Work placement is, at this stage, a mandatory element of many programmes within CIT and as such poses many challenges for those involved in the process, i.e. staff, students and potential employers. Since 1983, CIT’s Department of Process Energy and Transport Engineering has been offering the B. Eng. in Chemical & Biopharmaceutical Engineering, a full-time programme delivered over four academic years producing approximately 25 graduates annually, but in recent years this has increased to over 30. This programme predominately covers core chemical engineering and specific needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors but continues to ensure that graduates will meet the needs of traditional chemical industries, be equipped to travel globally and are able to guide the pharma sector as it transitions from traditional batch operation to continuous operation.The philosophy of the programme is to produce broadly educated, professional engineers, who have gained a thorough grounding in fundamentals, an understanding of the state of the art, a keen sense of application, an awareness of the impact on society of their decisions, and an ability to develop as new technologies emerge and as they encounter new problems and opportunities. This programme is subject to internal re-approval every 5 years, involving external experts and is externally accredited by professional bodies such as Engineers Ireland, nationally, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), internationally, to Master Level Meng (Level 9). To date, this programme has provided in excess of 750 graduates, the majority of whom work in Ireland, in the biopharmaceutical/pharmaceutical industry with many having risen to senior appointments. In this seminar, our colleagues from the Department of Process Energy and Transport Engineering gave an overview of how their industrial work placement module, worth 15 ECTS credits, which runs from the end of the third academic year to the end of the first semester of the award year, evolved and how it can enhance engineering competencies and therefore have a significant impact on the career paths of their graduating engineers. They shared best practise based on their research, carried out with the assistance of CIT’s AnSEO – The Student Engagement Office, and experience for the delivery of the professional work placement from execution, mentoring and assessment of same. Those attending this seminar gained a clear understanding of: • How the delivery of industrial hosted modules within engineering third level institutes can be improved • How an enhanced experiential learning experience can be created for final year students • How key industrial partnerships can be fortified by developing “culturally fit” graduates

"If we want to improve students’ engagement with learning, a key focus of enhancement can be refreshing our approaches to assessment. Sometimes we need to take a fresh look at our current practice to ensure assessment is for rather than just of learning. In addition, we as educators in higher education understand the importance of giving good feedback to students, both to maximize achievement and to support retention. Research in the field suggests that good feedback has a significant impact on student achievement, enabling students to become adept at judging the quality of their own work during its production. In this workshop, the following aspects of assessment were considered: Fit for purpose assessment: designing assessments to promote student learning Assessing more students: ways of using productive assessment with large numbers Assessing first-year students well to promote retention Streamlining assessment: giving feedback effectively and efficiently"

"UDL-ifying a university and its people Prof Jo Rushworth National Teaching Fellow and Professor of Bioscience Education Dr Jo Rushworth draws on her experience as a UDL champion for her School as she outlins a range of options and starting points for colleagues who are starting out on their Universal Design journey. This work focussed on providing students with flexible learning resources, flexible ways to engage with their learning and flexible ways to demonstrate knowledge and skills, that impacted both learning and teaching and institutional policy. In an interactive presentation, Jo tells us about how the UDL guidelines were brought to life and implemented across DMU and leads us in a discussion of early steps toward achieving UDL compliance in teaching practice and of options for continuing development and enhancement. Jo’s work on co-creation with students was among the highlights from her case study.

"This seminar explored concerns around academic integrity in Higher Education and how assessment redesign can eliminate many of these concerns. The seminar was divided into two elements. The first session explored why, how and when students cheat in Higher Education. It opened up discussion and debate on academic integrity, plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating and the role we play in it as educators. The second part of the seminar focused on re-thinking how we assess and redesigning assessment approaches. The presenter discussed strategies that include encouraging students to see assessment, both, as an opportunity to learn and an opportunity to demonstrate their excellence and skills. Redesigning and rethinking the tasks we ask our students to complete in order to demonstrate attainment of the desired life-long skills in tandem with module and programme learning outcomes can effectively eliminate both the desire and the opportunity to ‘cheat’. Across the two sessions participants were asked to self-reflect, to consider their values and establish why they assess as they do. Traditions and assumptions were challenged & participants were supported in the redesigning of assessment approaches."

This seminar explored concerns around academic integrity in Higher Education and how assessment redesign can eliminate many of these concerns. The seminar was divided into two elements. The first session explored why, how and when students cheat in Higher Education. It opened up discussion and debate on academic integrity, plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating and the role we play in it as educators. The second part of the seminar focused on re-thinking how we assess and redesigning assessment approaches. The presenter discussed strategies that include encouraging students to see assessment, both, as an opportunity to learn and an opportunity to demonstrate their excellence and skills. Redesigning and rethinking the tasks we ask our students to complete in order to demonstrate attainment of the desired life-long skills in tandem with module and programme learning outcomes can effectively eliminate both the desire and the opportunity to ‘cheat’. Across the two sessions participants were asked to self-reflect, to consider their values and establish why they assess as they do. Traditions and assumptions were challenged & participants were supported in the redesigning of assessment approaches.

"Examinations and assessments in education vary greatly depending on the stage of a programme, the discipline being examined and the prescribed learning outcomes. The most important feature of any examination relates to its suitability in allowing a student display their knowledge and competence through a fair, consistent and authentic means of assessment. Never before has this process been under more threat from essay mills, contracting cheating companies, and artificial intelligence algorithms, all of which are now freely available to vulnerable and misguided students. This seminar updated participants on the scale of the problem locally, nationally and internationally, the types of challenges every lecturer and student is now facing, and what can be done to protect against breaches of academic integrity through the design of authentic assessments."