What we do
Mission
Our mission is to foster a culture of continuous enhancement of teaching and learning - supporting staff to deliver inclusive, innovative and research-informed teaching that leads to engaging and meaningful learning experiences for all UCD students.
Values
Professionalism, integrity, collaboration, inclusiveness, respect & empathy, creativity.
Objectives
- Lead and or contribute to strategic educational initiatives in response to current institutional needs and priorities.
- Provide a suite of professional development offerings for those who teach and support student learning.
- Recognise and reward those who demonstrate excellence in teaching and supporting student learning.
- Promote, learn from and extend the reach of exemplary and innovative teaching practices.
- Support evidence-based approaches to the enhancement of teaching and learning through research and scholarship.
- Expand and maintain networks of leaders and enthusiasts of teaching and learning to extend and shape practice across the university community.
Supporting those who teach
We support the professional development of faculty and those who support teaching and learning through a range of accredited programmes, workshops, consultancies and events. Members of faculty are strongly encouraged to enrol on one of our accredited programmes in University Teaching and Learning (UTL). Bespoke workshops and seminars are also offered to those new to university teaching, including early career faculty, tutors and demonstrators and postdoctoral researchers interested in developing their teaching skills. The ‘Resources’ section of our website contains a selection of evidence-based resources on key teaching and learning topics to facilitate self-directed learning and immediate access to help. Topics covered include: Teaching Toolkit; Module and Programme Design; Assessment and Feedback; Technology Enhanced Learning; and Review and Research your Teaching.
From time to time school and programme teams will come together to plan, develop and review their educational offerings. We can provide customised workshops to meet the specific needs of your team, as once-off activity or as part of an ongoing development process.
Our annual Teaching and Learning Symposium brings together research, international expertise and the shared experience of colleagues on a topical theme. It offers an excellent opportunity to meet-up with and learn from colleagues from across the university.
Awards, Grants & Fellowships
The provision of awards, grants and fellowships is just one of the ways that the University highlights the importance and value that its places on teaching excellence and innovation. UCD Teaching and Learning plays a central role in developing, coordinating and administering the various schemes.
Teaching and Learning Awards
There are two Teaching and Learning Award schemes, Teaching Excellence Awards and Awards for Exceptional Contribution to Learning. Both schemes are tiered, with awards at college and university level. The schemes run biennially with the next iteration scheduled for 2022.
Teaching Grants
From time to time internal and or external funding becomes available to support innovation and enhancement in teaching and learning activities. The funding may be directed towards small seed-funding grant schemes or more significant grants to support intra or inter institutional initiatives. The outputs of recently funded calls are showcased on the Learning Enhancement Projects and Academic Advising Projects pages. The latest funding call is for SATLE funding.
We liaise with the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning on behalf of the University and promote and support engagement in their funding calls as they arise.
Fellowships
The Fellowships in Teaching & Academic Development are part of an institutional development structure to encourage greater numbers of faculty to focus on advancing university-wide enhancement in teaching and learning through strategic policy/practice-based research. The fellowships offer a mechanism to reward individuals for these contributions. Fellows are selected through a competitive process, generally on a cycle of every 2-3 years.
Current Focus
In response to priorities set out in the UCD Education Strategy, UCD Teaching & Learning leads and contributes to strategic educational initiatives. Current areas of focus include:
Teaching and Learning Community
The UCD Teaching and Learning Community is where you can discuss topics related to teaching and learning in UCD and keep up to date on new events, projects and opportunities. Have you found an interesting piece of research? Did you try something new in your teaching? Do you want feedback on something related to teaching and learning? Share it with us! The Community includes almost 500 members of faculty and other colleagues, and is private to UCD staff.
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