Name: Dr.

Paula Conroy

Student Number: G00387294

Module: Certificate in Teaching and Learning

Assignment: Reflection

Introduction
The Certificate in Teaching and learning has been an invaluable experience to my transition
from going to a face to face lecturer to a full time online lecturer. The text below describes
my considerations and journey throughout this process.

Pedagogical Considerations

Pedagogical Considerations Pedagogy deals with the theory and practice of education. It
concerns the study and practice of how best to teach. It aims range from the general (full
development of the human being via liberal education) to the narrower specifics of vocational
education (the impacting and acquisition of specific skills). Methodologies, approaches and
strategies of impacting knowledge to learners constitute important components of pedagogy
in teaching and learning (“Analysis of Pedagogy”. Educ.Utas.edu.au). Basically, Pedagogy
means Teaching and Learning Strategy Pedagogy is the art (and science) of teaching.
Effective teachers use an array of teaching strategies because there is no single, universal
approach that suits all situations. Different strategies used in different combinations with
different grouping of students will improve learning outcome. Some are better suited to teach
certain skills and field of knowledge than the others. Some are better suited to certain
students’ background and abilities. Pedagogy is how teaching learning occurs. Students are
not empty vessels to be filled with our expert knowledge they must construct their own
understanding through our considered learning experiences.

Recent times

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic reached Ireland on 29 February 2020, and within three

weeks had spread to all countries. The pandemic affected many aspects of society. On 12
March, the government shut all schools, colleges, childcare facilities and cultural institutions,
and advised cancelling large gatherings. Although great advances were ruled out in Colleges
and Universities alike to promote e-learning the pandemic forced all academic staff and
students to adopt the online approach. (COVID-19 updates (Coronavirus)". Health Service
Executive)

Online supports

Online resources such as the TEL Tools Project proved a great resource of educating the
educators. The TEL Tools project involved the development of a collection of online micro-
learning courses designed to help those who teach to optimise their use of technology to
enhance teaching and learning. TELU (technology-enhanced learning for you), the project’s
online platform, features over 150 openly-licensed courses, each designed by experienced
educators and designers and curated into easy-to-use, structured formats with the intention of
being useful and practical for those who teach. TELU is built around real, on-the-ground
experiences and case studies from practising teachers. In addition to the TELU platform
being open for use by all, it is also embedded in modules within the partner institutions.
Many institutions of Higher Education and Corporate Training Institutes are resorting to e-
Learning as a means of solving authentic learning and performance problems, while other
institutions are hopping onto the bandwagon simply because they do not want to be left
behind. Success is crucial because an unsuccessful effort to implement e-Learning will be
clearly reflected in terms of the return of investment. One of the most crucial prerequisites for
successful implementation of e-Learning is the need for careful consideration of the
underlying pedagogy, or how learning takes place online. In practice, however, this is often
the most neglected aspect in any effort to implement e-Learning (Govindasamy, T., 2001).
Thanks to this Certificate in Teaching and Learning module and the online TEL supports as a
new Lecturer to GMIT since September 2019, I have found these programmes to be a great
help. Particularly with online delivery and methods and software for teaching.

Lecture Content

Creating meaningful content and incorporating sound online pedagogy is essential for
effective multimedia instruction. Designing tutorials and web pages in a pedagogically sound
way can provide opportunities for student exploration, creativity, and application of new
understanding of difficult concepts to their own assignments. Effective pedagogy needs to
include various approaches to learner motivation, module organization, and level of
interactivity. Traditional instructional pedagogy has guided much of the simple skills
instruction on the web, but librarians are also developing new ways of teaching in this
medium.
Personally, I find student exploration into the topic really emphasises the topic and helps the
students to grasp the topic in a more in depth way. For this reason I like to use Padlet as it
allows the students to critically appraise journals, create mind maps for essays, peer evaluate
each other’s work and discuss topics on Public Health and Nutrition.
The current situation poses a serious challenge to any organization embarking on
implementing e-Learning. Often many features and tools are left unused. This is a terrible
waste of resources since these tools account for the cost of implementing e-Learning. In a
worst case scenario, the tools may end up being used in a manner entirely opposed to
pedagogical principles, and in turn, will hamper learning. In either case, the impact inevitably
will be reflected in the return on the e-Learning investment. Pedagogical principles are
theories that govern the good practice of teaching. As far as e-Learning is concerned, the
good practice of teaching or instruction is well represented in an eclectic linking science
known as Instructional Technology. It is a growing science because various elements of the
good practice of teaching are still in the process of being discovered by means of trial and
error. Luckily, some of these trials and errors have become subjects of funded research, the
results of which have been documented and made available on the Internet. One such
research project was conducted by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, USA. The
research draws upon the experiences of pioneers in e-Learning comprising of six institutions
of higher education in the US. The deliverable from this extensive study is a set of quality
benchmarks distributed along seven parameters (Quality on the Line, 2000).

The seven parameters are:

 Institutional support
 Course development
 Teaching and learning
 Course structure
 Student support
 Faculty support
 Evaluation and assessment

During the Corona Virus Epidemic GMIT has provided Institutional support through online
modules and the TEL online resources. It also has helped out Lectures a great deal with
Moodle support through the media of online forums. Course development has been greatly
altered, while still trying to meet course outcomes and objectives. Future planning for the
different phases of Covid 19 will lead to different changes in the course development.
Teaching and learning has changed immensely. As can be seen from the lecture attached to
this essay, we are now delivering our lectures online. This for me is a great challenge. I try to
incorporate student engagement at all costs. However, when students cannot access internet
the lectures must be recorded, and a link be sent to the students for later watching. This limits
the student’s engagement. This is something that must be considered as a student support and
a faculty support. Finally, evaluation, as per the attached lecture I always add a ‘Test your
knowledge’ link to Microsoft forms. I think this allows the students to ensure they are on the
right track and it allows the lectures to ensure what they are teaching is registering with the
students.

Student Support

Student support is one area of e-Learning that is markedly different from the traditional
classroom delivery method. In traditional classroom instruction, student support can be
addressed on a supply-and-demand basis. When a student needs performance support they
would communicate their needs explicitly and consequently receive the needed support. In e-
Learning settings, where students learn as a result of interaction with programmed
instructional systems, all possible types of problems student are likely to face have to be
foreseen in advance in order to introduce features for performance support. One way of doing
this is by using a framework based on Laurillard’s Conversational Theory. This theory
advocates a teaching strategy based on interaction between teacher and student; not on the
actions required of the student by the teacher. The theory also emphasizes the need for
constructive and meaningful feedback. Students should be allowed to reflect as they interact
with the learning material (Laurillard, 1996). Students’ rate of access should be tracked, and
the information used to distinguish between high achievers, average learners, and slow
learners. This information can then be used to motivate or positively reinforce learners. I have
found that by having a Microsoft Forms after each teaching online session students are able
to self-motivate to do better each time. The results are all anonymous only each student sees
their own result. However, they can see their own progress after each test. The questions with
the most incorrect answers are discussed at the next lecture. In this way I use Laurullards
Conversational Theory in my e-teaching.

The Didactic Relation Model

The didactic relation model, originally developed by Norwegian educational researchers

Bjørndal and Lieberg (1978), has proven to be well suited for planning education in the
Norwegian context (Engelsen, 2006). The didactic relation model is intended to be a tool for
planning and reflection; it helps educators use reflection as much as possible in analysing
their planning, teaching, and evaluating activities. In the didactic relation model, the educator
describes and reflects on the key factors that make up a teaching situation, and on the ways
these factors interrelate. Applied to library user education, this model empowers the
information professional’s practice, as it provides a framework to plan education and its
evaluation (Torras & Sætre, 2009). The model increases information professionals’
awareness and understanding of their teaching practices. The model describes a number of
factors that interact to define a teaching/learning situation. Hiim and Hippe (1998) build upon
Bjørndal and Lieberg’s (1978) model and distinguish the following didactic categories:
learning goals, content, learning process, learning conditions, settings, and assessment.

The Certificate in Teaching & Learning Experience

The Certificate in Teaching and Learning has been invaluable from a career development
point of view and also for establishing a more robust and developed online presence for
student online learning. The development of the e-portfolio has inspired me to role this out as
part of my LIS teaching. The first years developed their own e-portfolio and through
meetings with my collegeus we have decided to incorporate the e portfolio throughout their
degree. We will encourage students to showcase their work, volunteering and assignments on
their e-portfolio with the intention of awarding the best e-portfolio on graduation day once
their four year programme has been completed.
The digital learning tool education and support we obtained from the Certificate was
invaluable and very applicable as I was able to utilise it in my ‘Nutrition, Physical Activity
and Health’ module. This module has 111 students this year. As the class group is so large
and all interaction was done online it forced me to look outside the box and design and
develop learning resources to help students with their revision. The revision suite was
complete with a revision guide, what to expect in exams document, a sample mcq with live
feedback and two online sessions of q&a where students were encouraged to talk about any
issues they had. This was also recorded and available to students throughout the revision
period. It was very interesting to obtain staff and student feedback on this assignment. The
feedback was constructive and positive and will defiantly shape thee way in which I develop
digital resources going forward.
Developing the lesson plan and thinking strategically about the different resources and
timings was a great learning opportunity for me. Going forward I will apply this to all of my
classes. The template provided on this module will assist me throughout this process. It was
great to have two different lectures sit in on my class and provide feedback. It was also a
great leaning opportunity to sit in my peer’s classes and observe their teaching methods. One
such resource I picked up from observing Fionas class was the use of the interactive
whiteboard. I have since adapted this into m own teaching and I am finding I am having a lot
of interaction from the students when I use it. Particularly for maths equations.

Conclusion
Overall, I have benefitted hugely from attending the Certificate in Teaching and Learning.
This module has allowed me to revaluate my teaching under the following headings:
Pedagogical Considerations, Online supports, Lecture Content, Student Support, The
Didactic Relation Model & The Certificate in Teaching & Learning Experience. The
learnings I have obtained from sitting this year long module will shape and develop my
capabilities as a Lecturer in GMIT.