Module Coordinator

Dr Eamonn Delahunt

Module Code

Laboratory Investigations

School

School Of Physiotherapy & Performance Science

Grant amount

€880

This is a newly developed module which will be offered exclusively to BSc Health & Performance Science Stage 2 students. The module will be delivered in semester 2. Specifically this module has been created to give students exposure to laboratory testing and evaluation of human movement using state of the art motion analysis technology. The module will be delivered in the form of traditional lecture format as well as extensive interactive laboratory based tutorials. The innovative feature of this module will be use of extensive online video material and the use of screencast technology to aid students in their understanding of the correct steps required to perform and analyse human movement. It is felt that the use of screencasts and video tutorials will enhance student engagement. Furthermore, these innovative methods of teaching will foster a more active approach to student learning. The grant award will be used to purchase screencast software and also to allow for the professional production of video tutorials.

Module Coordinator

Dr Allys Guerandel

Module Code

MDSA40150

School

School Of Medicine & Medical Science

Grant amount

€3,500

Video clips and illustrations are being produced which form the basis for developing interactive e-learning material. The grant allows for shooting of the videos, hiring of actors and scripting for the videos. It also contributes to providing, utilising software to develop e-learning material. This material facilitates student learning by checking their own knowledge as they progress and by receiving feedback. The materials are designed using pedagogical principles that encourage a problem based type approach to learning and facilitate a deep approach to learning.

Module Coordinator

Dr Jaime Jones

Module Code

MUS20080

School

School of Music

Grant amount

€700

Musics of the World is a module for music majors designed to introduce them not only to the technical and practical aspects from musics outside the West, but also to the frameworks and methodologies that can be used to approach them. The grant that I received was used to give the students a chance to play a Javanese gamelan, which is an orchestra of gongs, xylophones, and drums, and consists of over forty different instruments. The students learned to perform several different pieces of music over a period of three weeks. It was an incredible opportunity for them to transform their abstract knowledge of how the music worked into practice.

Click here to see and hear the students playing a Javanese gamelan.

Module Coordinator

Ms Regina Joye

Module Code

Nurs 30650

School

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems

Grant amount

€2,251

This module addresses the need to consider the delivery of healthcare in the changed demographical profile of Irish society. Emerging cultural diversity challenges existing unicultural perspectives and requires those working in healthcare to acknowledge and recognise difference in order to alleviate potential prejudice and discrimination. This module aims to develop cultural competence in students which is concerned the delivery of care in a manner that is culturally sensitive to the needs of individuals, families and groups within a society. The following elements have been introduced to this module: Cross- Cultural Simulation Games-  BaFa BaFa  and Barnga  are effective methods for learning cultural awareness (Koskinen et al. 2008). The purpose of the BaFa BaFa and Barnga is to provoke emotional confusion in learners, thus sensitising then to perceive the world from the perspective of a culturally different person.  The games can evoke a variety of emotions in players such as suspicion, confusion, success and feeling of control,  and simultaneously sensitising the player  to their own vulnerability and helplessness  . There is an atmosphere of self discovery of one's own value and belief system, emotions, frustrations, empathy, decision making and problem solving.  Following the game the facilitator can assist the learners to reflect with each other on their attitudes, prejudices, racism and stereotypes and thus increase personal self-awareness and development of the concept of cultural competent care which will be reflected in their cultural - encounter exercise.

Module Coordinator

Dr Gabrielle Kelly

Module Code

STAT 30020 STAT 40220

School

School of Mathematical Sciences

Grant amount

€4,000

The aim of the innovation is that students in my Survey Sampling modules STAT 30020 and STAT 40220 will conduct meaningful, well-designed probability surveys on aspects of student life as part of their work. The topics include living on versus off campus, cost of living, dating, dieting,  part-time work/loans, student societies, sports on campus, plagiarism etc. These will be published in book form at the end of 2-3 years, depending on how many surveys are conducted per module offering. This will depend on number of students enrolled. I hired a post-graduate student this summer to browse the internet, facebook, newspapers, magazines etc. on these topics and she obtained summary information and relevant publications regarding these topics. This was not to pre-empt the student’s work in the module but rather to assist me in obtaining background information on each topic and better able to assist the students. In my proposal I explained the grant would be used over a period of two semester offerings. The postgraduate student this summer received 800 euro. A remaining 1600 will be spent next summer based on the experience this semester. This semester student numbers were small – 9 students in all, so only 2 surveys are being carried out.
The final publication I am aiming for will be done via 'desk-top' and will require collation, editing, photocopying etc. I shall employ a post-graduate for this and that will consume the remaining 2,600 euro of the budget. Any profits from publishing can be ploughed back into the module to ensure it remains innovative or to provide extra tuition to student’s who may need it.  

Module Coordinator

Mr Jonathan McNulty

Module Code

RDGY40590, RDGY30380

School

School Of Medicine & Medical Science

Grant amount

€4,833.33

The Philips Learning Centre is a resource containing high-quality content, validated by the UK College of Radiographers and the Royal College of Radiologists. Content will be integrated into a redesigned graduate and a new undergraduate module, with detailed evaluation of both which will facilitate novel educational research. These CT technology modules will be the first Diagnostic Imaging modules to integrate interactive e-learning including online discussion fora, digital formative assessment, and e-tutorials.
Our development of further online content would generate future royalties, if made available via the Learning Centre, making these modules self-sustaining and facilitating the introduction of online content to a wider range of modules.

Module Coordinator

Dr Ian Mercer

Module Code

PHYC10120

School

School of Physics

Grant amount

€2,500

This grant is being used to complete the conversion of Physics in Medicine (PHYC10120) to the first full problem based learning (PBL) module for SMMS Medicine programme. We are building upon a 2008 UCD Teaching Grant, which allowed us to successfully introduce a new focus of lab-based PBL that directly addresses clinical scenarios with core physics, encourages critical thinking, and encourages communication and peer support. The current grant is allowing us to complete the integration of laboratories with class tutorials and online problem solving.

Module Coordinator

Dr Emer O'Beirne

Module Code

FR 20040

School

School Of Languages & Literatures

Grant amount

€4,000

This core French language module now includes cutting-edge, web-based oral and aural language training, with monitoring and feedback from tutors. No longer tied to limited language-lab provision on campus, students follow a pathway designed for their level in their own time and at their own pace. Online pronunciation diagnosis allows students to work on individual problem areas of oral production in private; students with limited resources for travel to France benefit especially. By pioneering electronic self-study pathways supervised by course tutors, this module explores ways to meet staffing and infrastructural challenges while enhancing teaching quality and the learning experience.

Module Coordinator

Dr James Sullivan

Module Code

CHEM 10040

School

School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Grant amount

€3,350

The practical component of the module is being redesigned with an electronic version of the material being covered uploaded to blackboard the before the students attend the lab.
This version contains videos and animations relating to the practical. Currently these are embedded from textbooks and the web and links to external sites such as the Royal Society of Chemistry's Teacher Fellow site. It also contains worked examples of the data analysis methods carried out during the lab session.
Before the lab session the students read this material and subsequently answer (summatively assessed) blackboard-based quiz questions.
This encourages engagement of the students before the session.

Module Coordinator

Dr Jennifer Thompson

Module Code

MDSA10220

School

School Of Medicine & Medical Science

Grant amount

€520

Animation is under-used as a teaching tool, and studies to date have indicated that comprehension and recall are greatly enhanced when didactic teaching is supplemented with animations to clarify difficult concepts. We have purchased a drawing tablet to facilitate putting together basic drawings which can be combined to form a short animated movie using Flash technology.  At the simplest level, here, we have a series of drawings which when put together demonstrate folding of the embryo and the mechanism by which designated embryonic tissue (the presumptive diaphragm) moves from the top edge of the embryo into its intermediate position in the neck. In subsequent animations, we will show how the tissues migrate into their definitive positions, and how they relate to one another during development.  We also plan to demonstrate concepts in functional anatomy using this medium.