‘Restor(y)ing their position in the spotlight, please welcome back on stage… Postgraduate Students who teach… or Graduate Teaching Assistants... or Teaching Postgrads… or…’

This is the story of the experiences of eleven postgraduate research students who teach within the Institute of Technology (IoT) sector in Ireland. Despite being present within the university sector, both nationally and internationally, the concept of teaching postgraduates, within the IoT sector, is a relatively recent one, and to date, very little research has been conducted into their experiences. They have been on stage, but not centre stage…they have supported from the wings. Adopting a narrative approach, this research presents the stories of these postgraduate students and shines a spotlight on their occupational positioning and identity within the sector. Underpinned by a poststructuralist stance, which sets out to deconstruct existing structures, the study problematizes the concept of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and explores the many different challenges that face teaching postgraduate students within the sector, as voiced by the postgraduate students themselves. Guided by a Foucauldian theorisation, that suggests power can be pervasive and capillary, the study highlights how threads of power are interwoven throughout the entire GTA experience, but also shows how there is agentic power within the postgraduates themselves. The study also considers how these teaching positions are being shaped by the impact of neoliberalism within higher education and how their emergence has gone hand in-hand with cost-saving measures and efficiencies. But just as narrative may be viewed as a messy form of methodological inquiry (Connolly, 2007) and poststructuralism favours a deconstructed form, this study is also presented using a non-traditional format. Rather than following a conventional writing style, this study embraces performative writing as a means of exploring different ways of knowing. The performative nature of the study is a way of drawing explicit attention to the artificiality of conventional academic writing and highlights the importance of writing as inquiry in itself. In addition, through the adoption of performative writing in this study, a space has been created for the reader to create their own meaning and to explore gaps in knowledge. The eleven individual stories are peppered throughout the study, as a way of indicating that the postgraduate students are omnipresent throughout, just as they are within higher education institutions. But You will also see that this study is continuously interrupted by Celisne, who acts as a disruptive discursive companion, and represents the many subjectivities of those who have been part of this study, thereby inviting You to consider the multiple interpretations of this story. Finally, this study also makes claims to knowledge from a pedagogical perspective, in that it has impacted upon my own pedagogy and practice, making me more cognisant of the importance of involving all learners, including postgrads who teach, in their own learning, listening to them, and ‘learning with’ them, rather than ‘teaching to’ them

Instructional Considerations For Virtual Reality In Engineering Training And Education: Preliminary Research Results

Digital reality has been gradually introduced into all parts of human society, and the field of education is no exception due to the potential of technology and related tools to enhance the teaching and learning process. However, there is still a paucity of research in this area within an Irish higher education context. The research explores how to best employ virtual reality (VR), using the Oculus Quest 2 system, to improve and develop the level of contemporary training, as well as to enhance the educational experience. Both the technical and educational perspectives will be considered. The researched sample consists of 25 undergraduate students representing different profiles from within engineering education. The data collection included two stages, namely written questionnaires, and short semi-structured interviews relating to training sessions with Oculus Quest 2, in which participants were exposed to life on board the International Space Station (ISS), including the experiments and missions performed on the station. The results of the short interviews and questionnaires extracted in this work reflected that all the participants were very excited to work and interact with the experiences of virtual reality in engineering education. In addition, they rated the usability of virtual reality glasses overall as being very satisfactory, despite some students expressing the presence of minor challenges or problems. Most of the participants\u27 reactions were positive regarding the possibility of including virtual reality devices and associated technologies in future training and support, as they indicated that these training sessions increased their motivation and passion for learning, whilst at the same time, supported the development of their digital reality skills.. In general, the outputs of the research show that the inclusion and empowerment of digital reality within higher education programmes can have significant value and benefit, leading to the recommendation that it would be used more extensively in the future

Using mobile technology to facilitate formative assessment and support learning in apprenticeship programmes

Regular formative assessments can encourage students to spread learning effort throughout entire programmes and afford more feedback opportunities to tutors (Gibbs and Simpson, 2004; Nicol and Macfarlane?Dick, 2006), while the proliferation of smart mobile phones has contributed to an increasing trend for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) activities in higher education (Johnson et al., 2015; Merga, 2016; Sundgren, 2017).As students take more responsibility for their own learning, technology has a greater role to play in facilitating and supporting solutions that can provide more flexible learning opportunities. Quizlet - one such technology, is a web-enabled mobile learning application that repurposes study-sets for use in any of its eight different quiz modes. For a relatively modest time-investment by the tutor, students are provided with a re-usable, interactive, mobile learning resource that can be personalised to suit specific learning needs.This technology review focuses on Quizlet and our experience of using it to increase levels of student engagement and improve learning outcomes in craft apprenticeship programmes

Efficacy in asthma of once-daily treatment with fluticasone furoate: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fluticasone furoate (FF) is a novel long-acting inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). This double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized study evaluated the efficacy and safety of FF 200 mcg or 400 mcg once daily, either in the morning or in the evening, and FF 200 mcg twice daily (morning and evening), for 8 weeks in patients with persistent asthma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Asthma patients maintained on ICS for ≥ 3 months with baseline morning forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) 50-80% of predicted normal value and FEV₁reversibility of ≥ 12% and ≥ 200 ml were eligible. The primary endpoint was mean change from baseline FEV₁at week 8 in pre-dose (morning or evening [depending on regimen], pre-rescue bronchodilator) FEV₁.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 545 patients received one of five FF treatment groups and 101 patients received placebo (intent-to-treat population). Each of the five FF treatment groups produced a statistically significant improvement in pre-dose FEV₁compared with placebo (p < 0.05). FF 400 mcg once daily in the evening and FF 200 mcg twice daily produced similar placebo-adjusted improvements in evening pre-dose FEV₁at week 8 (240 ml vs. 235 ml). FF 400 mcg once daily in the morning, although effective, resulted in a smaller improvement in morning pre-dose FEV₁than FF 200 mcg twice daily at week 8 (315 ml vs. 202 ml). The incidence of oral candidiasis was low (0-4%) and UC excretion was comparable with placebo for all FF groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>FF at total daily doses of 200 mcg or 400 mcg was significantly more effective than placebo. FF 400 mcg once daily in the evening had similar efficacy to FF 200 mcg twice daily and all FF regimens had a safety tolerability profile generally similar to placebo. This indicates that inhaled FF is an effective and well tolerated once-daily treatment for mild-to-moderate asthma.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00398645">NCT00398645</a></p

Efficacy and safety of fluticasone/formoterol combination therapy in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma

Background: The inhaled corticosteroid, fluticasone propionate, and the long-acting b2-adrenergic agonist, formoterol fumarate, are both highly effective treatments for bronchial asthma. This study (NCT00393952/EudraCT number: 2006-005989-39) compared the efficacy and safety of fluticasone/formoterol combination therapy (flutiform®; 250/10 mg) administered twice daily (b.i.d.) via a single aerosol inhaler, with the individual components (fluticasone 250 mg b.i.d.; formoterol 10 mg b.i.d.), in adult and adolescent patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. Methods: This was a 12-week, double-blind, randomised, parallel-group, multicentre, placebocontrolled phase 3 study. The co-primary efficacy endpoints were: i) the mean change in the forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) from morning pre-dose at baseline to pre-dose at week 12 (fluticasone/formoterol 250/10 mg vs. formoterol), ii) the mean change in FEV1 from morning pre-dose at baseline to 2 h post-dose at week 12 (fluticasone/formoterol 250/10 mg vs. fluticasone), and iii) the number of patients who discontinued prematurely due to lack of treatment efficacy (fluticasone/formoterol 250/10 mg vs. placebo). The secondary endpoints included measures of lung function, disease control, and asthma symptoms. Safety was assessed based on adverse events, vital signs, and clinical laboratory evaluations. Results: Overall, 395 (70.9%) patients completed the study. Fluticasone/formoterol 250/10 mg b.i.d. was superior to the individual components and placebo for all three co-primary endpoints and demonstrated numerically greater improvements for multiple secondary efficacy analyses. Fluticasone/formoterol combination therapy had a good safety profile over the 12 weeks. Conclusion: Fluticasone/formoterol combination therapy will provide clinicians with an efficacious alternative treatment option for patients with moderate-to-severe asthma

‘Restor(y)ing their position in the spotlight, please welcome back on stage… Postgraduate Students who teach… or Graduate Teaching Assistants... or Teaching Postgrads… or…’

This is the story of the experiences of eleven postgraduate research students who teach within the Institute of Technology (IoT) sector in Ireland. Despite being present within the university sector, both nationally and internationally, the concept of teaching postgraduates, within the IoT sector, is a relatively recent one, and to date, very little research has been conducted into their experiences. They have been on stage, but not centre stage…they have supported from the wings. Adopting a narrative approach, this research presents the stories of these postgraduate students and shines a spotlight on their occupational positioning and identity within the sector. Underpinned by a poststructuralist stance, which sets out to deconstruct existing structures, the study problematizes the concept of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and explores the many different challenges that face teaching postgraduate students within the sector, as voiced by the postgraduate students themselves. Guided by a Foucauldian theorisation, that suggests power can be pervasive and capillary, the study highlights how threads of power are interwoven throughout the entire GTA experience, but also shows how there is agentic power within the postgraduates themselves. The study also considers how these teaching positions are being shaped by the impact of neoliberalism within higher education and how their emergence has gone hand in-hand with cost-saving measures and efficiencies. But just as narrative may be viewed as a messy form of methodological inquiry (Connolly, 2007) and poststructuralism favours a deconstructed form, this study is also presented using a non-traditional format. Rather than following a conventional writing style, this study embraces performative writing as a means of exploring different ways of knowing. The performative nature of the study is a way of drawing explicit attention to the artificiality of conventional academic writing and highlights the importance of writing as inquiry in itself. In addition, through the adoption of performative writing in this study, a space has been created for the reader to create their own meaning and to explore gaps in knowledge. The eleven individual stories are peppered throughout the study, as a way of indicating that the postgraduate students are omnipresent throughout, just as they are within higher education institutions. But You will also see that this study is continuously interrupted by Celisne, who acts as a disruptive discursive companion, and represents the many subjectivities of those who have been part of this study, thereby inviting You to consider the multiple interpretations of this story. Finally, this study also makes claims to knowledge from a pedagogical perspective, in that it has impacted upon my own pedagogy and practice, making me more cognisant of the importance of involving all learners, including postgrads who teach, in their own learning, listening to them, and ‘learning with’ them, rather than ‘teaching to’ them

‘Restor(y)ing their position in the spotlight, please welcome back on stage… Postgraduate Students who teach… or Graduate Teaching Assistants... or Teaching Postgrads… or…’

This is the story of the experiences of eleven postgraduate research students who teach within the Institute of Technology (IoT) sector in Ireland. Despite being present within the university sector, both nationally and internationally, the concept of teaching postgraduates, within the IoT sector, is a relatively recent one, and to date, very little research has been conducted into their experiences. They have been on stage, but not centre stage…they have supported from the wings. Adopting a narrative approach, this research presents the stories of these postgraduate students and shines a spotlight on their occupational positioning and identity within the sector. Underpinned by a poststructuralist stance, which sets out to deconstruct existing structures, the study problematizes the concept of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and explores the many different challenges that face teaching postgraduate students within the sector, as voiced by the postgraduate students themselves. Guided by a Foucauldian theorisation, that suggests power can be pervasive and capillary, the study highlights how threads of power are interwoven throughout the entire GTA experience, but also shows how there is agentic power within the postgraduates themselves. The study also considers how these teaching positions are being shaped by the impact of neoliberalism within higher education and how their emergence has gone hand in-hand with cost-saving measures and efficiencies. But just as narrative may be viewed as a messy form of methodological inquiry (Connolly, 2007) and poststructuralism favours a deconstructed form, this study is also presented using a non-traditional format. Rather than following a conventional writing style, this study embraces performative writing as a means of exploring different ways of knowing. The performative nature of the study is a way of drawing explicit attention to the artificiality of conventional academic writing and highlights the importance of writing as inquiry in itself. In addition, through the adoption of performative writing in this study, a space has been created for the reader to create their own meaning and to explore gaps in knowledge. The eleven individual stories are peppered throughout the study, as a way of indicating that the postgraduate students are omnipresent throughout, just as they are within higher education institutions. But You will also see that this study is continuously interrupted by Celisne, who acts as a disruptive discursive companion, and represents the many subjectivities of those who have been part of this study, thereby inviting You to consider the multiple interpretations of this story. Finally, this study also makes claims to knowledge from a pedagogical perspective, in that it has impacted upon my own pedagogy and practice, making me more cognisant of the importance of involving all learners, including postgrads who teach, in their own learning, listening to them, and ‘learning with’ them, rather than ‘teaching to’ them

‘Restor(y)ing their position in the spotlight, please welcome back on stage… Postgraduate Students who teach… or Graduate Teaching Assistants... or Teaching Postgrads… or…’

This is the story of the experiences of eleven postgraduate research students who teach within the Institute of Technology (IoT) sector in Ireland. Despite being present within the university sector, both nationally and internationally, the concept of teaching postgraduates, within the IoT sector, is a relatively recent one, and to date, very little research has been conducted into their experiences. They have been on stage, but not centre stage…they have supported from the wings. Adopting a narrative approach, this research presents the stories of these postgraduate students and shines a spotlight on their occupational positioning and identity within the sector. Underpinned by a poststructuralist stance, which sets out to deconstruct existing structures, the study problematizes the concept of Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) and explores the many different challenges that face teaching postgraduate students within the sector, as voiced by the postgraduate students themselves. Guided by a Foucauldian theorisation, that suggests power can be pervasive and capillary, the study highlights how threads of power are interwoven throughout the entire GTA experience, but also shows how there is agentic power within the postgraduates themselves. The study also considers how these teaching positions are being shaped by the impact of neoliberalism within higher education and how their emergence has gone hand in-hand with cost-saving measures and efficiencies. But just as narrative may be viewed as a messy form of methodological inquiry (Connolly, 2007) and poststructuralism favours a deconstructed form, this study is also presented using a non-traditional format. Rather than following a conventional writing style, this study embraces performative writing as a means of exploring different ways of knowing. The performative nature of the study is a way of drawing explicit attention to the artificiality of conventional academic writing and highlights the importance of writing as inquiry in itself. In addition, through the adoption of performative writing in this study, a space has been created for the reader to create their own meaning and to explore gaps in knowledge. The eleven individual stories are peppered throughout the study, as a way of indicating that the postgraduate students are omnipresent throughout, just as they are within higher education institutions. But You will also see that this study is continuously interrupted by Celisne, who acts as a disruptive discursive companion, and represents the many subjectivities of those who have been part of this study, thereby inviting You to consider the multiple interpretations of this story. Finally, this study also makes claims to knowledge from a pedagogical perspective, in that it has impacted upon my own pedagogy and practice, making me more cognisant of the importance of involving all learners, including postgrads who teach, in their own learning, listening to them, and ‘learning with’ them, rather than ‘teaching to’ them

Mind the Gap: Academic Staff Experiences of Remote Teaching During the Covid 19 Emergency

During the Covid-19 emergency, with the sudden closure of Higher EducationInstitutions, many academic institutions turned to remote teaching in order to supportstudents to meet their programme learning outcomes. Academic staff at the Instituteof Technology, Carlow were surveyed to ascertain their experiences of this ‘onlinepivot’. This article takes a phenomenological approach to the staff experience andattempts to draw meaningful inferences and conclusions regarding the teachingexperience under these circumstances. This is intended to inform best practice byboth institutions and staff in the context of remote teaching