Flexible Learning: Proceedings of the National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning Annual Conference (4th, Dublin, Ireland, October 6-7, 2010)

Abstract

This volume presents 64 abstracts of keynote and parallel paper presentations of the Irish National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning's (NAIRTL) conference on the theme of flexible learning. The Flexible Learning conference was a joint initiative by NAIRTL and the Learning Innovation Network. The keynote presentations can be accessed via hyperlinks as video recordings. Authors were encouraged to have their papers peer-reviewed. The 64 abstracts are: (1) Keynote Speech: The Open Education Revolution (Richard Baraniuk); (2) Keynote Speech: Flexible Learning: The European Context (Michael Horig); (3) The Use of Information and Communication Technology in Irish Language Learning and Teaching: WIMBA Voice Tools as Gaeilge (Riona Ni Fhrighil); (4) A Framework for the Comparison of Virtual Classroom Systems (Daniel McSweeney); (5) E-Portfolio for Language and Intercultural Learning: The Lolipop Experience (Fionnuala Kennedy); (6) Review of Common Synchronous, Live Online-Classroom Tools (Arnold Hensman); (7) Getting There from Here: Learning to Use Readily Available Technologies to Engage Learners and Enhance Learning (Liam Boyle); (8) The Perceived Impact of Peer Education on an Occupational Therapy Student Cohort (Clodagh Nolan, Carmel Lalor, and Paula Lynch); (9) A Student-Led Approach to Personal and Professional Development--A Case Study of a Level 9 Module in Professional Development for Graduate Engineers (Carol O'Byrne); (10) Interdisciplinary Study and Integrative Learning--A Search for Evidence (Aileen Malone); (11) Linking Assessment Methods with Innovative Teaching and Learning Strategies in Postgraduate Nursing Education (Lorraine Murphy and Frances Finn); (12) Making Connections: The Use of Ethnographic Fieldwork to Facilitate a Model of Integrative Learning (Michelle Finnerty); (13) Guiding Student Learning Using Programmed Research Projects (Oisin Keely, Michael Carty, Iain MacLabhrainn, and Andrew Flaus); (14) Social Work within a Community Discourse; Integrating Research, Teaching and Learning on the Master of Social Work (MSW) Programme (Catherine Forde and Deborah Lynch); (15) The Building Expertise in Science Teaching (BEST) Project (Cliona Murphy, Janet Varley and Paula Kilfeather); (16) Developing Teaching in an Institute of Technology (Marion Palmer); (17) The Effects of an Innovative Peer Learning Programme on Undergraduate Science Students (Jennifer Johnston and George McClelland); (18) The Merits of Blogging; Its Usefulness as a Pedagogical Tool (Siobhan O'Sullivan and Hugh McGlynn); (19) Flexible Learning or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Technology (Laura Widger); (20) The Establishment and Evaluation of a National Online Clinical Testing Repository for Surgical Trainees and Students (Seamus McHugh, Mark Corrigan, Athar Sheikh, Arnold Hill, Elaine Lehane, Conor Shields, Paul Redmond, and Michael Kerin); (21) Operations Management Online at Dundalk Institute to Technology (Angela Short); (22) Integrative Learning: What Is It--and Why Is It More Important Than Ever? (Bettie Higgs, Shane Kilcommins, Tony Ryan, Alan Booth and Angela Smallwood); (23) The Development of a Theoretical Model of Integrative Learning for Use in Professional Programmes (Irene Hartigan, Siobhan Murphy, Nuala Walshe, and Terry Barrett); (24) Teaching Teachers How to Teach: Implementing Research in the Science Classroom (Sarah Hayes and Peter E. Childs); (25) Promoting Healthy Behaviour Choices: Understanding Patient Challenges By Undertaking a Personal Behaviour Change Task (Frank Doyle, Anne Hickey, Karen Morgan, Ian Grey, Eva Doherty, and Hannah McGee); (26) Integration of Technology in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (Teresa Bradley, Leah Wallace and Liam Boyle); (27) Learning from Engagement of Cross-Disciplinary Lesson (Dolores Corcoran, Sinead Breen, Maurice O'Reilly and Therese Dooley); (28) Using Blogs to Foster Reflective Practice for Professional Development of Teaching Staff in Higher Education (Martina Crehan and Muireann O'Keeffe); (29) Towards a Standardised, Student-Centred Approach to Continuous Assessment: A Case History of GMIT Letterfrack (Kate Dunne, Pauline Logue-Collins and Angelika Rauch); (30) Virtually There (Michael Goldrick); (31) Art Works! (Marian McCarthy); (32) Moving Laboratory Work into the Cognitive Domain (Maeve Scott); (33) Learning Enhancement through Peer Support (Carina Ginty and Nuala Harding); (34) Designing Research Posters: A Workshop (Imogen Bertin); (35) Flexible Learning and Online Language Portfolios (Houssaine Afoullouss); (36) Blended Not Scrambled: Pedagogic Design for the 21st Century College Student (Leo Casey); (37) The Role of the WEBINAR in Flexible Continuous Professional Development (Brian Mulligan); (38) Student Ownership of Assessment as Integrative Learning (Kevin Howard); (39) Approaches to Learning of Postgraduate Healthcare Professionals in an Outcomes-Based Curriculum (Pauline Joyce); (40) The Use of Learning Journals in Legal Education as a Means of Fostering Integrative Learning through Pedagogy and Assessment (Shane Kilcommins); (41) Innovative Teaching through Video Games: Literature Review and Best Practice (Patrick Felicia); (42) Universal Design for Learning--The Benefits of Technology Enhanced Learning for Students with Disabilities (Patricia Kearney and Elaine O'Leary); (43) Promoting Flexible Learning through Negotiation (Lorraine McGinty); (44) Technology Based Teaching and Learning: E-Law Summer Institute, UCC (Fidelma White and Louise Crowley); (45) Evaluation of Interactive Video Based Scenario to Teach Professionalism to Medical Interns (Bryan Butler and Michelle McEvoy); (46) Flexible Learning Opportunities for Teachers in the 21st Century (Michael Hallissey); (47) Group Projects in the Information Technology Curriculum: Towards Best Practice (Brendan Lyng and Catherine Lowry O'Neill); (48) A Multidisciplinary Approach for Science Learning (Eilish McLoughlin and Odilla Finlayson); (49) Integrative Learning and Technoculture: What's at Stake? (James Cronin, Daniel Blackshields, and Julianne Nyhan); (50) Exploring the Synergy between Pedagogical Research, Teaching and Learning in Introductory Physics (Leah Wallace); (51) The Impact of Education Level and Type on Cognitive Ethical Development (Elaine Doyle and Joanne O'Flaherty); (52) A "Whole Discipline" Approach to Enhancing Research in the Undergraduate Geography Curriculum (Niamh Moore-Cherry, Susan Hegarty, Ruth McManus, Kay MacKeogh, and Shelagh Waddington); (53) Instructional Videocasts: Facilitating Learning in a Mobile World (Robert Hickey); (54) What Do Students Think About Technology? (Shelagh Waddington, Una Crowley, and Conor McCaffery); (55) Chance Favours the Prepared Mind: Strategies to Enhance Educational Research Experiences (Etain Kiely, Gail Cummins, Rowan Watson, Margaret Savage, and Orla Walsh); (56) Essential Considerations in Implementing an E-Learning Strategy at Institutional Level (John Dallat and Brendan Ryder); (57) The Experiences of Engineering Students Working in Multidisciplinary Project Teams (Sivakumar Ramachandran, Timm Jeschawitz, and Denis Cullinane); (58) Integrated, Interprofessional Education for First Year Undergraduate Medical, Physiotherapy and Pharmacy Students (Judith Strawbridge, Celine Marmion, and John Kelly); (59) Preparing for Success: A Study of How Targeted Skills-Based Workshops Can Effectively Aid First Year Students to Bridge the Gap between Second and Third Level Learning (Natasha Underhill, Lyndsey EL Amoud and Seamus O'Tuama); (60) Using Learning Agreements to Facilitate Integrated Learning (Jane Creaner-Glen and Mary Creaner); (61) Development of a Patient Safety Online Programme for Doctors (Siobhan McCarthy, Ciaran O'Boyle, Dermot O'Flynn, Alf Nicholson, Ann O'Shaughnessy, Irene O'Byrne-Maguire, and Ailis Quinlan); (62) Student Services, a Key Aspect of the Provision of Flexible Learning in Higher Education Institutions (Josephine O'Donovan and Terry Maguire); (63) Use of Laboratory-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plants for Undergraduate Research, Training and Teaching (William Fitzgerald and Lil Rudden); and (64) Building Bridges Instead of Walls: Academic Professional Development through Inter-Institutional Collaboration (Nuala Harding and Marion Palmer). This document also includes 71 "Poster Abstracts." (Individual papers contain figures, tables, and references.)