Teaching: our key to the future

1. Teaching: our key to the future

3. “Let’s change ‘brink of chaos’ to ‘Everything is wonderful.’”

4. 7 challenges for curriculum, teaching and learning Iain Mac Labhrainn

5. 7 challenges • Complexity • Academic Practice • Challenges of Teaching • Scholarly Community • Learner Engagement • Distinctiveness – local context • Wider context – external factors

6. (1) complexity

7. MP207 MI211 MP205 CH203 BI204 CS208 MA204 GE211 CH202 GE211 BT206 SI216 EP211-EP212 Z0205 MA211 MA286 AN205 EOS201 MA284 MA206 MM245 CT232 MA237 CT252 MP212 PM203 Law (LW343) & Maths Combination 1EM1, 1OA1 2BA1, 2BL1 2CW1, 3BA6 3BL1, 3CW1 1OA1 2BA1 2BS1 2EL1 2IF1 2BA1 2BS1 (1 student) 1EM1, 1OA1 2BC1, 2BC2 2BC3, 2BC4 2BC5, 2BF1 2CL1 MP209 MG203 MA204 CT230 MA237 2CS1 2EL1 * The Exam timetables of Arts, Commerce, Law & Science students are constrained by 1 student in 2BS1 taking a combination of MP207 & MA204 2PT1

8. Courses, Modules, Exams 2002: 2200 modules 2008: 3517 modules

9. Course offerings as competitive advantage • What is the ‘half-life’ of any new degree programme? • How long before it is offered in UCD, GMIT, etc? • How many years after inception do the numbers drop-off to half those of first year? • What is cost to existing programmes? • Is consolidation and raising reputation of core programmes necessarily a poorer strategy?

10. Complexity • Additionality? • Little incentive for improving existing courses cf developing new • Individual curricular creativity manifested through new programmes

11. (2) academic practice

14. Academic Practice • Teaching, research, community, public, clinical, consultancy, advisory, scholarship..…. • What does it mean for • An individual ‘academic’ • Collectively for an institution? • Teaching / Research – synergies or incompatibilities? Contextual factors • Reward/recognition

15. (3) Challenges of teaching

16. Academic Staff Survey 278 respondents breakdown by Faculty, age, gender, research/teaching, experience, qualifications, class sizes, etc

18. Approaches to Teaching Intention Strategy Information Transfer (IT) Teacher Focus (TF) Conceptual Change (CC) Student Focus (SF) ITTF CCSF ITSF CCTF

24. (4) ‘Community’ of scholars? • Individual or collective?

25. Trust Support Shared goals Common endeavour Space/time for discussion/sharing Shared risk-taking, creativity Grouped Student Evaluation PLT Peer review Course teams Building community?

26. (5) learner engagement

29. (6) distinctiveness

30. Distinctiveness – local context • An ‘also ran’ in league tables, or? • Identity? • Institutional culture attractive to • Students • Staff • Community

31. Distinctive/Intrinsic strengths? • Place & presence • University city, culture, communities • Do we really optimise the totality of the student ‘experience’? • Can we nurture greater intellectual engagement through idea of an academic space? • Learning communities

32. (7) Wider context ? • Return of fees • Merging of institutions • 70% participation target • (Graduate) unemployment • Public service ? • International • Ethics vs individual gain?

33. Conclusion? • Take stock • Look at actual capacity/resources • Develop programmes/courses that meet our needs, our goals and of which we can be proud • Survey/ purposes: • Development of ability to think critically

34. Learning, Teaching & Assessment Strategy • Scaffolding • Clarifies basic requirements • demotes them to routine • Gives students consistency on effort expected • If careful, ultimately frees up time and scope for creativity, innovation and academic issues