Date: May 30th

Time: September 26th

Time: 3:00pm

Venue: Room 1.23, First Floor, O’Rahilly Building, University College Cork, Western Road, Cork

Presenter(s): Emer Clifford

Event Details:

Students‚ understanding of a subject is often unmistakable; however the inability to effectively communicate this knowledge subsequently limits academic results. This gap is particularly prevalent amongst students transitioning from secondary to third level education.

Delivered by a team of postgraduate students, Learn to Succeed, is a study skills series for first year students in the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, University College Cork. By incorporating pedagogical and technical strategies with reflective learning practices, this project has realized many positive outcomes that enhance the whole student experience. This seminar will present the preliminary findings of the project, with focus on the following merits and pitfalls:

Study Skills Workshops: scheduling, content of workshops and student attendance.

Student Learning Journals: reflective practice as a means of autonomous learning and self-development.

Social-Media: a language learning resource tool and a means for underpinning study strategies and techniques.

Student Experience:

Undergraduate:

Bridging the gap; providing tangible skills that are transferable to all aspects of their adult lives.

Encouraging independent learning and critical thinking.

Assisting peer interaction.

Postgraduate:

Strengthening peer assisted, research-led teaching and learning.

Gaining teaching experience, managing an e-learning platform, correcting assignments and conducting research in education.

Learning Outcomes:

After attending/viewing this seminar, the audience will be able to:

1. Evaluate the benefits of peer assisted research-led teaching and learning.

2. Review the capacity for social media and other online applications as feasible resource tools that develop and sustain mutual interaction and feedback.

3. Measure the viability of a study skills and reflective learning initiative through tracing the academic development of students participating in the Learn to Succeed series.

4. Reflect and analyse how far these tools and approaches can be applied to one’s own area of teaching or research.

Contact: e.clifford@ucc.ie