More photographs from the series can be viewed here.
The following is the schedule of seminars and workshops for our 2019/20 winter programme
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Date |
Title & Descriptor |
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Monday, 6th January 2020 |
Work Placement - An Innovative Approach to Developing & Enhancing Core Practitioner Competencies Presented By
Description Work placement is, at this stage, a mandatory element of many programmes within CIT and as such poses many challenges for those involved in the process, i.e. staff, students and potential employers. Since 1983, CIT’s Department of Process Energy and Transport Engineering has been offering the B. Eng. in Chemical & Biopharmaceutical Engineering, a full-time programme delivered over four academic years producing approximately 25 graduates annually, but in recent years this has increased to over 30. This programme predominately covers core chemical engineering and specific needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors but continues to ensure that graduates will meet the needs of traditional chemical industries, be equipped to travel globally and are able to guide the pharma sector as it transitions from traditional batch operation to continuous operation.The philosophy of the programme is to produce broadly educated, professional engineers, who have gained a thorough grounding in fundamentals, an understanding of the state of the art, a keen sense of application, an awareness of the impact on society of their decisions, and an ability to develop as new technologies emerge and as they encounter new problems and opportunities. This programme is subject to internal re-approval every 5 years, involving external experts and is externally accredited by professional bodies such as Engineers Ireland, nationally, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), internationally, to Master Level Meng (Level 9). To date, this programme has provided in excess of 750 graduates, the majority of whom work in Ireland, in the biopharmaceutical/pharmaceutical industry with many having risen to senior appointments. In this seminar, our colleagues from the Department of Process Energy and Transport Engineering gave an overview of how their industrial work placement module, worth 15 ECTS credits, which runs from the end of the third academic year to the end of the first semester of the award year, evolved and how it can enhance engineering competencies and therefore have a significant impact on the career paths of their graduating engineers. They shared best practise based on their research, carried out with the assistance of CIT’s AnSEO – The Student Engagement Office, and experience for the delivery of the professional work placement from execution, mentoring and assessment of same. Those attending this seminar gained a clear understanding of: • How the delivery of industrial hosted modules within engineering third level institutes can be improved • How an enhanced experiential learning experience can be created for final year students • How key industrial partnerships can be fortified by developing “culturally fit” graduates |
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Monday, 6th January 2020 |
Engaging Students in Deep Learning by Crowdsourcing Quality Questions Presented By
Description Deep Learning refers to the cognitive skills and academic knowledge that students need to succeed in the 21st century. These skills include critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration and learning to learn. The mastery of these skills will enable students to think flexibly and creatively, transferring and applying their learning from one context to new situations. This seminar looked at how one academic in CIT, Dr Anna Dynan, Accounting & Information Systems has used PeerWise, a free online platform, to provide a space where her students can collaboratively create, answer, discuss, and evaluate practice questions with peers and has thereby helped her students engage with unit concepts more deeply and critically. In this seminar, participants gained an understanding of:
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Tuesday, 7th January 2020 |
Developing Data-Enabled Student Success Strategies: What can we do with the data we collect to enhance student success? A Workshop Sponsored by Dr Barry O’Connor, President, CIT Presented By
Description This workshop, offered as part of the National Forum's Data-Enabled Student Success Initiative (DESSI), was structured to explore key themes around developing institutional strategies that maximise the value of learner and institutional data. This workshop was of interest to many including lecturing, student services, access, quality and policy staff as well as senior management, IT Services, Library, TEL etc. It was a highly collaborative event, facilitated by the DESSI National Coordinator, and gave a wide range of voices in the institution the opportunity to collaboratively explore some of the considerations that are critical for an effective, sustainable, strategic approach to using the data we collect to enhance student success. These included:
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Tuesday, 7th January 2020 |
CIT Learning Communities (LCs): Support & Development Session for Existing or Potential LCs Facilitated By
Description CIT’s Teaching & Learning Unit (TLU) launched an inaugural call in 2018 to develop and support a number of Learning Communities (LCs) across the institute and is currently working with 13 emerging LCs from across the institute as a direct result of this call. LCs facilitate the exchange of good teaching and learning ideas amongst its members and provide a platform for professional discussions and sharing of practices. The main purpose of this session was to support our current cohort of (LCs) but was also useful to those who would like to learn more about the benefits of initiating and sustaining an active LC. |
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Wednesday, 8th January 2020 |
How Good Conflict Can Develop Creative Learning Communities: A Seminar Funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Presented By
Description The value of Learning Communities, especially those that work across disciplines, is that they facilitate a sharing of expertise, knowledge and experience. Accessing ‘the wisdom in the room’ is often cited as the purpose of sharing in such communities. The word ‘dialogue’ in its original Greek form represents a process where new wisdom and insight is reached between two people which could not have been reached by either party on their own. Such a process inevitably involves the reconciling, fusing or synthesis of two or more, often conflicting, ideas or viewpoints often in an effort to clarify and articulate a common goal for the group. This seminar explored the need, nature, cause and value of conflict in the synthesis of new ideas, knowledge and learning. Participants interrogated the effectiveness of one of the most popular tools for understanding and dealing with conflict i.e. the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. In workshop format, participants explored their own preferred approach to conflict and used the Kilmann model to experiment with alternative approaches to conflict in order to promote meaningful dialogue in learning communities. Teaching and Learning Practice can be enhanced when people learn to better engage with colleagues, who have conflicting viewpoints, in a way that allows for all voices to be heard and that cultivates the positive restlessness which leads to new insights, consensus and action. On completion of this seminar participants had:
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Thursday, 9th January 2020 |
Mission Critical: Using ‘critical moments’, not ‘at risk’ students to flip our view of student success using Transitions Pedagogy A Seminar Funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Presented By
Description To understand what impedes student success, it has been common to consider the support provided to students ‘at-risk’, but what if we consider the idea of ‘critical moments’ instead? By identifying key critical moments that students encounter, we can design curricula and student support which can increase student retention and success. Therefore, we are more likely to reach a greater number of students while carrying out activities in a more cost-effective way. This is particularly the case where institutions have high numbers of widening access students, who are recognised as more vulnerable to dropping out or failing. First generation students may encounter more critical moments (family responsibilities, financial challenges, discrimination in some aspect of their experience, etc), and have less resources in place to pass through them successfully (family who have been to university, financial resources, confidence, social networks etc), This workshop drew facilitators with a European perspective and encouraged participants to think about and begin to understand the critical moments their students face in a discipline and wider student experience context. Time was spent identifying local critical moments, contrasting with known experiences across Europe and introducing the model of Transitions Pedagogy to consider practical approaches to reduce and support identified critical moments. The use of Transitions Pedagogy will help ensure any approaches are grounded in discipline context and curriculum planning. It is therefore a seminar that had particular relevance to all those who teach and those who support/manage teachers. Participants attending this seminar:
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Friday, 10th January 2020 |
REQUIRED - Research Ethics in QUestionnaIRE Design Presented By
Description There is a prevalence of survey usage across third level Institutes. Surveys are sometimes regarded as an easy approach to obtaining opinions and measurements. However, it is easy to conduct a survey of poor quality rather than one of high quality and real value. This seminar will provide a checklist of good practice in the conduct and reporting of survey research. Its purpose is to assist the participants to produce survey work to a high standard, meaning a standard at which the results will be regarded as credible. The seminar will first provide an overview of the approach to questionnaire design and then guide the participants step-by-step through the processes of data collection, data analysis, and storage. The seminar is not intended to provide a manual of how to conduct a survey, but rather to identify common pitfalls and oversights to be avoided by researchers if their work is to be valid and credible. Anyone involved in collecting data from subjects has an ethical duty to respect each individual participant’s autonomy. All surveys should be conducted in an ethical manner and one that accords with best practice. Confidentiality with regard to all participant information should always be respected, with due care given in both the collection, recording, storage and destruction of data. The seminar will highlight the importance and role of ethics, research integrity and data storage in questionnaire design. This seminar was particularly relevant to academic staff, i.e. lecturers, supervisors and researchers, but was also relevant to professional management support staff. Participants attending this seminar gained insights into:
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If you have any questions about any of the above seminars or workshops, please email tlu_team@mtu.ie.
