Professional Teaching Enhancement

LEAD works alongside those who teach in MIC to support their teaching practice with new ideas from the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

For those looking to enhance their teaching through accredited training, can register for LEAD's Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice. This programme aims to encourage and promote best practice in Higher Education teaching, learning and assessment that empowers staff and students to be responsive to the changing needs of the Higher Education landscape and broader society. It is designed for those who teach in higher education and offers two streams, one for those new to Higher Education teaching and one designed for experienced practitioners. 

Why use Technology for Teaching and Learning?

Higher education is experiencing significant change, impacted by diverse learner profiles, multiple pathways and increasing demands on academic staff. Technology enhanced learning has the potential to offer flexible pedagogical approaches by catering for all learners regardless of their profile, location or personal circumstances, and encouraging them to become active and engaged learners. It recognises the richness diverse student profiles can bring to the learning experience and so promotes social learning.

If used correctly technology can provide opportunities to engage learners of all profiles and offer an inclusive engaged learning environment. Examples of how technology can be used in this way include:

• Providing opportunities to allow students to become more independent by encouraging them to further develop and adapt what they are learning so it can be applied to different contexts. Just some technologies that can be used to encourage learners to develop and apply their learning are wikis (see Wang, 2014; Sharp and Whaley, 2018), blogging/video blogging (see Muncy, 2014), social media (see Chawinga, 2017) and eportfolios see (Beckers et al, 2016).
• Engaging students in social and collaborative learning in class can be often difficult, particularly in large groups. Some students are slow to take part and others can dominate the conversation. Technology can be used to allow all students to collaborate. It provides learners with the opportunity to reflect on activities before they contribute, it is visible how each student collaborates and participates in the learning activities. Technology such as discussion forums (Salmon, 2004; Western Sydney University) and wikis (Wang, 2014;Sharp and Whaley, 2018) can provide areas for students to collaborate.
• Providing students with diverse assessment and feedback opportunities to improve their performance though turnitin, audio/video submissions, wikis, e-tivities and e-portfolios.

Support LEAD can provide

The Learning Enhancement and Academic Development Centre (LEAD) in MIC can provide the following supports to enable you to exploit technology to enhance your teaching and learning:

• Workshops in which academic staff in Mary Immaculate College share how they have used technology to enhance their teaching and student learning.
• Professional development workshops in emerging technologies and how these can be integrated to enhance the learning experience.
• One to one consultations about how you can integrate technology into your teaching.

Community of Practice

The MIC Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Community of Practice (CoP) is an exciting initiative, aimed at promoting the use of UDL principles and strategies within MIC. The UDL CoP is also embedded within the MIC Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) funded project which is designed to support and drive teaching and learning innovation in Irish higher education.

Purpose of the MIC UDL Community of Practice

Our aim is to provide a teaching and learning space in MIC where we can meet regularly to:

• Share ideas on inclusive practices.
• Generate research in the area of UDL.
• Create resources to assist with our teaching and learning.

Our MIC UDL Community of Practice is a great place to start if you would like to learn more about UDL, or if you would like to share your own UDL practices and experience.

UDL Badge

Staff now how two exciting opportunities to obtain the UDL badge by enrolling in the Autumn national offering for the badge or by taking it in house at MIC in the Spring semester. To learn more, please get in touch with LEAD.

Peer Observation of Teaching is a voluntary system of professional support which aims to assist teachers, at any stage in their career, to gain valuable insights about their teaching performance in a confidential, trusting and formative climate. It involves inviting a colleague into a lecture or tutorial and asking them for their feedback and insights in relation to your academic practice, e.g. teaching and learning approaches, use of technology, student engagement etc. It is a reciprocal relationship, as you are also asked to observe a colleague's teaching session and to provide formative, constructive feedback. Marshall (2004: 187) suggests that ‘the power of peer observation resides in its developmental and collegial orientation and its exposure of colleagues to affirmation, constructive criticism, and the experience of how others teach differently’.

Within the Mid-West Regional Cluster, a number of training events are hosted each year in order to inform and develop an institutional and inter-institutional Peer Observation of Teaching network. Short inter-institutional workshops will be offered to all registered participants, with attendance at one of the workshops required of all participants new to peer observation.

For more information on Peer Observation of Teaching, contact Learning Enhancement and Academic Development team on LEAD@mic.ul.ie

References

Marshall, B. (2004) ‘Learning from the Academy: From peer observation of teaching to peer enhancement of learning and teaching’, The Journal of Adult Theological Education, 1(2), 185-204.

Peer Observation Guidelines

Peer Observation Template – face to face

POT Template Synchronous session

POT Template Asynchronous session

A teaching philosophy statement has been explained by Fitzmaurice and Coughlan (2007: 39) as follows:

'Teaching philosophy statements can be defined in various ways but, put simply, they are written statements of why teachers do what they do—their beliefs and theories about teaching, about students and about learning, all of which underpin what and how they teach.’

Typically, they are not hugely lengthy statements (1-2 pages in length) and encompass some of the fundamental beliefs, attitudes and approaches when it comes to teaching, learning and assessment. There is no set ‘format’ for teaching philosophy statements as they are inherently personal documents, and consequently are simply an honest statement of what motivates and drives an individual’s approach to teaching, often incorporating a reflection on their journey as an educator and offering some insights into who they are and their approach to academic practice. 

Key to the articulation of a personal statement of teaching philosophy is reflective practice, a critical examination of approaches to teaching, learning and assessment in order to identify key learnings and areas for further professional development. For a useful introductory guide to reflective practice as an educator (based on Brookfield’s (1995) four lenses of reflection), see the following guide from the Open University.

Additional resources to help you prepare your teaching philosophy statement

See the following resources from Ohio State University for guidelines, tips and examples of Teaching Philosophy Statements from faculty across a variety of disciplines. 

Additionally, the resources shared below provide some advice and guidance in relation to preparing your statement of your personal philosophy of education.

If you would like to discuss your statement, email LEAD@mic.ul.ie 

References

• Brookfield, S. (1995) Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Fitzmaurice, M. and Coughlan, J. (2007) Teaching philosophy statements: a guide in O’Farrell, C. (ed) Teaching Portfolio Practice in Ireland: a handbook, Dublin: AISHE
• Learning through Reflection, a guide for busy academics
• National Forum Domain 1 - Teaching Philosophy Triggers
• Teaching Portfolio Practice in Ireland
• Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

There is a growing body of literature highlighting the use of portfolios to support academic professional learning activities and reflective practice in Higher Education (see for example O’Farrell, 2007; Pelger and Larsson, 2018; Sjögren et al., 2012). Portfolios are being used in multiple ways: to provide evidence of a quality approach to professional development, to document teaching practice for the purposes of promotion applications or membership of professional bodies, to showcase and reflect on academic practice and to provide evidence of engagement with professional development activities.

Portfolios can serve any of the following purposes:

• Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios to reflect on and refine their teaching skills and philosophies;
• Job applicants for faculty positions can use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness;
• Faculty members up for promotion or tenure can also use teaching portfolios to document their teaching effectiveness;
• Faculty members and teaching assistants can use teaching portfolios, particularly ones shared online, to “go public”with their teaching to invite comments from their peers and to share teaching successes so that their peers can build on them;
• Teaching portfolios allow faculty to express their own unique teaching style & creativity (Vanderbilt University, n.d.). 

Academic faculty who are considering applying for a mid-west regional cluster (UL, MIC, LIT) Regional Teaching Excellence Award are warmly encouraged to think about developing their teaching portfolio at an early stage. While it can be time-consuming, it is ultimately an enriching and rewarding experience and LEAD is available to provide advice and guidance throughout the process.

For more detail on preparing a teaching portfolio, see this guide to Preparing Your Teaching Portfolio.

References

• O’Farrell, C. (2007) Teaching Portfolio Practice in Ireland: a handbook, Dublin: AISHE.
• Pelger, S. and Larsson, M. (2018) Advancement towards the scholarship of learning and teaching through the writing of teaching portfolios, International Journal for Academic Development, 23(3): 179-191.
• Sjögren, E., Ragnemalm, E.L., Tingström, P., Uhlin, L. and Abrandt Dahlgren, M. (2012), ‘Academics’ reflections on the use of eportfolio documentation of pedagogical skills - a pilot study’, The Quality of Higher Education, 9: 98-119.
• Vanderbilt University (n.d.) Teaching Portfolios, Vanderbilt University, (Accessed 14 Sept. 2018).