Date:Wednesday 15th - Friday 17th September 2010

Time:Various

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Schedule (MS Word)

Registration Closed

Introduction to Teaching at Trinity for New Academic Staff

Facilitators: Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL & Ms. Ann Lahiff, Institute of Education London

Are you a new academic about to begin teaching for the first time?

Who is it for?
This is a foundation course created for new academics, new to teaching. The focus is very much on developing skills to offer you a confident start in your first teaching role. The course provides practical advice and approaches to practice, set within the teaching and learning context of Trinity College and Ireland.

What is involved?
Attendance- The course runs over two and half days. The course is always heavily subscribed and we request that participants are able to attend the course in full before booking a place. We provide certificates of completion to participants to evidence their continuing professional development in teaching practice.

Participation- The sessions are highly participatory with a focus on working in small groups, engaging in active learning and exploring teaching and learning through discussion with peers from diverse discipline areas. You will also have the opportunity to do some microteaching. This is optional, but most past participants identified this as a really valuable and distinctive component of the course.

Date:Monday 18th October 2010

Time:9:30 - 12:30

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Alternative Assessment Strategies (Summative)

Facilitator: Prof. Alan Mortiboys

Assessment has been described as the single most important factor influencing the quality of students’ learning in higher education. If this is the case, then as a lecturer it is important for you to consider:

• Whether your assessment tasks are encouraging productive approaches to learning in your students;
  
  
• Whether you are developing your students’ intrinsic motivation by the very nature of the tasks and by ensuring that there is a variety of assessment tasks in a programme.

This session:

• offers the opportunity for you to look critically at your assessments; 
  
• provides information on the range of assessment tasks that can be used in modules;
• gives guidance on how to determine which tasks are most suitable for your students.

Date:Monday 18th October 2010

Time:12:45 - 14:15

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Choice of Assessment Methods within a Module

Facilitator: Dr Geraldine O’Neill, Senior Lecturer, UCD Teaching and Learning

In considering alternative approaches to assessments in a programme, many lecturers have explored the practice of allowing students some choice of assessment methods within a module. The benefit of this approach is it allows students to play to their strengths and it is in keeping with a more student-centred approach to higher education. However, the concerns for students and staff are often focused around equity of workload and grades, etc.

This session:

• Presents how this approach is being used, and researched, in a range of modules in UCD( HEA Training of Trainers Funded Project http://www.ucd.ie/teaching/projects/choiceofassessmentmethods/
  
  
• Explores and gives guidance on the issues of equity of workload/grades; programme versus module approach to assessment
  
  
• Allows opportunity to discuss/debate this approach in your modules and programmes

Date:Monday 18th October 2010

Time:14:30 - 17:30

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Small Group Teaching

Facilitator: Prof. Alan Mortiboys
 
This practical workshop provides participants with the opportunity to consider: what small group teaching can achieve; how to overcome barriers to effective small group teaching; the skills needed to be an effective teacher of small groups; and techniques and methods to encourage discussion.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• List the components of an effective small group teaching session;
• Review their current practice in small group teaching;
• Make plans for how their develop their practice in small group teaching.

Date:2nd November 2010

Time:12:00 - 14:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

Facilitator: Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL

At some point in your academic teaching career, you will be asked to write a statement about your approach to teaching and the rationale behind what you do as an educator.   It may be for promotion purposes, or for personal, political, professional or pedagogical reasons.  

In this session we'll help you identify and articulate your teaching philosophy, provide examples of teaching philosophy statements, and spend time drafting your statement. 

Date:8th & 9th November 2010

Time:9:00 - 16:30 both days

Venue:
The Cliff Townhouse, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

Registration Closed

Two Day Writing Retreat (non-residential)

Facilitator: Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL

A common frustration for academics is finding quiet time to write for publication.  Participating in a writing retreat can help you to benefit from dedicating a block of time to focus exclusively on your academic writing.

The aim of this retreat is to provide you with an opportunity to work on or complete a piece of academic writing that you have already developed (ie. your research and organization is complete). For this reason we ask you to identify your writing task on registration.  

The retreat will focus exclusively on writing. The majority of your time will be spent in intensive, individual writing. However, this is a task-orientated process and you will be asked to identify achievable writing outputs at the beginning of the retreat. Structured peer groups will help you to set goals and encourage progress over the two days. There will also be a peer review exercise built into the second day.

Prospective participants must be available to attend both days in full. As places are limited preference will be given to those:

• writing for publication
• who have not attended a previous writing retreat (though we will be happy to accommodate you if we have places)

Please identify your writing task on registration.  Lunch is provided on both days.

Places are strictly limited to 14.

Registration Closed

Writing for Academic Publication: Six month programme

Facilitated by: Dr Ciara O’Farrell (CAPSL)

 “Writing for Academic Publication” * is a multi-discipline programme which offers time and space to focus on and develop your individual academic publications. It encourages academic writers of all levels of experience in publication become part of an active writing community.

The programme supports academic writers throughout the writing for publication process. It encourages participants to adopt new writing behaviours and develop writing strategies to reach publication targets.

Through focused discussion, writing activities and writing time, this programme aims to help you manage your individual writing journeys through to completion of a paper for submission for publication. Each workshop is based on a theme that reflects the writing process, but also includes specific individual writing time.

For: Academic staff members of TCD

The programme will take place on Mondays 9.30 – 12.30 on the following dates in Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place :

November 15th, 29th
December 13th
January 17, 31st
February 14th, 28th
March 14th, 28th
April 11th

Participants should be able to commit to the whole programme.

* WfP programme adapted from Murray and MacKay, 1998; Murray, 2001; Murray and Moore, 2006
Murray, R. & Mackay, G. (1998) Supporting academic development in public output: rejections and propositions, International Journal for Academic Development, 3, pp. 54–63.
Murray, R. & Morss (2001) Studies in Higher Education Volume 26, No. 1, 2001
Murray, R and Moore, S (2006), The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach, Open University Press

Date:Wednesday 17th November 2010

Time:13:00 - 14:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Structured Ph.D programmes - are they worth the trouble?

Facilitator: Professor John Kelly, School of Chemistry, Recipient of a 2010 Provost Teaching Award (Lifetime Achievement Award). 

The last few years has seen a growing interest in the development of structured Ph.D. programmes – an initiative which has been supported (not always financially) by Government agencies.

The lecturer has had a long term interest in developing graduate courses to enhance the education of our research students in the School of Chemistry.  However the question in the title is pertinent, especially in these times of financial cut-backs.  Amongst the questions we might ask are:-

• What do the students gain from such a structured programme?
• What do the research group leaders gain?
• What advantages/opportunities accrue to the School/Department?
• Can we afford to establish such programmes?

I hope to reflect on my experience helping to establish Dublin Chemistry, the joint Graduate Programme of the Schools of Chemistry in TCD and UCD, and to engage in a more general discussion of the benefits or otherwise of such structured Ph.D. programmes.

Date:Friday 19th November 2010

Time:10:00 - 13:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Enhancing your Presentation Skills in an Academic Environment

Facilitator: Dr. Roisin Donnelly, DIT Learning and Teaching Centre

The fact that for most people, even experienced academic presenters, getting up and presenting in front of an audience can be an uneasy experience. For today’s academic, it is important to be able to communicate thoughts and ideas effectively, using a variety of tools and medium. Happily, presentation skills are something we can learn and as a result, we want to make dynamic, lively, memorable and effective presentations in our academic environments.

Whether it is presenting your research at a conference, giving Key Note speeches, making presentations to pitch ideas internally, in fact whether you are persuading, educating, or informing, this interactive workshop will provide participants with practical advice on how to improve their presentations in front of an audience. It will focus on the key stages of preparation, structure, delivery, handling question and answers and the all-important use of visual aids and current presentation technologies. Read more on Workshop Content (MS Word, 11 KB)

Date:Wednesday 8th December 2010

Time:13:00 - 14:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Novel Assessment Methods – Some Examples in Practice

Facilitator:Dr. Eleanor Denny, Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy, and a lecturer in the Economics Department. Recipient of a 2010 Provost Teaching Award (Early Career). 

This short seminar will describe a range of assessment techniques Eleanor utilises in her undergraduate courses – in Economics, Finance and Mathematics modules.  It will cover both summative and formative assessment techniques and detail the pros and cons of each of the assessment methods for both the students and the lecturer. The presentation will be followed by a conversation with seminar attendees to discuss the assessments and their wider implications and possible uses in other disciplines.

Date: Six Session Course, starting 19th January

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Time:
10:00 - 12:00

Registration Closed

Accelerated Learning - Advanced Learning and Adaptive Problem Solving Techniques: Practical Lessons from Cognitive Science

Facilitator: Dr. David Delany, CAPSL

In this practical workshop participants will learn novel advanced deep learning and adaptive problem solving techniques derived from research in cognitive science into the development of superior mental performance. Particular attention will be paid to the application of these techniques to improving both research and teaching skills.

Derived from findings in cognitive psychology the course principles and techniques are designed to accelerate and deepen the meaningful learning, creative thinking and deep insight skills of researchers in both the sciences and the humanities. Puzzles and case studies illustrate the application of the techniques to fundamentally improving the depth and quality of our thinking in areas as diverse as neuroscience, business, law, the fine arts, genetics, philosophy, and engineering.

Dr. Delany is a neuroscientist with a research focus on novel brain training interventions for psychiatric disorders and cognitive enhancement. He also runs this course for academics and researchers in a wide range of external institutions including Cornell University, New York.

Six Session Course (you must be able to attend all six dates):

Wednesdays: 19th Jan, 26th Jan, 2th Feb, 9th Feb, 16th Feb, 23rd Feb

Date:24th & 25th January 2011

Time:9:00 - 16:30 both days

Venue:
The Cliff Townhouse, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

Registration Closed

Two Day Writing Retreat (non-residential)

Facilitator: Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL

A common frustration for academics is finding quiet time to write for publication.  Participating in a writing retreat can help you to benefit from dedicating a block of time to focus exclusively on your academic writing.

The aim of this retreat is to provide you with an opportunity to work on or complete a piece of academic writing that you have already developed (ie. your research and organization is complete). For this reason we ask you to identify your writing task on registration.  

The retreat will focus exclusively on writing. The majority of your time will be spent in intensive, individual writing. However, this is a task-orientated process and you will be asked to identify achievable writing outputs at the beginning of the retreat. Structured peer groups will help you to set goals and encourage progress over the two days. There will also be a peer review exercise built into the second day.

Prospective participants must be available to attend both days in full. As places are limited preference will be given to those:

• writing for publication
• who have not attended a previous writing retreat (though we will be happy to accommodate you if we have places)

Please identify your writing task on registration.  Lunch is provided on both days.

Places are strictly limited to 14.

27th January 2011

Time:13:00 - 14:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Lunchtime Seminar: Opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking for undergraduate learning

Facilitator: Prof. Paul Coughlan, School of Business. Recipient of a 2010 Provost Teaching Award

Meyer and Land (2005)*suggest that within each discipline, field or profession there are threshold concepts which integrate and define the scope of the academic community with which a student is engaging. These threshold concepts can be considered like passing through a portal, or conceptual gateway, thus opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. Such concepts lead to a transformed way of understanding within a discipline.  Such concepts have five attributes: they are transformative, irreversible, integrative, bounded and troublesome.

This presentation builds on insights from the literature on threshold concepts to present a perspective on undergraduate teaching and learning. The presentation is based upon experience of teaching an established final-year university undergraduate course in the area of managing product development. It highlights the problems that students encounter in trying to understand how new product development works in practice and prompts those teaching as to how they might reflect on their approach.

*Meyer, J.H.F. and Land, R. (2005), Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning, Higher Education, 49, 373-388

Date: 7th February 2011

Time:13:00 - 14:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Lunchtime Seminar: Teaching and assessment strategies to promote critical thinking

Facilitator: Dr. Jacqueline Hayden, Department of Political Science. Recipient of a 2010 Provost Teaching Award

Despite leaving university with excellent degrees social science graduates may still lack real life skills such as the ability to think in terms of problem solving. Some may still not have learned how to marry the intellectual branches of the disciplines they have studied and thus cannot adequately offer interdisciplinary solutions to the problems they are asked to tackle in the workplace. This situation is often compounded by essay based teaching models where graduates do not learn how to communicate complex information verbally.

In this seminar, Dr Jacqueline Hayden will talk about how the Department of Political Science has responded to this issue. She will talk about the small group learning strategies she uses in her 4th year class – Important Issues in Contemporary Politics. Her seminar will focus on problem based learning strategies that allow students to self-select topics for research and presentation which promote self and peer evaluation. She will outline the teaching methods she uses to move students on from essay writing to designing problem based research proposals. Jacqueline will also discuss how podcasting has facilitated student’s evaluation of their presentations and how innovative assessment procedures facilitate the delivery of a more nuanced picture of a student’s skill set.

Date:11th February 2011

Time:10:00 - 13:00 for Academic Staff

Date:18th February 2011

14:00 - 17:00 for Postgraduate Students

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Enhancing your Presentation Skills in an Academic Environment

Facilitator: Dr. Roisin Donnelly, DIT Learning and Teaching Centre

The fact that for most people, even experienced academic presenters, getting up and presenting in front of an audience can be an uneasy experience. For today’s academic, it is important to be able to communicate thoughts and ideas effectively, using a variety of tools and medium. Happily, presentation skills are something we can learn and as a result, we want to make dynamic, lively, memorable and effective presentations in our academic environments.

Whether it is presenting your research at a conference, giving Key Note speeches, making presentations to pitch ideas internally, in fact whether you are persuading, educating, or informing, this interactive workshop will provide participants with practical advice on how to improve their presentations in front of an audience. It will focus on the key stages of preparation, structure, delivery, handling question and answers and the all-important use of visual aids and current presentation technologies. Read more on Workshop Content (MS Word, 11 KB)

Date: 15th February 2011

Time:11:00 - 12:30

Venue: South Training Room, BLU Library complex

Registration Closed

Making your module, programme, or individual teaching practices inclusive and accessible to all

Facilitator: Ms. Michelle Garvey

This event will provide a demonstration of web resources created by the Trinity Inclusive Curriculum (TIC) strategy to support and guide staff seeking to enhance inclusion within their modules, programmes, or individual teaching practices. Each participant will have access to a computer, allowing the opportunity to explore these resources themselves.

TIC was devised with the aim of embedding inclusive practices within the mainstream College curriculum though the creation of web resources and training activities. In November 2010 TIC launched an online self-evaluation tool, supported by a resource website(www.tcd.ie/capsl/tic/). This tool allows all staff involved in student teaching, supervision, and assessment to evaluate their practices for inclusion, and users receive a report of suggested actions upon completion. The tool is supported by the TIC resource website, which combines guidelines and AV materials to guide users as they seek to enhance inclusion.

For further details contact include@tcd.ie

Date:1st & 2nd March

Time:9:00 - 16:30 both days

Venue:
The Cliff Townhouse, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2.

Registration Closed

Two Day Writing Retreat (non-residential)

Facilitator: Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL

A common frustration for academics is finding quiet time to write for publication.  Participating in a writing retreat can help you to benefit from dedicating a block of time to focus exclusively on your academic writing.

The aim of this retreat is to provide you with an opportunity to work on or complete a piece of academic writing that you have already developed (ie. your research and organization is complete). For this reason we ask you to identify your writing task on registration.  

The retreat will focus exclusively on writing. The majority of your time will be spent in intensive, individual writing. However, this is a task-orientated process and you will be asked to identify achievable writing outputs at the beginning of the retreat. Structured peer groups will help you to set goals and encourage progress over the two days. There will also be a peer review exercise built into the second day.

Prospective participants must be available to attend both days in full. As places are limited preference will be given to those:

• writing for publication
• who have not attended a previous writing retreat (though we will be happy to accommodate you if we have places)

Please identify your writing task on registration.  Lunch is provided on both days.

Places are strictly limited to 14.

Date:7th March 2011

Time:12:00 - 14:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

Facilitator: Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL

At some point in your academic teaching career, you will be asked to write a statement about your approach to teaching and the rationale behind what you do as an educator.   It may be for promotion purposes, or for personal, political, professional or pedagogical reasons.  

In this session we'll help you identify and articulate your teaching philosophy, provide examples of teaching philosophy statements, and spend time drafting your statement. 

Date:
22nd March 2011

Time:
9:30 - 12:30

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Writing for Academic Journals

Facilitator:Dr. Rowena Murray, University of Strathclyde

This workshop will cover the following topics: targeting a journal, getting started, analysing abstracts, writing an abstract, outlining, drafting, and dealing with feedback from reviewers.  There will be some writing and discussion activities, and participants are encouraged to bring laptops to use at this workshop.

Date:
22nd March 2011

Time:
14:00 - 17:00

Venue:
Samuel Beckett PC Lab, Arts Building

Registration Closed

Writing a Book Proposal

Facilitator:Dr. Rowena Murray, University of Strathclyde

This workshop will introduce a template for book proposals.  There will be analysis and discussion of a completed, successful proposal.
Discussion points could include: finding a publisher, writing for specific audiences, making the case for your book, and other issues raised by participants. 

Date:
13th April 2011

Time:
10:00 - 13:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Curriculum Design and Development

Facilitator: Prof. Alan Mortiboys

Module design is a key factor in influencing the quality of student learning. This session focuses on important questions to consider in the design of a new module or the redesign of an existing one.

It will include:

How module design can shape students’ approaches to learning;
Writing useful module outcomes;
Aligning outcomes, assessment and learning and teaching methods;
The role of assessment and feedback;
Guiding the students in their non-contact hours.

Date:
13th April 2011

Time:
14:00 - 17:00

Venue:
Room 1.03, 3-4 Foster Place

Registration Closed

Learning Through Reflection

Facilitator: Prof. Alan Mortiboys