January 2009

HTTP://WWW.LIN-IRELAND.COM Issue 5 – January 2009

Learning Innovation Network Newsletter
ACADEMIC PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT (APD) On the 30th of January, Professor Tom Boyle, Director of the
Learning Technology Research Institute (LTRI) in London
Metropolitan University, will facilitate a workshop for the
In December 2008, the Academic Professional subgroup on the development of reusable learning objects
Development subgroup continued the design and (RLOs) which will be used to support the delivery of the new
development of the agreed new programmes for 2009. It programmes.
was a very busy month for all of us and we were very
fortunate to get Dr. David Baume to facilitate a day long If you would like further information about these modules
workshop (held on the 17th December in the Dublin please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick
Institute of Technology) on designing curriculum for (noel.fitzpatrick@dit.ie)
academic staff development.

Dr. Baume is a leading specialist in the design of
academic development programmes in the UK and has
worked with SEDA (Staff and Educational Developers
Association) on the development of its programmes.

Dr. Baume's very interactive workshop on the 17th
December was preceded by a two day workshop
organised by EDIN (The Educational Developers in …………………………………...
Inside this issue
Ireland Network) on Curriculum Design. Thus, by the time
Dr. Baume arrived, all of the participants were very keen
to get down to the business of designing the new
modules. Academic Professional Development Page 1
LIN Portal Page 2
One of the interesting outputs of this workshop was the LIN Teaching Awards Page 2
definition of the professional values and competencies of Recommended Read Page 3
a third level lecturer/teacher and the translation of these We Need Your Help Page 3
values into concrete programme/module learning For Your Diary Page 3
outcomes. ‘EYE’ on GMIT Page 4
Quotable Quotes Page 8
This was a very challenging but worthwhile exercise for
all of those involved.
Contact Us Page 8

Now that the overall framework for the development of
the Academic Development Programmes has been
underpinned by a set of agreed values and
competencies, the subgroup is ready to move onto the
design phase of the programme development.

Page 1


LIN PORTAL LIN TEACHING AWARDS

The LIN portal will have the following features; Angelo and Cross contend that “the quality of student learning
o Linkages to every IoT is directly, although not exclusively related to the quality of
o Search teaching. Therefore, one of the most promising ways to improve
o Content will be organized into tabs with every learning is to improve teaching (Angelo and Cross, ‘Classroom
IoT having their own tab containing institute Assessment Techniques’, Josey Bass, 1993). This raises the
specific content e.g. DKIT will have information question, what are the criteria for excellence in teaching?
specifically relating to Dundalk Institute of
Technology i.e. staff news, workshops etc. Thompson et. al. in their paper “Developing an institutional
o In addition to tabs containing content related to framework for rewarding excellence in teaching: a case study”
each IoT, there will also be tabs containing (Quality Assurance in Education, 1998, Volume: 6, Issue: 2,
teaching and learning related content e.g. Page: 97 – 105)” argue that excellent teaching is teaching
assessment, e-learning etc. which supports the students in achieving high quality learning.
o Content will mostly be based on RSS feeds. They contend that excellent teachers thus need a range of skills
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for to help them become effective managers of the student learning
delivering regularly changing web content. Many process. Excellent teachers would need to be able to: use a
news-related sites, weblogs and other online range of learning and assessment methods; work effectively
publishers’ syndicate their content as an RSS with their peers and help their students become effective
feed to whoever wants it. RSS feeds allow users learners (ibid).
to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest
content from the sites in which they are Whilst the establishment of criteria for teaching excellence has
interested. The beauty of RSS feeds is that they proven controversial; establishing acceptable measures or
enable the users to save time by not needing to evidence of teaching excellence has raised yet even more
visit each site individually complaints (Peters, John, ‘Can Identifying and Rewarding
o Under each tab, information will be structured Excellent Teaching Improve Student Learning?’, Educational
into small moveable windows called widgets. A Development, 9, 1, Feb. 2006).
widget can be an RSS aggregator. An
aggregator allows the user to grab the RSS Regarding the views of academic staff on teaching awards
feeds from various sites and display them for extant in their institutions, results from the sectoral Teaching
reading. As an example, a widget (entitled Irish and Learning Survey of 2008, showed that,
News) can be set up to receive irishtimes.com o Respondents in general demonstrated a lack of
RSS feeds. The best thing about using RSS awareness of extant awards in their own institution
feeds is that the content is continuously updated o From a total of 737 respondents, only 10 individuals
o Whilst users will be able to easily create new indicated that they had ever applied for a teaching
widgets, the infrastructure will also contain pre- award. This low level of application is commensurate
defined widgets (which the user can select if with findings from research (Jackson, Michael, ‘Great
he/she wishes) such as google news, document classroom teaching and more’, International Journal of
storage, to do list, calendar, mail etc. Educational Management, Volume 20, number 4, pp.
o The tabs will be easily customisable by the user 261-267, 2006). The indicated reasons for this lack of
(i.e. edit/move/rename/delete/add) staff participation in awards schemes range from the
o The user will also be able to change the look and modesty of academic staff in self-promotion, the time
feel of the portal required for application preparation and the lack of
o In addition to the front page for the LIN portal, clarity of the manner in which the selection process is
users will also have both a private and a public made
space. Both can be customised and shared with o The survey found that whilst the experience of those
others individuals who had applied for teaching awards was
o Once the front page for the portal has been valuable from both an intrinsic (i.e. the satisfaction of
customised by the user, the settings are preparing an application and in some cases the receipt
automatically saved for subsequent visits of the award) and an extrinsic (i.e. the recognition from
colleagues and peers) perspective, others indicated
If you would like to have further information about that the application process was too time consuming,
the portal, please do not hesitate to contact certain steps irrelevant and the procedure complex
Dr. Attracta Brennan (attracta.brennan@gmit.ie)

Page 2


o A number of respondents indicated fears
We would also appreciate it, if you would send us
regarding the complexity of a fair judgment of the
recommendations for books related to teaching and learning
teaching process from an inter and intra
which you found especially insightful and helpful in addition to
institutional and an inter and intra disciplinary
any recommendations for useful teaching and learning urls
perspective. "Many Institutes will have an unfair
(papers, tools, videos, blogs etc.).
advantage over others i.e. funding, basic
facilities. Also different cognitive fields require
various methods of teaching/learning." Bowden
also questioned whether or not it was “possible FOR YOUR DIARY
to define the work of faculty in ways that reflect
more realistically the full range of academic and LIN
civic mandates? (Randall G. Bowden,
‘Scholarship Reconsidered’, Journal of the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Volume
30th January - Dublin
7, number 2, pp. 1 – 21, October 2007)”. Developing Blended Learning Modules – by Prof. Tom
Boyle, Director of the Centre for Excellence for the Design,
Development and Use of Learning Objects, London
Metropolitan University

Contact Mary Fox (mary.fox@gmit.ie) to confirm your place at
RECOMMENDED READ this workshop. Attendance is free but places are limited.
W: http://www.lin-ireland.com/index.php?title=Workshops

“Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to OTHER
Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and
Promote Student Learning” by Danielle D. Stevens 22nd January – University of Ulster, Belfast
and Antonia J. Levi 7th Annual eLearning Conference - Supporting the
iGeneration.
Recommended by Attracta Brennan W: http://www.campusone.ulster.ac.uk/elearn2009/
Rubrics are both a tool and a method for communicating
expectations. Academic staff need to use rubrics,
because they tell students how they will be graded on an LIN PICKS
assignment. Because they define all of this up front,
rubrics make a lecturer's job of grading assignments LIN picks for this month’s issue include;
much easier. Plus, they give students the guidance they
need in order to complete the assignment. This book IBERRY – THE ACADEMIC PORTHOLE
defines what rubrics are, and how to construct and use Free access to Higher Education (HE) Resources and Open
them. It provides a complete introduction for anyone Courseware (OCW) from the Universities and Colleges of the
starting out, to integrate rubrics in their teaching. world. Site also contains the latest HE and educational
technology newsfeeds and blogs.
W : http://iberry.com/
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
DELIBERATIONS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING IN
HIGHER EDUCATION
Content includes extracts of published articles in learning and
We would love to hear of your own personal experiences teaching, case studies on teaching and learning, articles
resulting from your involvement in teaching and learning contributed by readers, comments and discussion between
initiatives and/or projects. Please send any participants on learning and teaching issues, links to related
comments/insights/anecdotes/stories resources and relevant publishers and much more.
to mary.fox@gmit.ie. We will send a flash drive to the W: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/deliberations/
author of those experiences we publish.

Page 3


‘EYE’ on GMIT
RESEARCH UPDATE IN HERITAGE John Kelly, the Director of the Galway Medical Technologies
STUDIES AT GMIT Centre (GMedTech), has extensive experience in leading product
development activities for several of Ireland’s most prominent
Following a HETAC panel visit, GMIT was recently given medical device companies. During his time with these companies,
the go ahead to run Ph.D.s in the area of Heritage he recognised the need for more reliable anatomical models.
Studies. GMIT Masters graduate, John Towler, has
become the first registered Ph.D. student and is Funded by Enterprise Ireland, GMedTech (www.gmedtech.ie) was
presently pursuing a study of Galway city’s established in 2006 to offer a broad range of engineering
transformation during the course of seventeenth century. design/development support services to the developers of medical
devices. GMedTech is also involved in research, specifically
At Masters level, Charlene Bloe – who has previously focusing on the development of in vitro simulation test systems
worked as a festival organiser – has commenced (that closely mimic human anatomical systems) in order to serve
research on an M.A. thesis entitled ‘The Potential of the needs of medical device companies and medical practitioners.
Developing New Themed Festivals for Galway’s
Off-Peak Tourism Season’. Her work is being funded by Device companies located in the West of Ireland became the first
the Technological Sector Research Strand I target ‘market’ for the GMedTech Centre. As the majority of these
Postgraduate R&D Skills Programme. Both of the above companies developed and manufactured devices for the treatment
projects are being supervised by Heritage Studies of vascular diseases, the GMedTech centre initially developed
lecturer, Dr. Mark McCarthy and conducted under the simulation models of the vasculature. These models are currently
auspices of the ‘Irish Heritage, Culture and Arts’ research being used by product development engineers from several device
group, based in the School of Humanities. Meanwhile, companies, to test devices for the treatment of aortic aneurysms;
the results of a previous project (funded by GMIT’s coronary artery disease and cranial aneurysms. The feedback
Internal Research Fund) on genealogy tourism have just from the users of these simulation systems has been that the
been published in Volume 18 of the Polish tourism GMedTech systems more faithfully replicate the human anatomy
journal Turysm, by Marta Gergelyova, Mark McCarthy than other systems which the product developers had utilised in
and Monica Nielsen. Mark McCarthy himself is currently the past.
engaged in the writing of a book dealing with the 1916
Rising and modern memory. Finally, the urban John Kelly explained that the GMedTech researchers go to great
development of Loughrea is the focus of a study being lengths to ensure that the models better mimic the nuances of the
conducted by Heritage Studies lecturer, Paul Gosling (as human anatomy. “We use MRI & CT scans to understand the
part of the Royal Irish Academy’s Irish Historic Towns topography of the anatomy. We have identified materials that
Atlas). For further details, contact Dr. Mark McCarthy. closely match the properties of the vessels being modelled and we
source materials that closely mimic blood; as well as developing
pump systems to push the ‘blood’ through the vessels in a realistic
fashion” he said. The Centre uses materials such as silicone and
polyvinalalcohol, materials with which the GMedTech researchers
have become expert in handling.

GMedTech researchers work as a tightly focused team. “There are
Engineers face many hurdles when developing novel three engineers, seven post grads, and myself in the team” said
medical devices. However, the final hurdle; John. As well as considerable experience in the development of
understanding how the patient and the device work test systems, the team also has a wealth of experience in medical
together; is often the most challenging. Traditionally, the device design. Probably because of this mix of experiences, the
product developer relied on fairly rudimentary anatomical Centre staff are increasingly finding that they are being asked to
models in the test laboratory in order to increase aid device companies in designing out product issues that have
confidence that the new device would be likely to perform been identified through the process of testing the new devices on
effectively in the human body. Testing in the lab would the simulation systems developed by the Centre”.
then be followed by a clinical trial on a large number of
patients to confirm that the device was indeed safe and Further information on the GMedTech Centre can be obtained by
effective. Unfortunately, cases have been cited where; contacting:
although anatomical models indicated that the new
device would perform well in humans, problems arose in Mr. John Kelly, Centre Director, GMedTech
the clinical trials; problems which forced the trial to be Tel: +353-91-742870 Email: john.kelly@gmit.ie
halted and the device to be redesigned.

Page 4


‘EYE’ on GMIT
CISET : CENTRE FOR THE INTEGRATION
OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
TECHNOLOGIES
As sub-zero degree Celsius temperatures persists and oil prices
rebound upwards it is comforting to know that over 20
academic/technical staff and postgraduate researchers within
GMIT’s Centre for the Integration of Sustainable Energy
Established in 2005, the SHELLTEC Applied Research Technologies (CiSET) are working to deliver low-cost, reliable and
Centre conducts multi-disciplinary research on the sustainable energy technologies for the future.
condition and responses of crustaceans and molluscs to Supported by the Institutes’ ‘Build Environment’ strategic research
manmade and natural stressors. The main research theme, CiSET’s mission is to ‘minimise CO2 emissions through
themes of the centre explore: the research, integration and demonstration of cost effective and
reliable sustainable energy technologies’.
1) Post-capture handling, storage and transport stresses
in live shellfish marketing chains, and the development of CiSET explores sustainable technologies that encompass energy
new technologies to reduce their impacts; demand and supply for a range of applications that include the
build environment (domestic and commercial) and other industrial
2) Development of environmental monitoring techniques applications, such as agriculture and aquaculture. CiSET
and protocols for novel contaminants in the aquatic recognises the need for improved system design to minimise the
environment using shellfish as markers (marine and overall energy requirement and new technologies and
freshwater); methodologies to integrate the sustainable solution more
effectively.
3) Shellfish pathogens and parasites in the wild and
captivity, and ways in which management can prevent or CiSET continues to build its research and demonstration
reduce associated impacts. infrastructure and by summer 2009 it will operate the following
sustainable energy (demand and supply side) technologies:
The means by which these themes are explored range i) automated weather station
from simple, standard laboratory tests to the
discovery/elucidation of novel protein biomarkers. The ii) four-zone thermally insulated underfloor heating system
ultimate goal of the Centre is to conduct highly applied iii) air-to-air and compost waste-to-air heat recovery systems
research that has a positive impact on industry, society
and/or the environment health, and in doing so promotes iv) five different thermal energy storage (water, ground and
sustainable regional development. Staff at the Centre phase change material) facilities
continually interact with stakeholders and development v) energy management and control system (aquaculture
agencies to ensure that the most effective and suitable, recirculation facility)
maximized added value technologies and methodologies
are evolved through a process that is supported by vi) two biomass boilers
robust, peer-reviewed applied research output. Through vii) two 15kW ground-source and two air-source (5kW and
these interactions the Centre aims to be highly 8kW) heat pumps
responsive and reactive in identifying core knowledge
gaps and the research pathways to obtaining solutions. viii) four small scale (2.5kW – 15kW) wind turbines
ix) six solar photo-voltaic collector panels
The success of the centre to date has recently been
acknowledged by the addition of further laboratories to x) twelve solar thermal (flat plate and evacuated tube)
the centre (proteomics, cell culture, microbiology and collectors.
mass spectrometry) and capital equipment including
These systems will be supported by data acquisition systems that
Q-PCR, 2DE electrophoresis optimizer, DIGE gel
enable continuous performance monitoring. CiSET researchers
bio-imaging system and a Q-TOF mass spectrometer for
are pleased to provide further details of these facilities or indeed
de novo sequencing, post-translation modification and
discuss future projects with potential industrial or academic
the profiling of biomarkers. The resources at the Centre
collaborators.
are available for collaborative projects with
Dr. John Lohan (john.lohan@gmit.ie), Dr. Thomas Roche
applied/commercialization researchers from all HEI’s (tom.roche@gmit.ie), Dr. PJ McAllen (pj.mcallen@gmit.ie), Dr. Oliver
(www.shelltec.ie). Mulryan (oliver.mulryan@gmit.ie).

For further details contact martin.robinson@gmit.ie. Centre for the Integration of Sustainable Energy Technologies.

Page 5


‘EYE’ on GMIT
The new three-year programme will provide graduates with
excellent written and oral skills, as Gaeilge, for management and
GMIT PRESENTS SCHOLARSHIPS TO administrative roles in a modern office environment. The course
TWELVE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS has a high information technology component and will also have a
compulsory work placement in second and third year. All lectures
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) presented will be delivered through the medium of Irish.
twelve scholarships to first year students from counties
Galway and Mayo, under its new Access Scholarship Larry Elwood, Head of the School of Business, GMIT, says: “The
Programme. School’s decision to offer this programme arose directly as a result
of the drive initiated by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in
The twelve scholarships comprise a substantial monetary 2006 to increase the supply of graduates with specific Irish
component and supports for the duration of the student’s Language capabilities. Funding has been provided by the HEA to
programme of study. They were presented to the provide the course which has an anticipated intake of twenty
students at a reception in GMIT recently hosted by GMIT students.”
President Marion Coy and attended by career guidance
teachers from the students’ respective secondary “Given the status of Irish as an official EU language and the
schools. requirements being placed upon public bodies by the Languages
Act, the need for graduates who can conduct business through the
GMIT Registrar Bernard O’Hara says: “The Institute is medium of Irish combined with an in-depth knowledge of the
delighted, thanks to a private donor, to provide special modern office and business environment, is likely to grow over the
Access scholarships this year. The geographical spread coming years.”
of the winners ranges from Belmullet to Oranmore and
from Carna to Ballygar. We wish the students well in For further details contact larry.elwood@gmit.ie
their endeavours and thank all the secondary schools for
their work on the students’ behalf.”

STUDENT LEADERSHIP (SIF II PROJECT)
GMIT is the lead institute implementing a major SIF II project on
Student Leadership. The project was allocated over €2m in
funding by the HEA last March. However, this amount was
considerably reduced in the amount received for the first year of
the project.

Student Leadership consists of two strands: ‘Student Led
Learning’ in collaboration with Athlone Institute of Technology and
‘Curriculum Reform’ in collaboration with NUI, Galway.

Strand One: Student Led Learning (AIT partner)
This strand is centred on students’ engagement in their learning,
their impact on the change agenda of the participating institutes
and their longer-term leadership role.

Strand Two: Curriculum Reform (NUIG partner)
GMIT President Marion Coy at the recent presentation of
This strand aims to design a model for continuous curriculum
scholarships to twelve first year students of the Institute.
development at institutional, programme and module level. This
collaboration between GMIT and NUI, Galway will focus on the
GMIT OFFERS NEW IRISH DEGREE practical aspects of the implementation of Bologna and the
IN OFFICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS National Qualifications Framework (NQF) in the two institutions.
AND ADMINISTRATION The collaborators have different experiences and emphases to
date and the focus will be on curricular reform and the related
The School of Business at Galway-Mayo Institute of quality imperatives. Joint peer review of activities and learning
Technology (GMIT) has launched a new BA degree i from other sectoral partners will be an inherent part of the strand.
gCórais Faisnéise agus Riaracháin Oifige (Office
Information Systems and Administration).

Page 6

GMIT LETTERFRACK – BSC (HONS) IN
‘ ‘EYE’ on GMIT DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION
The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology’s courses in Letterfrack
are run in partnership with Connemara West (a community and
Modularisation is a key strategic objective of GMIT and rural development organisation based in North-West Connemara).
this project enables the institute to continue this Since 1987, the partnership has managed and run programmes
transformation. related to all aspects of the furniture industry. Currently the college
has 234 full time students. GMIT Letterfrack is a very unique
Progress to-date campus in the third level sector. Nestled in the heart of north-west
Progress to-date has been impressive considering the Connemara the college has developed over the past 20 years into
project only began proper in October. This is attributed to an internationally recognised educational centre of excellence for
the management structure, making a number of key furniture technology, manufacture, design and conservation.
appointments to the project and good working relations
with our partners. Programmes at GMIT Letterfrack have been designed and
developed in response to the ever changing needs of the Irish
Considerable effort has been invested in setting up and furniture industry and all programmes include professional work
piloting the PAL project with Athlone Institute. This placements as part of the programme syllabi. In 2006 however,
programme will be piloted this term in four individual this campus embraced a new discipline and launched a 4 year ab-
courses in each institute. Both students and staff are initio programme entitled Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Design
very excited about this new innovation. Following and Technology Education. This programme educates students to
evaluation of the pilot PAL will be mainstreamed to all become teachers in the fields of post-primary technological
programmes commencing in September 2009. Further subjects. It was developed in response to a demand for
information on PAL is available on the AIT and GMIT improvements in the confidence and ability of the current
websites (www.gmit.ie/pal). graduates to demonstrate the required knowledge, skills and
competence to teach these particular subjects. The programme
GMIT developed and approved a common institute modules and syllabi have been designed to reflect the changes
module called Learning to Learn (L2L) and this will be taking place in those subjects at second level, particularly in
mandatory for all first years starting in Sept. ’09. This Design and Communication Graphics which now has a greater
module is quite novel as only the learning outcomes are emphasis on design, sketching and computer modelling.
prescribed in the module descriptor, allowing each
discipline area to contextualize the delivery and content. The first intake of students on the programme was in September
The key rationale for the module is to ease the transition 2006 and this group will graduate in October 2010. The
from second to third level. programme incorporates intensive skills building in first year and
education modules are introduced in the second and subsequent
An assessment seminar and workshops was held in years. Students undertake micro teaching and undergo an
December on innovative assessment methodologies ‘Observation’ week in second year, while two teaching practice
which was very well attended and received positive blocks take place in the third and final year of the programme.
evaluations. A staff development day to support the
student leadership curriculum initiatives is scheduled for The programme has been strongly endorsed by many education
mid-February and is open to the partner institutions. stakeholders such as the Department of Education and Science,
the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, HETAC and
Progress is ongoing in relation to the introduction of an IT the Techno Teachers Association, with whom the college has a
system to store, monitor and track changes to modules. close association. This is a hugely positive development, not just
This is important from a QA perspective but equally from for GMIT Letterfrack, but also for the Institutes of Technology of
a student engagement perspective it allows informed Ireland as it is the first programme of its kind in the sector and it
choice to be made in relation to electives for existing builds upon the strong technological aspects of programmes and
students and programme selection for prospective expertise which already exist within the Institutes of Technology.
students. It also affords staff the opportunity to design
new pathways to awards by having access to the In September 2009 GMIT Letterfrack will also offer its first Higher
complete module descriptors. Diploma in Education (Technology). This programme has been
specifically designed to allow graduates of other programmes in
Letterfrack to also qualify as teachers of technology subjects at
Planning has already started with NUIG on hosting a second level. This programme is a twelve month programme and
major conference in June on ‘Curriculum in Higher also incorporates two teaching practice blocks in secondary
Education and Assessment.’ Progress is only possible schools.
with the support of staff and management. Fortunately
this project is strongly supported by all stakeholders and
will continue to achieve it’s objectives as a consequence.

Page 7


QUOTABLE QUOTES

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the
new year in. A pessimist stays up to make
sure the old year leaves - Bill Vaughan

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to
get it right - Oprah Winfrey

CONTACT US
LIN Project Coordinator
Dr. Attracta Brennan
o T: 091-742150,
o E: Attracta.brennan@gmit.ie

LIN Learning Development Officer
Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick
o T: 01-4027882,
o E: Noel.Fitzpatrick@dit.ie

LIN Administrator
Mary Fox
o T: 091-742154,
o E: Mary.fox@gmit.ie

Samples of work from first year students

Issue 2 – October 2008

Page 8

January 2009

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