This report was informed by an interim review of building digital capacity, conducted by Dr Catherine Deegan from September 2016 to June 2017, by consultations with senior managers across Irish higher education, conducted by Dr Jim Devine in 2017 and by the work of the National Forum team during 2018
Ireland’s first national professional development framework (PD Framework) for all who teach in
Irish higher education was launched in 2016, following a period of extensive consultation across
the sector. An initial implementation (pilot study) was conducted during the academic year 2016-
2017, involving 230 staff from universities, institutes of technology and private colleges across 22
groups. This report presents findings from this initial implementation stage of the PD Framework.
This review maps the policy landscape for digital teaching and learning across higher education in Ireland, describing existing perspectives and practices and explaining how policies can enable excellent practice.
This report provides a detailed snapshot of the current state-of-play of the technology infrastructure which supports teaching and learning in Irish higher education. The review seeks to enhance and inform the work of the National Forum in assisting Irish higher education institutions in their efforts to achieve a coherent digital future.
This briefing paper aims to supplement our knowledge on transitions into Irish higher education by exploring the knowledge and experiences of those who come to Ireland from other countries to study at Irish higher education institutions. It is based on a survey of 573 international students, across five higher education institutions, who studied in Ireland during 2015.
The report looks at how learning analytics can be employed to the benefit of academic managers, staff and students. Employed intelligently, it can supply predictive models to better inform approaches to teaching, highlight what is working effectively and what is not and most importantly enable more focussed student interventions.
This report aims to inform the current enhancement theme of the National Forum by profiling documented assessment practices across a sample of 30 undergraduate degree programmes. Further, the study aims to explore whether and how assessment practices differ between fields of study and to share insights regarding students’ experiences of assessment across Irish higher education.
The National Forum, in partnership with the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, conducted a survey and interviews in 2016 of FET learners’ experiences of transition to higher education. A Forum Insight on Transition from Further Education and Training to Higher Education can be accessed here.
This report presents a conceptual model for professional development, based on the findings of a comprehensive national consultation process. It highlights the sector’s understanding of professional development, identifies some underlying values for the model and suggestions some teaching and learning domains for structuring the process. It presents some of the ideas and challenges for the model’s implementation and it concludes with some next steps in the professional development process.
This is the third of three snapshot reports arising from the professional development consultation document: Mapping Professional Development Pathways for those who Teach in Higher Education. The purpose of these report is to provide focused in-depth coverage of key topics; accredited, non-accredited and disciplinary engagement with professional development.
The aim of this series of reports is to give readers the opportunity to delve selectively or comprehensively into the underpinning research and benchmarking activity that has informed the proposals and options outlined in the professional development consultation document. Based on structured data-gathering and analysis as well as active engagement with key personnel across the sector, these snapshot reports allow the current arrangements for professional development in Irish higher education to be described and interpreted further in the context of prevailing research literature. This report gives an overview of the non-accredited continuing professional development (CPD) activity currently delivered across the sector.
