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This editorial introduces the summer 2021 issue of AISHE-J.
In Higher Education, science and health degree programmes involve significant practical elements. In many cases, students spend as much time in practical or clinical skill sessions each week as they do in classroom based lectures. These hands-on sessions engage students, develop both soft and technical skills, while allowing theory to be put into p...
This editorial article introduces a varied and thought-provoking second issue of AISHE-J Volume 12, Number 2. When we published Issue 1, at the end of February 2020, concern about the COVID-19 virus was mounting. However, few could have foreseen what a significant impact it would have on our lives and societies. The physical closure of all Irish ed...
In Higher Education, science and health degree programmes involve significant practical elements. In many cases, students spend as much time in practical or clinical skill sessions each week as they do in classroom based lectures. These hands-on sessions engage students, develop both soft and technical skills, while allowing theory to be put into p...
Despite the widespread acknowledgement of the importance of academic reading, much research tends to focus on academic writing. The role of academic writing in the development of academic and professional identities is generally accepted. In contrast, the role of academic reading has been less visible in the literature, and when discussed, it tends...
Despite the academic, practical and social benefits, the assessment of group work brings challenges . S In response to feedback from students and staff, a framework and set of guidelines around assessed group work were developed by Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Learning and Teaching sub-committee of Academic Council. This article describes the...
The contemporary emphasis on assessment for learning has been significantly more influential in the classroom than in the practical. Despite the central role of the practical in developing skills in science and health disciplines, concerns around over-assessment, surface approaches and authenticity are widely acknowledged. In this paper, we report...
In Science and Health practical sessions, the development of both technical and soft skills is essential in terms of both student learning and employability. The Irish Institute of Technology (IoT) sector places a major value on producing graduates who are ‘workplace ready’ with an emphasis on developing practical skills. It is widely recognised th...
In Science and Health disciplines, undergraduate students spend significant time in practical sessions. Here, they work in groups to learn technical competencies in combination with group work, data analysis and interpretation, communication skills and peer/self-assessment. The TEAM project (Technology enhanced assessment methods in science and hea...
Assessment in practical sessions, a critical student learning environment in science and health disciplines, has not advanced at the same pace as classroom assessment. While aspects of assessment and feedback have transformed our classroom teachings, this has often not translated to the practical environment. In science and health, the practical pl...
In science and health, the practical element of a module possesses the capacity to represent a powerful learning environment whereby learners can engage with peer learning, assessment, feedback, practical skill development and selfreflection. However, traditional practical session designs/formats with accompanying assessment strategies often prevai...
This is a cross institution project involving four Institutes of Technology in Ireland. The objective of this project is to assess the use of technology to enhance the assessment of laboratory sessions in Science and Health. In science, health and engineering, the laboratory sessions are at the core of the learning process for skill development. Th...
This is a cross institution project involving four Institutes of Technology in Ireland. The objective of this project is to assess the use of technology to enhance the assessment of laboratory sessions in Science and Health. In science, health and engineering, the laboratory sessions are at the core of the learning process for skill development. Th...
A step-by-step guide to conducting a thematic analysis within the context of learning and teaching.
This poster reports progress on Technology Enhanced Assessment Methods (TEAM) in Science and Health Practical Settings, a 2-year Irish multi-institution enhancement project funded by the (Irish) National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. This project is explicitly concerned with the impact of technology on asse...
The Y1Feedback project is a partnership between four Irish Higher Education institutions, which aims to enhance feedback dialogue in first year undergraduate programmes through the use of digital technologies, to better support student transition. The project has conducted a review of feedback practice across partner institutions and a synthesis of...
The Y1Feedback Project is a multi-institutional learning and teaching enhancement project that aims to support the transition to Higher Education by using digital technologies to enhance feedback in the first year. The project is funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in HE under the 2014 Enhancement fund. This pa...
This chapter provides practical support and guidance to students around the ethical dimensions of undergraduate research with human participants. Ethical considerations are perhaps the most important aspect of any research project involving human participants, especially as they speak of the rights of individuals and groups within society. Ethics i...
Increasingly evidence indicates that students' engagement with academic writing and their wider approaches to study are influenced by their beliefs about themselves as writers. To provide effective support for academic writing, an understanding of these beliefs, particularly in the first year, is essential. This study sought to examine beliefs abou...
We report a ten year series of direct and indirect experiments to investigate the sensitivity of the McCollough Effect (ME) as an indicator of central neurotransmitter activity. With both pre- and post-adaptation single doses initial strength (IS) and duration of the ME relative to placebo were decreased by physostigmine and increased by hyoscine....
In this chapter, the authors discuss their experiences at the University of Westminster of developing an evidence-based approach to assessment that enables differentiation on a Masters programme in Psychological Research Methods. The assessment strategy is designed to promote effective statistical learning in non-specialist graduates studying this...
Smokers in Greece and the UK are habitually exposed to different levels of social disapproval. This qualitative study explored the accounts of smoking and disapproval offered by 32 UK and Greek smokers. Accounts were framed with reference to a highly moralized construction of smoking. Participants were sensitive to social disapproval of their smoki...
Little work has addressed how smokers represent their own smoking rather than smoking in general. Research has identified a huge number of variables that contribute to smoking, yet not much is known about how smokers 'make sense' of these and construct explanations of the factors that contribute to their own smoking. This study used Q-methodology t...
Chrisler, Johnston, Champagne, and Preston (1994) reported that the title of the Menstrual Joy Questionnaire (MJQ) could prime participants to report positive changes on the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) and greater endorsement of “menstruation as a natural event” on the Menstrual Attitudes Questionnaire (MAQ). This study is a partial repl...
We have previously reported reliable extraversion–introversion differences in the McCollough Effect (ME), with male extraverts reporting stronger effects than introverts and have demonstrated that ME strength within observers is affected by cholinergic agents in men and by menstrual cycle phase in women. We speculated that the ME is a sensitive ind...
The McCollough effect (ME) has been shown to be sensitive to cholinergic agents, being strengthened by hyoscine (antagonist) and weakened by physostigmine (agonist), and possibly to more generalized changes in CNS arousal. We therefore expected the ME to be sensitive to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle, being strongest in the postovulato...