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This case study explores the student experience of the final year of a four-year undergraduate degree in ‘Education Studies’, with a focus on the perceived impact of curriculum design of the programme. The context is an Irish college of education, and the programme structure has been designed to allow for flexibility to accommodate varying student interests and professional pathways. As the first full iteration of the programme came to a close, it was considered an opportune time to ascertain if the programme was meeting its curriculum design objectives in terms of preparation for the chosen professional pathway post-graduation from both the student and staff perspective. Literature explored included learning ecologies, work-based learning, and the final year experience. Data was collected through a student survey, individual interviews with self-selecting students, and a focus-group interview with the programme development team. Findings suggest that students could clearly identify the development of skills, knowledge and competencies for the workplace through an internship; also highlighted was value in undertaking a dissertation for researching a topic of personal interest, with it noted as a challenging, intense experience. Having appropriate levels and different types of support for students facing the challenges in final year was a significant outcome. A model emerged for final year support in three contexts: pedagogic, workplace and research, and we argue that this is a main research contribution that this study makes to educational research. A discussion of implications for curriculum development in ‘Education Studies’ highlights the need for ‘cohesion’ workshops to be integrated to final year to synthesise student learning, embedding a formalised support structure in order for students to have a greater understanding of choices available to them post-graduation, and introducing a scaffolded approach to ePortfolio development to encourage innovation.

There are a range of emergent issues and practices in the supervisory role over the past number of years. This academic resource pack is research-informed and focuses on development needs for supervisors of postgraduate students. Research supervision has previously been regarded by academics as a private space (Stehlik, 2001). It has been seen as an intense, individual relationship between a research supervisor (master) and a research student (apprentice/protégé). More teachers now acknowledge the teaching aspect of their role as a supervisor and attempt to act as a mentor, facilitator and coach (Pearson & Brew, 2002).

By tradition, postgraduate supervisors work with their students on an individual basis. However with increasing numbers of part-­‐time and international students, and the current resource challenges being faced by Irish higher education institutions, supervisory relationships are now likely to be conducted in a more collaborative and connected way and new approaches are being developed to cope with the expanding student numbers, and the diminishing ratio of supervisors to students. Indeed, the recent National Strategy in Higher Education to 2030 calls for the sector to innovate and develop if it is to provide flexible opportunities for larger and more diverse student cohorts (DES, 2012). Sustainability is important in this initiative, specifically for continuing to build research capacity on Masters’ programmes and to promote the value of the ‘cascade’ effect of group feedback in the supervision process. This effect of the link between feedforward and feedback amongst fellow students and supervisors will be discussed in more detail in a subsequent section of this chapter.

Academic writing in the context of producing quality research articles is something which all academics engage in and there is evidence of increased attention to supporting the development of the writing and subsequent output of academics and research students. However, while scholarly writing is learnt in complex ways, critical thinking is an intrinsic part of such writing, and is highly valued across all the academic disciplines and indeed is a high priority on both employability and citizenship agendas. However, in practice the teaching of critical thinking is difficult and there is a lack of discussion about what it means within the context of the writing process. This study describes a pedagogic intervention with a group of academic staff to support the participants not only to explore critical thinking in their own writing, but also to consider in depth how they would apply this learning to their work with students in higher education. Within the context of an academic writing module on a postgraduate programme for academic staff in higher education, an action research approach was used with participants to improve their understanding of the role of critical thinking in the academic writing process. The data suggests that the pedagogic intervention resulted in greater confidence in terms of participants’ critical writing skills and also supported them to help their own students in the academic writing process. An exploratory model is proposed for critical academic writing encompassing a series of scaffolded in-class activities, virtual peer learning, and tutor feedback – culminating in the publication and dissemination of individual practice-based educational research.

The massification of higher education is now a global phenomenon Huge changes in the teaching and learning milieu within colleges. The forces of massification have brought multiple challenges with regard to pedagogy. What kind of pedagogy to employ? The role of the lecturer is to empower learning and it is challenging and complex. There is a need to employ a pedagogy which requires students to do things, to access information, to solve problems, to reflect on what they are doing and make connections to real world problems. Educational research has revealed a number of important lessons for educators: Importance of active and student-centred learning Importance of developing lifelong learning skills Importance of learning in context Students cannon be treated as “empty vessels” Students construct their own knowledge and understanding The potential of group learning Why active learning is to be developed: Encourage students to adopt a deeper learning approach Increase student motivation and hence engagement Achieve all levels of cognitive learning Allow students to interact with the unknown Allow students to develop and construct their own understanding based on what they already know Allow the students to take responsibility and be more independent Ensure the students are interacting with each other, the tutors and resources.

This Postgraduate Certificate in Third Level Learning and Teaching is located in the Faculty of Academic Affairs in the Technological University Dublin (DIT) and is aimed at new and existing academic staff in third level institutions in the Republic of Ireland, including lecturers, librarians, and academic support staff, the latter two having responsibility for teaching in their areas. It was initially offered in 2000, and is continuing apace today, with currently over 90 academic staff having successfully graduated from the programme. The lecturers have been drawn from within DIT and a number of higher education institutions throughout the Republic of Ireland, and a wide variety of subject disciplines in the Applied Arts, Science, Tourism and Food, Engineering, the Built Environment and Business have been represented. There is also a variation in terms of teaching spectrum ranging from lecturers working on apprenticeship courses to those involved in undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.

During the past fifty years third level education has expanded and diversified and the demands and expectations being placed on Higher Education Institutions are now formidable, with changes in the student body and increased pressure from government on costs, procedures and results. For academic staff, there are increased pressures through increased teaching loads, growing reporting and administrative requirements and pressure to develop and strengthen their research profile. Amongst academic staff surveys consistently report that teaching is a source of reward but staff say that they are working longer hours and dealing with a more diverse student group (McInnis, 2000). At the same time, they still wish to improve and innovate their practice by designing and delivering effective courses and modules. The increased size and diversity of the student group has impacted on the process of course design. Biggs (1999) offers valuable suggestions for course design strategies in the context of a growing student population and Knight (2002) argues for courses in higher education to be designed in order to maximize the chance that learners will experience coherence, progression and deep learning.

The background research to this paper is focused within the context of a Higher Education Institution in the Republic of Ireland. The question, which drove the main focus of the research as a whole is: - ‘How can the Institution improve Staff Development processes to enable staff to develop blended (including online) learning, to enhance Learning and Teaching? This paper describes a critical element of the main research process. In seeking to answer the question our individual participation in the research as agents as well as researchers is acknowledged. Clearly there are all kinds of questions of subjectivity, objectivity, distance and professional issues, which we recognise from the outset and it is a theme that we will return to later. The focus is broadly a research-based observation through an activity-based study, and while the conclusions recognize the limitations of general applicability, the work none-the-less makes a contribution to understanding some key issues regarding the reliability in identifying themes using Grounded Theory (GT) while investigating what theories underpin e-learning in the particular environment in which the research was conducted. A similar environment of staff development exists across the Higher Education spectrum and that may encourage further investigations, which could have broader application.

The aim of this chapter is twofold. Firstly to support academic staff from a variety of subject disciplines in higher education in the clarification between two different learner focused strategies, namely collaborative project-based (CPBL) and problem-based learning (PBL). Secondly, to provide practical advice to them to assist in the making of informed decisions as to when which strategy is most appropriate to use to support learning. These decisions will be based on a sound understanding of each strategy and a consideration of when each is most appropriate to use in enhancing the learning of their students.

This paper will discuss qualitative research that was conducted in our professional practice in supporting academic staff in third level learning and teaching in a higher education institution in the Republic of Ireland. The goal was to understand more fully the process of compiling a teaching portfolio through supporting the academic staff in their development of an authentic voice. A further concern of the study was to examine the extent to which the portfolio process promoted the development of skills such as reflection and self-evaluation and provided a structure for documenting and reflecting on learning and teaching for academic staff in higher education. Klenowski (2002) contends that "in the promotion of the portfolio for assessment and learning purposes there is the possibility that too much will be promised and that in practice a lot less will be achieved." Our concern was to understand what in practice was being achieved by the teachers developing the portfolio.

This chapter provides practical support and guidance to students around the ethical dimensions of undergraduate research with human participants. Ethical considerations are perhaps the most important aspect of any research project involving human participants, especially as they speak of the rights of individuals and groups within society. Ethics in research is as much about the process as the final product and emphasis is put on maintaining integrity throughout the life-cycle of the project. Although ethical issues can be challenging, novice researchers are expected to conform to the same principles, standards and norms as more experienced researchers. With this in mind, the principles that guide ethical decision-making are initially outlined and their application to each stage of the research process is subsequently discussed. This discussion is further enhanced through the provision of expert tips and the use of audio clips from students illustrating how ethical issues can be managed within projects.