Useful Teaching and Learning Conferences and Resources

The purpose of A Handbook and Tool Kit for Teaching, Learning and Assessment (2017) is to provide a free educational resource for HECA Colleges to use in the education of those who teach in their colleges. It builds on the National Professional Development Framework for all Staff who Teach in Higher Education (National Forum, 2016). Those who work their way through the handbook are actively guided to reflect on their practice, create a teaching philosophy statement, and develop a digital teaching portfolio to evidence their professional development.

This report was prepared by Dr Fiona O’Riordan on behalf of the HECA Teaching and Learning Committee. It represents the collective views of the Committee.

HECA Teaching and Learning Committee welcome an opportunity to respond to the approach for Professional Development of teaching staff in higher education. The general consensus is that the two consultation documents responded to in this report are very comprehensive. The approach is inclusive and offers the opportunity for a wide variety of development to be accommodated by individuals.

This report is an output of the research funding provided by the National Forum to support the CEEN and HECA joint project ‘Enterprise Engagement in Education (EEE) Pathways and Supports Project’ for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.

Sincerest thanks are offered to all CEEN and HECA members who have supported this work. The vision, commitment and support of academics across all partner institutes to participate and help develop and deliver effective entrepreneurship education are also commended.

This report is the culmination of a collaborative project between Educational Developers in Ireland Network (EDIN – www.edin.ie) and HECA to identify the professional development needs of part-time academic staff within Higher Education Institutions in Ireland. The project was funded by theNational Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (www.teachingandlearning.ie). Its aim was to deliver a research-informed analysis of professional development needs for the target group to inform continuing professional development programmes for these staff in the future. The project has now been completed and you can access the Executive Summary and Final Report at the project website.

ICEP is an annual event that brings together researchers and practitioners in the field of third- level teaching in order to discuss means and methods of improving student engagement. The conference format includes standard paper and poster presentations intermingled with workshops and panel style discussions. The first ICEP conference was in 2008 in Griffith College. Since then the conference has been hosted by many of the Irish Universities and IOTs. The conference is usually held in December with the call for abstracts going out around May or June each year.

ICEP’s aim is to further discussion and collaboration amongst researchers and practitioners in third level teaching and learning. The conference is themed around one central principle – the voice of the educator. All conference proceedings are published on the ICEP website. See http://icep.ie/

This is an annual conference hosted by one of the higher education institutes. It is usually held in May each year, with the call for papers coming out in the Spring of each year. The conference is run by the Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA) See http://ilta.ie/edtech-conferences/

The National Forum aims to draw on the examples of great practice in Ireland and internationally in order to help shape the delivery of an outstanding teaching and learning experience at third level in Ireland. The website has many interesting resources and supports, in particular the details of the National Seminar Series (http://teachingandlearning.ie/national-seminar-series-2015); and details of the networks who work in partnership with the Forum (http://teachingandlearning.ie/teaching-learning-partners).

There are links to each of the networks and their resources on this link. See http://teachingandlearning.ie/

BERA promotes educational research. They do this through their annual conference which takes place around September each year; and their range of publications and other material aimed at supporting the work of all those who are in active in the field of educational research.

They have four highly regarding peer-reviewed journals; ethical guidelines and charter for research staff; and a series of methods text books. See https://www.bera.ac.uk/

AHEAD, the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability is an independent non-profit organisation working to promote full access to and participation in further and higher education for students with disabilities and to enhance their employment prospects on graduation. AHEAD coordinates LINK, a worldwide network of professionals promoting the inclusion of students & graduates with disabilities in Higher Education managed by 6 European partner organisations.

They have an annual conference which takes place around March each year. See http://www.ahead.ie/