"The seminar consisted of two components – presentations and a collaborative workshop. Presentations focused on some key theoretical perspectives and were delivered by Professor Sally Brown and drew on her rich experience in this area as well as ideas from the text she has recently co-authored with Kay Sambell and Linda Graham – Professionalism in Practice. The presentation considered aspects such as drivers for change in higher education and outlined the impact that the professional development framework has had in the UK and the increasingly professionalised nature of higher education in the UK. Change management and the role that Heads of Department and Heads of Schools have in leading change within their disciplines were explored as well as the processes that are available to encourage all staff to engage in professional development – especially in the context of educational development as opposed to developing disciplinary-specific knowledge and skills. In the workshop, participants explored the Irish National Professional Development Framework and identified the likely opportunities that would arise from staff engaging with this Framework as well as the challenges and barriers they are likely to face. The workshop concluded by exploring ways in which the opportunities can be maximised and barriers minimised. The aim of this seminar and the accompanying workshop, was to ensure participants: Understand the drivers for change in higher education, the professionalisation of the higher education sector, and in the context of the UK experience, the benefits arising from engaging with a national professional development framework Have an appreciation of the opportunities afforded by the Professional Development Framework to both themselves and the staff within their departments as well as the barriers to engaging with it. Understand the role of Heads of Departments and Heads of School in leading change within their disciplines Learn about ways of engaging staff in their own professional development"

"Canvas, CIT’s recently adopted Learning Management System, presents many opportunities from a teaching and learning perspective for both staff and students. From a staff perspective, Canvas can assist staff with: Creating learning materials Communicating with students Providing grades and feedback to students. In this session, Eamonn demonstrated the capabilities and suitability of Canvas to assessing students using automatic grading. He demonstrated how in some subject areas both lab-based written reports and traditional paper-based assessments can be almost entirely replaced by Canvas."

"The academic year, in particular the first semester, can be quite stressful with so many competing tasks from preparing lectures and practicals, to meeting and getting to know a new group of students, to dealing with student issues and complaints, to meeting administrative requirements, etc. This workshop should be of interest to all academic staff, in particular new and early career academic staff, as it will provide some hints and tips on how best to manage the academic year to alleviate some of the stress and strain."

The academic year, in particular the first semester, can be quite stressful with so many competing tasks from preparing lectures and practicals, to meeting and getting to know a new group of students, to dealing with student issues and complaints, to meeting administrative requirements, etc. This workshop should be of interest to all academic staff, in particular new and early career academic staff, as it provides some hints and tips on how best to manage the academic year to alleviate some of the stress and strain.