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This document is an insight into USI’s contribution to the ‘Next Steps’ project. The Union of Students in Ireland (Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn) is the national representative body for thirdlevel students in Ireland. USI represents more than 374,000 students in over thirty colleges across the island of Ireland. USI is represented on the Board of the National Forum by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
This Insight presents the outcomes of a series of facilitated reflections with the Registrars and Chief Academic Officers of higher education institutions that
are members of the Technological Higher Education Association (THEA). These reflections examined the experiences of senior leaders charged with key
responsibilities for their institutions’ overall academic provision, including academic quality and integrity. Existing documentation from the very frequent meetings of the group during the public health emergency and associated sectoral / national policies were used to inform two workshops designed to explore what lessons had been learned during this time, and which key changes might be successfully maintained into the future. The workshops were facilitated by Maynooth University Innovation Design Lab (Mi:Lab) and took place in June 2021 (online) and August 2021 (face-to-face).
This StudentSurvey.ie Insight has a dual focus. Initially, it will focus on the aggregated national results of new questions specifically addressing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which were added to StudentSurvey.ie and PGR StudentSurvey.ie in 2021 (StudentSurvey.ie, 2021a). These results will have added value as higher education institutions emerge from the Covid-19 emergency with evolved priorities and challenges to overcome. The public health measures put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic also meant that first year undergraduate students who entered higher education in the 2020-2021 academic year are believed to have had a substantially different experience than their predecessors (StudentSurvey.ie, 2021b). The second focus of this paper will explore this belief.
The challenges of the Covid pandemic prompted the launch or expansion of many student-supporting initiatives. The unprecedented conditions prompted student affairs professionals to ensure that learners continued to find the services and supports needed to successfully navigate the student journey. In doing
so, new resources and processes have arisen and novel collaborations have taken place between student support services and academic programmes. Together, these innovations have brought the contribution of student affairs professionals closer to the mainstream of the higher education experience.
This Insight stems from a report written on behalf of the Specialist Colleges group which sought to gather reflections on practice before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, and to propose some recommendations for future policy and practice in higher education. The Specialist Colleges group comprises members from the following institutions:
• Marino Institute of Education (MIE)
• Mary Immaculate College (MIC)
• National College of Art and Design (NCAD)
• Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM)
• St. Angela’s College, Sligo (SAC)
• Carlow College, St. Patrick’s (CC)
• St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth (SPCM)
In this Next Steps Insight, we trace ideas for the future from those who teach in higher education. These are the voices of staff as reflected in the Next Steps partner contributions. This Insight has referenced the submissions from IUA, HECA, THEA and QQI. We have also drawn from previous National Forum research and consultations with National Forum Associates (NFAs), our Advisory Groups, and the Networks and Disciplines. We include priorities identified across consultations with students which have specific implications for teaching.
In two Next Steps Insights, we trace the voice of all those who teach, and their experiences during a pandemic which necessitated the closure of campuses across the country. Part 1 documents and reflects on practice during the initial stages of the pandemic. Part 2 shares messages for the future from the analyses of these experiences and in the words of those who teach. Both Insights reference the submissions from IUA, RCSI, HECA, THEA and QQI. We have also drawn from previous National Forum research and consultations with National Forum Associates (NFAs), our Advisory Groups, and the Networks and Disciplines.
This Next Steps Insight provides a brief overview of the digital dimension of the pre-2020 teaching and learning context, and the views and priorities of institutional senior managers in the years leading up to the pandemic. A summary is then presented of the perspectives of senior managers across Irish higher education in 2021 with respect to what they have learned through the shift to online/remote teaching and learning and what needs to prioritised into the future.
This Forum Insight provides an overview of the teaching and learning policy context at European and national levels, with particular attention paid to digitisation and the pandemic recovery. It then proposes related next steps for the future of teaching and learning from a policy perspective.
This Forum Insight examines assessment practices in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and closure of campuses in 2020, foregrounding assessment principles previously developed in collaboration with sectoral partners and stakeholders, and reflecting the outcomes of two National Webinar series events in spring 2021 on the future of assessment in a changed higher education landscape. We thank the webinar presenters and participants including representatives of disciplines, agencies and networks from across Ireland and capture their contributions as Ten Things We Have Learned About Assessment.
This Insight outlines key themes in online and blended learning scholarship in the period 2010-2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic. The review begins with definitions of key terms and then outlines several major themes in online and blended learning as well as recent critical approaches.
As part of Next Steps, the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) investigated the impact of the pandemic from an international student perspective. The ICOS research aimed to identify the issues facing international students, the actions that can be taken to address these issues, and the lessons that can be learned to improve teaching and learning, as well as the overall international student experience in Ireland.
42 participants from student and core stakeholder groups
supporting teaching and learning across seven member
institutions of the Irish Universities Association (IUA) took
part in six focus group sessions in June 2021. The aim was to
capture the “lived experience” of the Covid-19 situation, how
changes in practice brought about by lockdown are being
embedded into mainstream practice, and key lessons for moving
forward. This Insight outlines common themes that emerged
across all the groups and identifies emerging areas for greater
inter-institutional collaboration, while recognising that this is a
snapshot of contextualised experiences shared and highlighted
by the groups in June 2021.
Ibec is Ireland’s largest business lobby and representative group, with our members employing over 70% of private sector workers. We believe the cornerstone of Ireland’s social and economic success is a strong pipeline of talent supported by a world class education system. Ibec’s contribution to the Next Steps project is understanding the impact of Covid-19 on the future of work and what this means for teaching and learning.
The Higher Education Colleges Association (HECA) established in 1991, is the representative body for thirteen established and state accredited privately funded providers of higher education. All HECA members have quality assurance approval under Quality & Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and deliver QQI validated programmes across a diverse range of disciplines, between levels 6 and 9 on the National Framework of Qualifications. The student body within the HECA network of college providers is over 27,000.
HECA member higher education providers advance the highest standards of best practice, evidence-based teaching and learning. Learner-centred teaching is at the heart of the mission of each of HECA’s member institutions. HECA providers have a shared strategic priority to continue to invest and enhance its teaching to a sector-leading standard. This core function, together with innovative and diverse assessment strategies, combine in a transformative process of education for the learner, building knowledge, skill and competence through state accredited programme curricula. The opportunity to participate as partner in the Next Steps project further solidifies HECA’s position as a collective united by a desire to connect, support and inform all those involved in the enhancement of teaching and learning in HECA colleges.
Despite the pandemic presenting a myriad of challenges and difficulties, many innovative practices, processes and actions have been developed to address the extraordinary circumstances. This unprecedented crisis has inadvertently demonstrated the flexibility and capability of much of the sector that can be harnessed to improve the experiences of students with disabilities in future learning.
Chair of the National Forum, Lynn Ramsey officially opens VIT&L Week. The keynote speaker is Prof Frank Coton (Senior Vice Principal and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at University of Glasgow and international advisor to the Board of the National Forum. Prof Coton shares his thoughts on Why Valuing Teaching and Learning is VITAL.
This session leads into VIT&L Week’s first Scholarship Hour.
This National Forum Insight is for all staff with a teaching role in Higher Education in Ireland who are engaging with the National Professional Development (PD) Framework.
Since March 2020 higher education has experienced one of the most disruptive phases in its recent history. In a sector typified by considered, researched and incremental change, overnight everyone began emergency remote teaching, learning and assessing. The dramatic shift resulted in positives and negatives, and posed a series of questions for students, staff and other stakeholders. Though still living through the pandemic, in March 2021 fifteen partners from a range of stakeholders across the sector agreed to work together to answer one shared persistent and urgent question: In the context of Covid-19, what have we learnt and what does it mean for the future of teaching and learning in Irish higher education?
