Student success at college is not just achieving high grades The National Forum for Teaching and Learning defines student success as the process by which students fulfil their potential and flourish at college and in society. This is a broader activity than simply achieving high grades. Psychosocial competencies are core to the definition of student success: these are the ‘soft skills’ or ‘non-cognitive skills’ that enable students to cope well with learning challenges, engage deeply in learning, and develop their identities as learners and as active citizens. Transitions are a key issue within this priority area, with transitions such as the move from school to college presenting both challenges and opportunities for students.
Initiative
Disciplines Inquiring into Societal Challenges (DISCs)
About this initiative
We live in a diverse society, but diversity of thought and experience is not always reflected in the classroom. The DISCs project will support staff who teach in higher education to make their learning environments gender conscious, interculturally engaged and community oriented. We will do this by seeking out best practice in teaching for social justice and engaging different worldviews across arts, humanities, social science and STEM disciplines. We will support the professional development of 15 DISCs Advocates across three universities (University College Cork, Maynooth University, Dublin City University ) and share their professional development journeys on the project website. We will explore the views and experiences of students to see how and where their experiences of engagement with global issues is centralised. We plan to develop an online self-assessment tool which anyone can log into and measure their progress in engaging identity and belonging, power and discrimination, building community and engaging conflict and consensus in the classroom. Through the project we’ll also develop a series of teaching exemplars which support professional development and ultimately a DISCs Strategy and Structured Implementation Plan, which will align with, and enhance, Ireland’s Professional Development Framework for staff who teach in higher education.
Lead organisations
Linked open educational resources
Initiative details
Funding programmes Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund 2014-18
Status
CompletedAward year
2018End year
2019Contributors
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