Date: June 6th

Time: 14:00

Venue: Phoenix Meeting Room, Phoenix Building, North Campus, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare

Presenter: Dr Úna Crowley, Dr Catherine Mahon, Mr Simon Ahern, Mr David Martin, Mr Eanan Strain, International speaker(s) from the INSTALL project (TBC)

Event Details:

Successful engagement with academic tasks at third level can be influenced by whether the core skills and knowledge required to complete such activities have been developed. Exploring ways to support first year undergraduates in their transition to the higher education learning environment remains an important issue. In the Centre for Teaching and Learning at NUI Maynooth, research is being conducted into this issue through collaboration in European and institution-wide projects (e.g. Innovative Solutions to Acquire Learning to Learn [INSTALL] project).

Over the past year, a group-based learning initiative called Student+ has been piloted. The aim of Student+ is to help first year students feel increasingly prepared to engage with the types of learning activities encountered at university (e.g., academic writing, using technology, critical thinking). Students can choose to participate in face-to-face sessions or a blended programme incorporating online and campus-based sessions.

In this workshop, we will consider some of the key issues influencing the design and delivery of learning skills initiatives. International researchers from the INSTALL project will introduce a novel methodology (the Narrative Mediation Path) which was developed to promote one particular skill underpinning learning, namely, reflection. We will also present the Student+ model and outline the research findings.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. To gain first-hand experience of new methodologies designed to support the development of key skills contributing to learning.
  2. To engage in discussion about some of the issues, benefits and challenges associated with planning, implementing and evaluating learning skills programmes (both face-to-face and blended models).
  3. To share examples of practice in the area of learning skills initiatives across institutions.
  4. To encourage conversations about what might be done in the future in terms of designing and delivering effective learning skills supports for first year students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Contact: Ms Clare Cullen, Email: ctl@nuim.ie, Telephone: 01 708 6770