For Teachers
Thoughts and ideas for college teachers and learning professionals
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Learning from Experience: recognition of Prior Experiential Learning
Want to gain admission to a course but your qualifications do not meet the entry requirements? You may be able to use a Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) process Many people have asked for more information on Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL). I have prepared a presentation that explains the process and how it works in National College of Ireland. Comments are welcome. posted by Leo Casey
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SITE Conference
I recently attended the SITE Conference in San Diego, California. SITE stands for the Society for the Information Technology and Teacher Education and it is one of the biggest conferences in this field. Chip Bruce and I had submitted a paper based on the Digital Literacy in Primary Schools (DLIPS) project.I attended many other sessions and it was very useful to catch up with developments across the field. One thing that struck me is the use (perhaps overuse) of short abbreviations to describe areas of interest. Thus a session might be described as dealing with TPAC for SET in K-12 – decoded this means Mhisra and Koehler’s (2006) Technological, Pedagogical…
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“Grade Inflation” Getting Everything Wrong
This is a really important issue for Ireland and for everyone in the education sector. It is vital that get a clear understanding of what the problem is and what we need to do to rectify it. First of all, the problem we need to solve is not “Grade Inflation” and it would be a huge mistake if we were all to get in a muddle comparing the numbers of first class honours’ degrees or 600 point Leaving Certs in the past few years. Just like all measures based on our social circumstances, such as the spending power of the average weekly wage or the average life-expectancy, over time we…
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Learning and Motivation
Motivation is used as a catchall term to describe how people are moved to act in a certain manner or direction. In everyday use there is a tendency to conceptualise motivation as mono-dimensional we often seek the motive for why a person acted in a particular way. Single explanations for people’s actions or goals are often inadequate and misleading. People tend to justify past-behaviour and will report a retrospective rationale. However, models of motivation, if they are to be of use, need to provide predictions of future behaviour. The term motivation is used in many different contexts and can mean different things in everyday language. Motivation is often used…
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The School
The recent 3-part RTE series “The School” broke new ground in terms of education and television.What takes place in schools is both familiar and mysterious to most adult viewers. Our school experiences resonate throughout the entire span of our lives and, for many, learning identity forged during teenage, years remains fixed and unchallenged long after our initial schooling is complete. Every society looks to young people to reproduce and reinvent itself for the future. Put simply, organised societies that are good at education will survive and outlast societies that fail to do so. Schools and education are our biggest investment apart from health systems. Strangely, unless you are currently an…
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Problem Based Learning: The Apprentice?
Those that know me will know that I am a fan of Problem-Based Learning, usually referred to as PBL.Ireland’s version of “The Apprentice” is being aired on TV3 and watched by many including our household. The idea is that contestants are fighting it out to get a big job as apprentice to Bill Cullen (Ireland’s best known, self-made entrepreneur). For each episode the contestants are asked to complete authentic tasks usually with a sales or design element.We get to see them work in groups, select a project manager, set goals, solve problems and think and act creatively. As television it’s quite absorbing and informative and there is plenty of learning…
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Problem Based Learning
Students from the Post Graduate Diploma and Masters in Learning and Teaching participating in a Problem Based Learning Workshop in the Centre for Research and Innovation in Learning and Teaching at National College of Ireland This year we are running a new course at National College of Ireland – the Post-Graduate Diploma and MA in Learning and Teaching. I am course director for this course and I present a module on Theories of Learning and Cognition. We have a core of sixteen students with some additional attendees from the PhD course and faculty development. The students come from a wide variety of backgrounds with one thing in common –…
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Carl Wieman Lecture
I attended a lecture in DIT Bolton Street by Dr Carl Wieman titled “Science Education in the 21st Century; using the methods of science to teach science” .This was of great interest to me as in the distant past I studied science and, like many others, I believe that we need to do more to stimulate effective practices in science eduction. Many science teachers at school and college level are passionate about their work and are often willing to explore new pedagogic methods to stimulate student engagement. Wieman focused on teaching methods and as his title suggests he uses analytical methods to assess different approaches and strategies. He contrasts two…
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The Meaning of Work – Aronowitz on Schooling in a Time of Crisis
On Tuesday I had the good fortune to attend a seminar (in NUIM) by Stanley Aronowitz – he is Professor of Sociology at City University in New York and has written extensively on many topics to do with knowledge, education and economy. His ideas are radical and challenging and yet timely. He presented his analysis of this “first truly global crisis” based on his experience (in the US steel industry) and many years as an author and teacher. Aronowitz posed critical questions that challenged our conception of labour in developed economies. He pointed to the structural changes in industry evident since the seventies when high numbers of workers were employed…
