Happy Christmas 2011

Congratulations to Frances Boylan and the DIT LTTC for the winning the best case study at the UCISA Engaging hearts and minds seminar on 7 December 2011 for a case study on the eLearning Summer School. The eLearning Summer School was started by DIT in 2003 and became the DRHEA eLearning Summer School in 2009. The case study can be downloaded here.

The International Journal of Academic Development published by ICED has made its top ten articles free for downloading for a limited period. To access the articles please click here. Thanks to AISHE for this link.

Happy Christmas to EDIN Members.

EDIN Update December 2011

EDIN has had good news. It was successful in a NAIRTL Funding application entitled EDIN - from Capacity Building to Sustainable Continuing Professional Development (CPD) http://www.nairtl.ie/index.php?pageID=592. We are now starting work on the project - there will be regular updates on the blog to keep members informed.

The first EDIN event of the year took place on Thursday 2 December at the University of Limerick. Evaluation of teaching was the theme of the seminar. Jen Harvey Head of Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre, Dublin Institute of Technology, John Dallat, Head of Department Learning and Teaching Dundalk Institute of Technology and Mary Fitzpatrick Regional Teaching and Learning Advocate, University of Limerick presented. Evaluation of Teaching: sharing good practice was attended by EDIN members from 11 institutions and there was an excellent discussion about the benefits and pitfalls in the evaluation of teaching.

EDIN welcomed the consultation on the Higher Education Authority's proposal for a National Academy to support teaching and learning in higher education and has responded as requested.

Educational developers win awards

EDIN is delighted that educational development in Ireland has been recognised by two recent awards. Dr Marion Palmer EDIN Chair 2009-2011 is one of the NAIRTL National Awards of Teaching Excellence winners for 2011 http://www.nairtl.ie/index.php?pageID=590. The Learning Teaching and Technology Team from DIT were joint second prize winners in the Association for Learning Technology (UK) prestigious Learning Technologist of the Year http://www.alt.ac.uk/news/media_releases/2011WinnersLearningTechnologistOfTheYear.

Congratulations to all.

EDIN at AISHE August 2011 - update

Professor Glynis Cousin, Director of the Institute for Learning Enhancement at Wolverhampton University led a workshop on Researching University Education for EDIN last Thursday 25 August. This was a pre-conference workshop for the AISHE Conference and an EDIN-AISHE collaboration. Glynis is the author of Researching Learning in Higher Education (2009) and drew on this work to argue that research is always a work of interpretation and that quantitative and qualitative research are not opposites, both yield different kinds of intelligence. She suggests that in research we should look at the problem and then choose methods we are good at. She argued that research has a aesthetic dimension, a craft dimension and that researcher should write for the intended audience. She made a plea for research that examines student-teacher relations i.e. the transaction and suggested we go back to classic studies and ask 'what is going on?'. She recommends Stake (1995) on case study research as well as her own book for further reading. Thanks to Glynis for a stimulating and challenging workshop. Thanks to Saranne Magennis of NUIM AISHE President and AISHE for collaborating with EDIN on the workshop.

EDIN at AISHE August 2011

EDIN in collaboration with AISHE has organised a pre-conference workshop for the AISHE Annual Conference, designed with the interests of Educational Developers in mind.

Date: Thursday 25th August

Venue: DCU School of Nursing

Time: 9.45am to 11.45am

Topic: Researching University Education

In this workshop Glynis Cousin will give a brief presentation before exploring practical research strategies with participants. Her methodological focus will be on how we might research university education in interesting and creative ways. Glynis will talk a little about the methodological framework that she thinks best suits inquiry in this field. Finally, she will press the case for a turn from student experience research towards a concern for teacher-student relationships. Glynis will then invite participants to explore: a) what they most want to know; and b) how this might be best researched in the hope that participants will emerge from the workshop with some new ideas of both theoretical and practical interest to their practice. To book a place on the workshop please contact AISHE.

EDIN AGM May 2011

The EDIN AGM took place on 9 May 2011 in DIT Aungier St. It was well attended with members from UCD, TCD, UCC, UL, NUIM, IT Sligo, AIT, DIT, IADT, Tipperary Institute/LIT, GMIT, IPTAS. Your new EDIN Committee is
Chair Nuala Harding
Vice-Chair Martin Fitzgerald
Secretary vacant
Treasurer Marian Fitzmaurice
Committee members: Anne Carpenter, Marion Palmer, Ciara O'Farrell Michelle Tooher, Angelica Risquez, Anne Mangan.

The AGM was followed by two stimulating presentations from Muiris O'Connor of the HEA and Marion Coy retired President of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. They focussed on the changing nature of higher education and that challenge it presents for educational developers. This was a challenging and thought provoking session that provides much food for thought and we thank our two speakers very much. Thanks to our DIT members for organising the event.

EDIN AGM 9 May 2011

EDIN is delighted to announce the AGM will take place on 9 May 2011. We are delighted to be joined by Muiris O'Connor of the Higher Education Authority and Marion Coy retired President of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology to discuss the Hunt Report - National Strategy for Higher Education and Teaching and Learning. The venue will be confirmed shortly. Further information on the Hunt report is at http://www.hea.ie/en/node/1303. The AGMwill take place from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm and the Hunt report discussion will follow at 12.30 pm and the meeting will close at 2 pm.

EDIN Spring Meeting 24 March CELT NUIG

EDIN met at CELT in NUIG on Thursday 24 March. EDIN members from Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Athlone, Tipperary and Dublin attended the meeting and we were joined by colleagues from Waterford by video conference.

Dr Iain MacLabhrainn briefed members on the work of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching in NUIG. The remit and activities of the centre were discussed. The development and impact of NUIG Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy 2009-2011 was considered. This provided members with an understanding of how NUIG approaches educational development and the support of learning and teaching in a scholarly manner. Information about CELT is on their website http://www.nuigalway.ie/celt./

Dr Sharon Flynn then led the meeting in a discussion of plagiarism and the wide range of issues from the policy and system issues to the use of Turnitin as a text matching tool. The discourse around plagiarism and in particular its link to disciplinary policies and codes was explored. Key issues seem to be developing a shared understanding of plagiarism between staff in a department, identifying what lecturers want from students and then developing a shared understanding with students. Having a plagiarism policy is important and staff use of the policy is critical. This thorough consideration of plagiarism was very useful for EDIN members.

Thanks to EDIN Committee member Dr Michelle Tooher for organising the meeting and to our presenters Iain and Sharon and finally to EDIN members for attending the meeting.

EDIN Winter School 16, 17 February 2011

The EDIN Winter School 'Writing for Publication' took place last week on 16 and 17 February in Dublin. Educational developers from around Ireland attended and explored critical academic writing from a range of perspectives.

Writing for publication was the main theme and practical approaches to getting published were considered including choosing a journal, identifying impact factors and how the peer review process works. The role of editors and editorial board in a journal and how this varies from journal to journal was discussed.

Writing as part of the academic work of educational developers was explored. Developing a personal writing strategy was the focus of one session and examples of writing journeys were presented. Writing strategies such as writing groups and circles were discussed both for educational developers and for academics in general.

Educational developers also support academics as they develop writing skills themselves and with their students. Pedagogies of critical academic writing were suggested. The two days were highly interactive and the writing exercises used were most useful for developing and supporting critical academic writing.

Thanks to EDIN Committee members Dr Ciara O'Farrell and Dr Marian Fitzmaurice for organising and running the Winter School. Thanks to the presenters - Ciara, Marian, Helen Fallon, Roisin Donnelly, Geraldine O'Neill, Terry Barrett, Kelly Coate and Sarah Moore for a stimulating two days. The Winter School resources will be uploaded to the EDIN website shortly. Thank you EDIN members for attending.

EDIN Update January 2011

EDIN Winter School 16, 17 February 2011

The EDIN Winter School has been rescheduled for 16, 17 February and is booked out. Thanks to our presenters, the venue and our members. We look forward to 'Writing for Publication' and the educational development publications that emerge from the two days.

National Strategy for Higher Education in Ireland

The National Strategy for Higher Education in Ireland, commonly known as the Hunt report, was published in January. The report is available from the HEA website http://www.hea.ie/en/node/1303. This is an important report for higher education, teaching and learning and educational development. EDIN will be exploring the issues over coming months.