Despite the academic, practical and social benefits, the assessment of group work brings challenges . S In response to feedback from students and staff, a framework and set of guidelines around assessed group work were developed by Dundalk Institute of Technology's Learning and Teaching sub-committee of Academic Council. This article describes the…

The integrated STEM activity described in this article incorporated two investigations that sought to develop children's understanding of fair-testing: (1) the first parachutes: how does the angle of a parachute frame affect the speed of descent?; and (2) modern parachutes: how does the size of the parachute canopy affect the speed of descent?…

Despite the emerging discussions about the growing role of engineers in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a lack of agreement on which competences should be prioritised to prepare engineering students to resolve future sustainability challenges. This study examined and compared the views of key stakeholders of…

Face-to-face outreach activities with scientific researchers provide schools with tangible role models, real world context for the curriculum, and a unique shared experience for groups of students. Moving from face-to-face to online engagement at short notice represents a unique challenge for the continuation of many outreach activities. The…

As universities have made experiential learning opportunities available to more and more of their students, a question arises about what makes honors experiential learning distinctive (Donahue). In the university-wide honors program at Georgia Southern University, authors Steven Engel, and Howard Keeley asked this question about honors study…

Teachers' problem-based learning knowledge, abilities, and attitudes are important factors in successful K--12 PBL implementations. This article describes the development and use of a free, online module entitled "Design a Problem-Based Learning Experience." The module production, aligned with theories of andragogy, was a partnership…

Curriculum sequencing is central to promoting a coherent student experience. Yet in the higher education context, the concept and practice of curriculum sequencing have not been fully explored. This research examined how seven programme teams approached the issue of sequencing across two Irish higher education institutions. A phenomenological…

This article discusses the relationship between policy, research, and program development in mathematics teacher education. In particular, it considers the influences of policy and research along with social, economic, and cultural factors in the conceptualization and development of an undergraduate mathematics teacher education program in…

In 2008, I moved to the Republic of Ireland for 8 months to examine the independent learning of international students while they were simultaneously students and tourists. I was jointly supervised by a sociologist of education and an anthropologist of tourism, and throughout my doctoral project, I was pushed to account for my methodological…

The benefit of external, often industry-based, speakers for a seminar series associated with both undergraduate and graduate programmes is relatively unchallenged. However, the means by which such a seminar series can be encapsulated within a structured learning module, and the appropriate design of an accompanying assessment methodology, is not…

A growth in interest in Korean contemporary culture in Europe has benefitted Korean language studies in Higher Education. This article describes an innovative Korean language programme in the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Since its establishment as a pilot project in 2010, the Korean…

This article describes the development and implementation of an open-access organic chemistry question bank for online tutorials and assessments at University College Cork and Dublin Institute of Technology. SOCOT (structure-based organic chemistry online tutorials) may be used to supplement traditional small-group tutorials, thereby allowing…

A collaboration between three higher education institutions in Ireland and two European partners has resulted in the design and development of reusable learning objects for undergraduate programming students that would assist in their learning. This international project conducted extensive research of over 600 students' examination scripts in…

Continuing professional development (CPD) and life-long learning are vital to both individual and organisational success. For higher education, the intensive resource requirements requisite in the development of e-learning content and the challenges in accommodating different learning styles, developing an e-learning program can be a resource…

The current paper describes the design and development of a qualitative analysis course and an interactive web-based teaching and assessment tool called VSE (virtual structural environment). The widespread reliance on structural analysis programs requires engineers to be able to verify computer output by carrying out qualitative analyses.…