News & Events

“Innovative Futures: Engaging Learners” was the theme of the 8th annual UCD Teaching & Learning Symposium 2025, which took place at the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business on 7th May.

The symposium was opened by Professor Colin Scott, UCD Registrar, Deputy President and Vice President for Academic Affairs, who emphasised UCD’s role in leading in learning and supporting students at a time of changing student priorities, particularly the importance of learning for life and cultivating strong transversal skills. This was followed by a keynote address by an esteemed international speaker:

Dr Punya Mishra, Director of Innovative Learning Futures at the Learning Engineering Institute and Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton College of Teaching and Learning Innovation, Arizona State University, presented 'The Ecological Imperative: Redesigning Education for a Transformed World’. Dr. Mishra highlighted the different meaningful ways in which students engage with their learning, how pedagogy can be supported by technology, and the impact of Generative AI on teaching context in higher education.

The audience, comprised of UCD faculty, staff, and external audience members, then saw a short video created by the UCD Teaching & Learning Students as Partners, examining the future of education in UCD, the role of AI, and the assessment they believe most supports their learning. This was followed by an interactive session, in which attendees were invited to share their views on what ‘Higher Education’ means to them and the role of the university in relation to developing students’ AI literacy. Professor Colin Scott then presented a short piece about the ongoing development of the Centre for Future Learning building, which will include a high proportion of active and collaborative learning spaces, facilitating students’ active engagement with disciplinary materials in collaboration with their peers.

Session three consisted of 13 lightning talks presented on SATLE projects, highlighting for each project, the main objective, a key insight and a recommendation for a teaching and learning enhancement. The SATLE-funded projects were on themes of Academic Integrity and Ethical Practice, Online Learning and Assessment, and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The complete set of project case studies can be found on our SATLE page. The symposium also hosted a visual display of 18 SATLE posters for attendees to view during networking breaks.

The symposium was concluded by a plenary panel, chaired by Professor Marie Clarke, UCD Deputy Registrar, Dean of Learning and Teaching. The panel of speakers took questions from the audience and discussed their experiences teaching at a time of increased AI integration and how they implement new technologies and tools in their teaching practices. 

Presentations from the Symposium are available for UCD faculty and staff to access on the UCD Google Drive. (Staff UCD Connect login required).

For more information on the event, including speaker bios, consult the Symposium Programme 2025.