Life Sciences Teaching & Learning Morning 19.02.10

The inaugural College of Life Sciences Teaching & Learning morning took place on Thursday February 18th, 2010. The theme of the morning was ‘Challenges & Opportunities’ with a specific focus on the areas of graduate attributes, elearning and situated learning.  The morning commenced with two talks on graduate attributes. Mr Michael O'Leary from Glanbia talked about the need for graduates to be able to show initiative and take responsibility for ones work related performance and future learning. Following this, Mr Tom O Connor, UCD Fellow in Teaching, Learning & Academic Development, raised the issue of the dichotomy that exists between employer and educator perspectives upon graduate attributes, how these can differ and how both parties should work towards a greater understanding of what each can offer.

The second strand of the morning involved Dr Anne Drummond, holder of  a UCD Teaching Award, talking about situated learning and assessment. The thrust of Dr Drummond's talk was that in certain areas, students may benefit from teaching approaches that utilise the skills of practitioners as opposed to ‘academics’. Similarly, students may gain more from assessments that seek to address practice based issues. 

Finally, Ms Diane Cashman, UCD Educational Technologist, and Mr Niall Sclater, Director of Learning Innovation at the Open University talked about the challenges involved in developing elearning and the opportunities for students, teachers and institutions in providing education in this way. Central to both these presentations was that elearning should not be viewed as an initiative that provides ‘quick fix’ solutions, nor should it be viewed as a development that requires few resources. Rather, developing elearning  requires optimum levels of institutional commitment in order for it to become reality and be maintained as a method of teaching students into the future.

Feedback from attendees was that the morning was a positive experience and represented Teaching & Learning issues reverberating around the College at this time. The College Teaching & Learning committee would like to thank all who attended and took part.  To view the presentations, click below:

Criticality in Learning Mr Tom O'Connor
Situated Learning & Assessment Dr Anne Drummond
Continuing Veterinary Education Ms Diane Cashman