On Thursday 1 May, the 91制片厂 Learning Enhancement and Academic Development (LEAD) Centre hosted the 鈥淩enew, Rethink, Reassess our Assessment Designs鈥 staff development day. This hybrid event, held on the 91制片厂 Limerick Campus and on MS Teams, was introduced by Dr Katherine Whitehurst, Director of Teaching and Learning, and included a keynote presentation, presentations on technical tools for assessment and feedback, the launch of the latest series of 91制片厂鈥檚 case studies, and an assessment 鈥渟pring clean鈥 workshop.
The day began with a fantastic, informative keynote presentation by Dr Anna Logan, Dr Ann Marie Farrell and Christina Hannify from the DCU Institute of Education. Their presentation, 鈥淯niversally Designed Assessment for Large Classes: warts and all鈥, provided a practical and realistic demonstration of how we can assess large groups, grounded in the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Dr Farrell and Dr Logan, co-founders of the Pedagogy for Higher Education Large Classes (PHELC), discussed their experiences of redesigning assessments for large cohorts of BEd 1 and BEd 4 students, and discussed the positives and negatives for staff and students when implementing such assessments. Click here to access the 'Universally Designed Assessment for Large Classes' presentation and
After the keynote, Tom Kinsella, Digital Learning Manager, and Amy Mitchell, Learning Designer, introduced some key technological tools for assessment and feedback. Here they discussed the benefits and disadvantages of using tools such as Turnitin, Moodle Quiz, and Moodle Assignment, and provided advice on what tool may work best in a range of scenarios. Click here to find out more about using Moodle Assignment and Turnitin and click here to access the Moodle Quiz presentation. If you are interested in implementing any of these digital tools for assessment and feedback, please contact LEAD@mic.ul.ie for further guidance.
MISU President, Aisling Knox, then launched the latest series of 91制片厂 case studies of innovative academic practices. These case studies, gathered from 91制片厂 educators, showcase a range of digital and/or technical tools utilised in the college to support learning, including Generative AI. In her introduction, Aisling outlined the impact these case studies will have on 91制片厂 students, before introducing the five case studies. During the case study launch, Dr Conch煤r 脫 Brolch谩in presented his case study 鈥淰ideo Analysis to Promote Innovative Pedagogical Approaches in the Context of M煤ineadh na Gaeilge鈥, Dr Chris Fitzgerald presented his case study 鈥淗ow Generative AI can Enable Students to Explore the Impact of Linguistic Choices on Literary Works鈥, and Dr Fionnuala Tynan presented her case study 鈥淒igital Mind Maps as a Tool to Support Student Learning鈥. Dr Jean Reale, Assistant Professor in Academic Practice, then shared the remaining two case studies with attendees; Dr Laura McEntee鈥檚 鈥淯sing Generative Artificial Intelligence to Support Creativity in Arts Education鈥 and Dr Brighid Golden鈥檚 鈥淐reating Podcasts to Deepen Engagement with Global Citizenship Education鈥. These case studies, and the launch event, was funded by the National Forum through the Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning Enhancement (SATLE) fund. 鈥Click here to read the complete case studies.
At the close of the day, LEAD鈥檚 two Assistant Professors in Academic Practice, Dr Laura Costelloe and Dr Jean Reale, conducted an assessment 鈥渟pring clean鈥 workshop for staff. This workshop offered staff the chance to reflect on their assessment and feedback approaches and to identify any tweaks that might be made to enhance the student learning experience. Click here to access their presentation. A more detailed assessment design workshop is planned for Monday 9 June, more details are to follow.
Schedule of Events
9.30am: Coffee and Registration
10.00am: Opening and Welcome
10.10am: Keynote Presentation - Universally Designed Assessment for Large Classes: Warts and All by Dr Anna Logan, Dr Ann Marie Farrell and Christina Hannify, DCU Institute of Education.
11.00am: Coffee break
11.20am: LEAD presentation: (1) Turnitin, (2) Moodle Quiz, (3) Moodle Assignment
12.10pm: Launch of SATLE Case Studies
12.40pm: Lunch
1.15pm: Assessment 鈥淪pring Clean鈥 Workshop
2.15pm: Closing Reflections
