are recruited, and the need to develop effective training to support students to be successful in their roles
Entry to University at a Time of COVID-19: How Using a Pre-arrival Academic Questionnaire Informed Support for New First-year Students at Leeds Beckett University.
No full textAbstract.
In the summer of 2020, academic and professional service managers at Leeds Beckett University (LBU), were mindful that the upcoming academic year was going to be challenging in terms of teaching and tailored support delivery, as a result of the uncertainty created by COVID-19. We knew that many of our incoming students had experienced disruption in their learning at school or college, and we wanted to support and maximise their potential for success at university in these uncertain times. Through previous work relating to the need to support student transitions, we already understood the importance of pre-arrival academic experience data in helping to create a seamless bridging of the gap between secondary and tertiary education. We knew it would become even more critical in Autumn 2020, due to the impact of the pandemic on student learning in schools and colleges. We were aware that the prior learning experience and challenges of our diverse incoming student body would need to shape our response, strategy, and policy in 2020/21 and beyond.
As a result, we decided to pilot a pre-arrival academic questionnaire across a small number of courses that included questions on the impact of COVID-19 on our incoming students’ prior learning. It offers broad headline findings from the data on two key questions:
How can we understand incoming students’ levels of anxiety after studying at school or college in lockdown?
Are students experienced in learning digitally at school or college before they come to university, and did COVID-19 affect this?
This case study explores our institutional response to COVID-19 and how we used the PAQ to inform our actio
Engagement, Evidence, and Ethics: Tensions in Pedagogical Research
No full textAbstract.
Building effective partnerships with students and learning from their experiences to improve teaching and learning benefits from the conduct and dissemination of pedagogical research. However, tensions in the ethical and practical dimensions of carrying out such scholarship can be a barrier for educators. This contribution reflects our experience of planning and carrying out pedagogical research on a new student wellbeing module in an Irish university, wherein we discuss four key considerations from our experience: research ethics approval with respect to ensuring voluntariness and informed consent, access and timing with respect to the short window of time in a semester and competing academic influences, burden and information overload with respect to efforts to communicate the research, and promotion and incentives with respect to tensions in rewarding students for their contribution to scholarship but protecting their autonomy. We discuss the implications of these challenges for pedagogical research
The establishment of a national student assembly in the National Forum: Student partnership in action.
No full textIn 2020, the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Ireland, hereafter referred to as the National Forum, established a student assembly comprised of student associates from every Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Ireland. The aim of the assembly is to reinforce the importance of student engagement and partnership as core enablers of student success in Irish higher education. The student assembly mirrored the existing staff associate assembly in the National Forum. This article outlines the rationale for the establishment of the assembly; the recruitment process and the practical arrangements for establishing a student assembly; engagement activities and topics covered; and finally the lessons learned from the operation of the assembly.
The operation of a national student assembly was made easier by the move to online meetings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The diverse make-up of the assembly, interactive and engaging activities, peer-led activities, and authentic dialogue were key factors in the success of the assembly
Building learning partnerships for innovation and transformation in education: An example from a creative and innovative programme for educators at a leading Irish university
No full textThe need to engage students and staff effectively as partners in learning and teaching has been consistently emphasised in academic research and pedagogical practice. This article responds to this need by discussing the partnerships which were built in a creative education programme for educators from varied backgrounds, disciplines and institutions around the world at a leading Irish university. We discuss the different types of learning partnerships which are promoted during, outside and beyond the ‘Educators Programme’ and examine the pedagogical structures and processes which supported the development of partnership relationships. More specifically, we explain how the use of a Design Thinking methodology facilitated the formation of partnerships between programme facilitators and student-educators and also among student-educators, engaging them in i) collaborative learning ii) experiential learning, and iii) reflective practice. These processes were found to create an optimal environment for partnerships to grow. Psychological safety is presented as an essential foundational component for all of the above. Community of Practice is discussed as a positive outcome which naturally emerged from successful learning partnerships.
Overall, it is argued that the successful learning partnerships built through the programme offered student-educators transformative learning experiences which empowered them to lead innovation and effect change in their teaching practice. This reflective case study contributes to discussions of the processes of building engagement and partnership between students and teachers and offers inspiration and practical ideas which can be applied in other local and international educational contexts.
Keywords: Co-creation of learning; Community of practice; Design thinking; Experiential learning; Psychological safety; Reflective practice; Student engagement; Student-teacher partnership
A Qualitative Exploration of the Motivations and Expectations of Lecturers Who Sign-up to Participate in an Emotional Intelligence Coaching Programme.
No full textResearch has emphasised the importance of emotional intelligence (EI) in thework of higher education staff. However, little is known about the motivations and expectations of lecturers who decide to participate in EI coaching programmes. As part of a larger study pertaining to the efficacy of EI coaching for Irish higher education lecturers, qualitative data wascollected by way of a questionnaire that contained two open-ended questions from all participants who signed up for coaching (N = 40). The findings indicate that the primary motivations for participants to sign-up for coaching were personal development and a desire to support research activities. Participants expected that their participation would give them an opportunity to enhance their self-awareness and learn about EI through their participation in the programme. The participants brought with them an openness to the experience. The findings also highlighted that lecturers had, for the most part, not received any formal training in this area, which suggests that a gap exists in lecturer training in this regard. Based on these findings, it is recommendedthat further research be conducted to acknowledge the importance of EI in the work of higher education lecturers in Ireland and to assess the motivations and expectations of participants in EI programmes in other contexts. It is also recommended that further research explore the reasons why lecturers may choose not to participate with EI coaching
Considering the impact of StudentSurvey.ie nationally and internationally after nine years of the survey
No full textIn this short article, the StudentSurvey.ie Steering Group offers some observations about the development of the Irish Survey of Student Engagement since its inception in 2012. The article also considers what impact means for StudentSurvey.ie, before discussing some of the ways in which the results of StudentSurvey.ie (and PGR StudentSurey.ie) have had impact nationally and internationally. One way is the inclusion of StudentSurvey.ie in national quality assurance reviews, which has highlighted some of the opportunities and challenges in demonstrating the impact of StudentSurvey.ie within participating institutions. The publication of this article coincides with the publication of the StudentSurvey.ie Trend Analysis Research 2016-2021, which is briefly discussed. Some final remarks are offered