AISHE-J - The All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
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Review of Handbook of Quality Assurance for University Teaching. : Ellis, R. and Hogard E. (Eds). (2019). Handbook of Quality Assurance for University Teaching. Abingdon: Society for Research into Higher Education, Routledge
No full textLecturers’ Perceptions of the Leaving Certificate Computer Science Curriculum and its Influence on Higher Education in Ireland
No full textA Computer Science (CS) subject is currently being rolled out nationally into upper second level education in Ireland since September 2018 on a phased basis. The first cohort of students from phase 1 of the subjects’ national rollout completed the first ever Computer Science Leaving Certificate examination in June 2020. This addition to computer science education (CSE) in Ireland now offers students an opportunity to attain a formal qualification in CS prior to entering tertiary education. Irish higher education (HE) institutions will now begin to see a change in student intake on their undergraduate CS programmes, where ‘LCCS students’ might enrol in first year alongside students who do not have the same level of prior knowledge in the discipline. This qualitative study explores CS lecturers’ perceptions of the Leaving Certificate Computer Science (LCCS) curriculum and its influence on teaching in HE through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified five key themes. The paper draws attention to aspects which may provide HE policy makers, heads of computer science departments and lecturers with greater insight into the realities of this addition of CS to the Leaving Certificate
Beyond paper folding: Origami and focused play to enhance interdisciplinary learning and teaching in universities. : Origami and focused play to enhance interdisciplinary learning and teaching in universities.
No full textAbstract.
This paper presents a case study: a collaboration between an artist, a senior lecturer in engineering, and two faculty members from teaching and learning. It showcases how we, as a consortium are 1) using origami in university STEM teaching as a way of enhancing and promoting arts-based STEAM learning within the contexts of creativity, play, exploration, and learning from failure and 2) charting these processes within a broader interdisciplinary contribution to teaching and learning. As a result of our collaboration, we suggest a new shorthand of ‘makerlearning’ which captures both the physical maker elements underscored with a carefully considered pedagogy.
The process of applied making provides a space where the “gap between disciplines…can be bridged” (Troxler, 2017, p. 13). We are striving for a reframing of invention and innovation within and beyond educational context and contend that “individuals are not creative, ideas are creative” (Clapp, 2016, p. 3). Although our case study focuses on the discipline of engineering, we argue that makerlearning and artistic approaches to understanding complex concepts can be applied across disciplines and extend beyond the classroom into community and industry settings
Teaching Maths in the Time of Covid: The Good, the Bad and Missing Factors.
No full textThis paper looks at the (emergency) remote delivery of mathematics versus a traditional face-to-face approach in the context of the third level education ecosystem. We then describe the approach to the delivery we took and examine the students’ response in terms of engagement, resource choices, experiences and preferences. Deficiencies and positive aspects of emergency remote delivery are also discussed
Building Digital Teaching and Learning Capabilities with DigitalEd.ie in Response to a Global Pandemic.
No full textThe COVID 19 emergency has fundamentally changed the way we all live and work, and this is having an enormous impact on the teaching and learning experience. The physical closure of our five campuses in GMIT, forced everyone online in a hurry and transitioned our learning, teaching and assessment activities to a new platform. The transition has been challenging, but it has also presented a number of opportunities for developing digital capabilities among the teaching community and alternative strategies for student engagement. Transitioning to online teaching and learning in GMIT was made possible due to a number of factors including: the advances in education technology globally in recent years and the seamless integration of Microsoft Office 365 suite and Moodle; Connacht Ulster Alliance (CUA) engagement with a HEA funded digital education development project called iNOTE, and the development of https://DigitalEd.ie; the Teaching and Learning Office’s digital teaching and learning online support resources; rapid response digital education workshops and a suite of flexible online learning development courses; and the flexibility and dedication of the teaching community engaging with professional development in digital teaching, learning and assessment strategies.
This article will outline a range of programmes and initiatives established since March 12th, 2020, that are building digital teaching and learning capabilities in GMIT, IT Sligo and LYIT (the CUA, Connacht Ulster Alliance). Rapid response interventions included: the development of a digital champion team; Ask Me Anything (AMA) clinics; digital teaching and learning small group workshops; a digital education webinar series; alternative assessment strategies workshops; Show and tell insight sessions on digital education topics and technologies; the iNOTE digital education development pathway for the academic community in the Connacht-Ulster Alliance (CUA).
The TradLABB: A Framework for the Life-long Learning Journey of the Irish Traditional Musician.
No full textAbstract.
This paper proposes a new framework that is intended to enable and encourage the Irish traditional music learner to better understand his/her journey of becoming an Irish traditional musician. The TradLABB maps out the learning process as having, simultaneously, a progressive (horizontal) dimension and a depth (vertical) dimension. ‘Trad’ is an abbreviation of ‘traditional’ and ‘LABB’ is an acronym for Learning-Applying-Being-Becoming, the iterative cycle that has been identified as underpinning the process. The framework has been developed in order to help learners visualise the stretch of the journey involved, and to enable them to situate themselves along the continuum of learning at any given time. It is intended to support learners in taking more ownership of, and responsibility for, their learning, to understand the 4 key elements of the process, and to encourage them towards becoming more reflective practitioners. The TradLABB is also presented as a tool for traditional music educators. It challenges teachers to find imaginative ways to articulate previously tacit methods and approaches and encourages them to explore new and innovative ways of supporting learners at all stages of the journey.
Visual Thinking Strategies for speech and language therapy students
No full textAbstract.
Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is an art-based education programme that originally aims to teach visual literacy, thinking, and communication skills through facilitated discussions of visual art. It has been introduced to healthcare programmes in higher education, such as medicine and nursing, but little has been reported for speech and language therapy (SLT) education. This study examined the effect of VTS as assessed by the quality of observations and linguistic structures used in written descriptions of an art image by SLT students. The pre- and post-VTS written samples of 82 final year SLT students collected over five different years were analysed. The written samples were generated by asking the students to view an art image and write down their observations in accordance with three prompting questions. Parameters related to observation skills and linguistic structures of written text were identified, coded, and counted. The results showed that there was a significant increase in the number of words used to discuss the image post-VTS, with a decrease in detailed observations but an increase in supported inferences noted. For the linguistic structures, there was a significant increase in the use of subordinate clauses and cohesive devices, indicating an increase in sentence complexity and cohesion of the narratives. The results suggest that VTS may stimulate more frequent use of linguistic features associated with critical thinking, reasoning and general observation skills in students
A qualitative exploration of postgraduate students' understanding of Emotional Intelligence and its potential impact on their future career development
No full textThe purpose of this article is twofold: firstly, it will explore the degree of understanding post graduate business school students have of the topic of emotional intelligence (EI); and secondly, it will consider the extent to which they believe EI will impact their future career progression. The study was conducted at a leading Irish university. Five students were selected to take part in interviews utilising an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The findings indicated the following: 1) respondents had some degree of understanding of EI but they felt a need to learn more, and 2) the participants saw EI as important for their future careers. This study contributes to the academic discourse as there is no qualitative research on EI at third level in Irish institutions
The mentored mentoring approach to lecturer- and peer-led inter-institutional instruction among undergraduate biomedical science students: a case study
No full textBiomedical science undergraduate students of accredited biomedical science programmes in Ireland are training to become professional medical scientists who diagnose disease. Hence, there is a strong emphasis at undergraduate level on practical laboratory skills, scientific writing and continuing professional development. In October 2020, a student-led webinar was held whereby one fourth-year and one third-year undergraduate student, having engaged their lecturer-mentor, conducted a webinar for first- and second-year undergraduate students with the intention of demystifying the art of writing a high quality laboratory report. The webinar consisted of four elements, namely a presentation by each of the three organisers; the fourth element was a questions and answers session. A total of 86 undergraduate students attended the webinar from two separate programmes of biomedical science.
A follow-up evaluation occurred via a voluntary, anonymised survey provided to participants at the end of the webinar. A total of 35 undergraduate student responses was received (40.7% of participants); 85.7% indicated that they would rate the event at least a 4/5; 91.4% of respondents indicated that they would participate in another such event. While the primary aim of the webinar was to improve the laboratory report writing skills of the attendees, this approach to learning benefited the student-mentors by allowing them to enhance professional and mentoring skills and increasing self-awareness. The lecturer was shown the students’ perspectives in sharper focus than would otherwise have been possible.
The novelty of this case study lay in this being a joint effort by students and their lecturer to provide real-time instruction to more junior undergraduate students nationally, using a webinar-based approach.
Keywords: inter-institutional; lecturer-led; mentoring; peer-led; undergraduate students