Do you wonder if there are better ways of going about your teaching and/or assessment practices? Perhaps you would like to learn more about current thinking and best practice in teaching, learning, technology and assessment in higher education? Maybe you are interested in gaining a Level 9 qualification in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education? If so, you might consider participating in the MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education that is offered by the Teaching and Learning Unit. In Semester 1 2023/24, the TLU will be offering the following modules which may be of interest to you: EDUC9043: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education EDUC9046: Curriculum Design & Evaluation EDUC9050: Mentoring in HE EDUC9016: Education Research Proposal This information session provided an overview and introduction to the programme, more detailed information about the programme itself including options to step off with a Level 9 Certificate or Level 9 Postgraduate Diploma and will explain how to apply.

"This seminar presents an innovative approach to enhancing engineering competencies through the parallel delivery of a capstone project and professional work placement elements in the final year of an undergraduate programme. Nationally, it is recognised that engineering students require more development of skills to be “culturally fit” engineering professionals. In order to achieve this, a longer placement was incorporated into MTU Cork’s Chemical Engineering programme with this industrial interface being leveraged to identify capstone projects, hosted in industry, for students to complete in parallel with their placement. Thereby providing students with more industrial exposure and developing more “culturally fit” employable graduates with general and transferrable skills as well as the necessary engineering knowledge. Since the adoption of these industrially hosted modules a repeated review process, facilitated by MTU Cork's AnSEO – The Student Engagement Office, has allowed “fine-tuning” of the approach and provided an improved student experience. This review process creates a constructive environment in which individual student voices can be heard alongside those of faculty. MTU Cork has created an enhanced experiential learning experience for its final year students and provided a vehicle to pilot methods for student-staff collaboration supporting the shared refinement of both placement and the capstone project. The benefit to industry is a structured longer placement (in line with international policy) to develop “culturally-fit” graduates. The impact on student success is notaView ble in that in excess of 90% employment levels have been observed in the graduate classes of 2018 and 2019. The student voice of their experiences substantiates the experiential and structured learning of these students"

"This seminar presents an innovative approach to enhancing engineering competencies through the parallel delivery of a capstone project and professional work placement elements in the final year of an undergraduate programme. Nationally, it is recognised that engineering students require more development of skills to be “culturally fit” engineering professionals. In order to achieve this, a longer placement was incorporated into MTU Cork’s Chemical Engineering programme with this industrial interface being leveraged to identify capstone projects, hosted in industry, for students to complete in parallel with their placement. Thereby providing students with more industrial exposure and developing more “culturally fit” employable graduates with general and transferrable skills as well as the necessary engineering knowledge. Since the adoption of these industrially hosted modules a repeated review process, facilitated by MTU Cork's AnSEO – The Student Engagement Office, has allowed “fine-tuning” of the approach and provided an improved student experience. This review process creates a constructive environment in which individual student voices can be heard alongside those of faculty. MTU Cork has created an enhanced experiential learning experience for its final year students and provided a vehicle to pilot methods for student-staff collaboration supporting the shared refinement of both placement and the capstone project. The benefit to industry is a structured longer placement (in line with international policy) to develop “culturally-fit” graduates. The impact on student success is notaView ble in that in excess of 90% employment levels have been observed in the graduate classes of 2018 and 2019. The student voice of their experiences substantiates the experiential and structured learning of these students"

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

"This aim of this seminar was to promote informed thinking about how assessment is conceived and practiced at third level with a view to greater alignment between teaching, learning and assessment. It allowed lecturers and academic managers to discuss and share good practice while also considering how current assessment procedures in place in their institutions might be enhanced to improve student learning, progression and success. Assessment for learning is one of the most powerful ways of improving student learning and achievement. Formative assessment, done well, improves student self-regulation and awareness of what needs to be done to enhance their learning, is forward focused and motivational. Participants considered how enhancing learning, teaching and assessment alignment can improve learning for different student cohorts and group sizes in times of limited resources and increasing accountability. The workshop element of the seminar gave participants the opportunity to share and take away some practical ideas and techniques that they could use in their classes. Participants in this seminar: Reflected upon the relationship between teaching, learning and assessment for learning Considered the challenges of effective management of assessment from an institutional, teacher/lecturer and student perspective Reflected on how assessment design, integration with the curriculum, marking and feedback could best be supported Discussed, shared good practice and considered current assessment procedures and how they might be enhanced with different student cohorts/group sizes Considered some practical/ impactful assessment for learning techniques that they may like to use in the future"

"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"