Evaluation

The importance of evaluation has grown in recent years so that this topic has become the focus of considerable policy and research interest (Oliver, 2000). As new learning technologies emerge there is a need to evaluate how these are used to support an increasingly diverse student population. All staff are now expected to carry out evaluations to account for resources or to justify strategic initiatives. Additionally, for individuals trying to instigate change, evaluation data can be important in providing relevant information to initiate, support and empower change by the “production of knowledge that makes a difference” (Patton, 1997)

Assessment and Feedback Resource Pack

The purpose of this resource pack is to provide specialized and localized information on assessment and feedback in higher education for academic staff in DIT. It is designed for staff new to teaching (experienced lecturers may find it useful too) and is intended to complement the largely-generic information delivered in workshops. In relation to feedback, the aim of the pack is to position it as a practice that has a positive and sustained influence on learning, and as a fundamental part of curriculum design, not simply an episodic mechanism delivered by teachers to their students

Designing Together: Effective Strategies for Creating a Collaborative Curriculum to Support Academic Development

This publication has arisen out of collaborative work completed as part of the Learning Innovation Network (LIN) project funded under Strand 2 of the Irish Higher Education Authority (HEA) Strategic Initiative funded (SIF) sectoral project: Improving services to students and capacity building (2006-2010), involving all 13 Irish Institutes of Technology and the Technological University Dublin. One of the 3 objectives of this strand was to scope the parameters of an agreed Academic Development Programme. Since Sept 2008, a LIN Accredited Professional Development (APD) Sub-group has been working towards the establishment of a sustainable shared academic development programme that might be offered by the sector and across the sector. As part of this process, several course designs were considered, a 10 ECTS LIN APD Special purpose award design template was developed, 7 of the partner institutions were commissioned to develop, pilot and evaluate these awards and a model subsequently developed in order that successful completion of various combinations of these awards could lead to a level 9 Postgraduate LIN award in its own right. This publication provides an overview of this innovative collaborative work conducted during the timescale of the project