Pictured L-R: Dr Ross Woods, Senior Manager, National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at Higher Education Authority; Prof. Niamh Hourigan, Vice-President of Academic Affairs at MIC; Professor Dermot Nestor, President of MIC; and Dr Katherine Whitehurst, Director of Teaching and Learning
LEAD, MIC
Mary Immaculate College (MIC) marked a significant investment in teaching and learning with the launch of its new Graduate and Academic Teaching Enhancement (GATE) Centre. Located on the John Henry Newman Campus, the Centre will support staff and postgraduate students in developing the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to effectively create, use and evaluate educational media in contemporary higher education.
Funded by the National Forum and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) through the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) fund, it is a dedicated space designed to support innovation, collaboration, and professional development in the use of educational media in teaching and learning.
The Centre provides a space for experimentation and sharing of practice, allowing those who teach at MIC to explore how educational media can be purposefully and effectively incorporated into contemporary teaching and learning. It will also facilitate collaboration between colleagues, academic investigation, and contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
GATE’s work will focus on five key areas: professional development, experimentation, collaborative engagement, innovation and dissemination. Through these areas, the Centre aims to build individual and institutional capability while creating opportunities for staff and postgraduate students to explore new ideas, share resources, and translate innovative approaches into practice.
The GATE Centre is a collaborative initiative supported by the National Forum, LEAD, the Research and Graduate School, MIC Estates & Sustainability and Finance.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Katherine Whitehurst, Director of Teaching and Learning at LEAD, said:
“We are delighted to launch the GATE Centre, a place to explore, practise, create and critically evaluate media for educational purposes. The Centre puts people and pedagogy at the centre of its mission and will support staff in driving their teaching practice forward through the production and use of educational media.”
Professor Dermot Nestor, President of MIC, said:
“The GATE Centre invests in our staff and postgraduate students. MIC studies how people learn, and GATE brings that understanding to our own practice. It offers a shared space across both faculties and at every career stage to experiment with educational media and emerging technologies, and to judge them by a single standard: whether they serve learning. The space is ready; what will make it matter is the programme of professional learning and the communities of practice that now grow here.”
Dr Ross Woods, Senior Manager, National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at HEA, added:
“The GATE Centre is an excellent example of how institutions can create opportunities for staff to explore new approaches to teaching and learning. By providing a dedicated space for professional development, experimentation and collaboration, MIC supports educators in developing the skills and confidence needed to use educational media effectively. The HEA is delighted to support this initiative, which places the enhancement of teaching and learning at its heart and encourages the sharing of knowledge and good practice across the MIC.”
