TEU Update December 12 2024

During Semester 2, DCU, in collaboration with the National Forum for Teaching and Learning, will offer all staff the opportunity to complete the Digital Badge in Education for Sustainability.

This is a six week course, involving a total of 25 hours learning time.

The six sessions will take place over Zoom on Wednesdays at 1pm beginning on the 5th February. Each session will last one hour. Participants will also be required to complete pre-session tasks and group reflections. Optional, in-person sessions will be hosted on the Glasnevin and St Patrick’s campuses.

The course has been designed to meet the needs of staff at DCU. Sessions will focus on a range of issues: sustainability and sustainable development; education for sustainable development; sustainability competencies; integrating ESD into modules and programmes; and integrating ESD into assessment.

Participants can also choose to complete a further two weeks to receive the ‘facilitators badge’.

While registration will formally open in the new year, it would be great if interested staff could complete this form.

Have you had any noteworthy experiences in your teaching practice lately? If so, why not share your valuable work with colleagues at The Sipping Point? This is an opportunity to showcase innovative teaching and assessment practices, discuss the motivations behind any changes you have implemented, and exchange stories about interventions that didn’t quite go as planned. If you are interested, be sure to respond to The Sipping Point Call for Contributions by January 23rd.

Transferring coursework grades from Loop to Banner

If you wish to transfer students’ Loop Gradebook totals from your Loop module page to Banner as their coursework component grades, please follow these instructions. You can also review a recording of a recent session explaining the process. The session will also be repeated on 13 January if you wish to register to attend that.

Grading tips

Many of you will currently be grading or preparing to do so. Keep these tips in mind for grading on Loop.

Keep your grade items hidden in the Gradebook while grading if you do not want students to see grades while you are still grading.
Ensure that grade items in the Gradebook are weighted correctly and all weights add up to 1.0.
Organise assignments, quizzes, and other graded activities into ‘Grade Categories’(e.g., Exams, Participation, Weekly Quizzes), which makes it easier to view things, and helps students clearly see their coursework grade breakdown.

A comprehensive suite of resources on grading and Loop Gradebook are also available on the Loop Staff Support Page in the Assessment section—including a specific-purposes resource on Loop Gradebook.

Loop support desk

The Loop support desk will close from Thursday 19th December and re-open Friday 3rd January. Any tickets raised for the Loop team via DCU Help during this period will be handled upon re-opening.

As this is our final newsletter of 2024, we wish you all a restful and enjoyable break. To those who celebrate, may you have a very happy Christmas. Thank you for your engagement and partnership with the TEU over the past year, and we look forward to working with you again in a new and bright new year.

If you require assistance or guidance with teaching and learning or Loop related matters, avail of the below methods.

Support for technical issues

For Loop technical queries, go to help.dcu.ie. You can also attend one of our regular online Loop drop in clinics, details in the TEU calendar. The drop in clinics are particularly useful for more complex queries. The Loop Staff Support Page also provides a comprehensive range of resources on Loop and Zoom. For new users, the enrolment key for this page is ‘staff’.

Advice on using technology for Teaching and Learning

If you are looking for advice on developing your teaching practice, including but not limited to the application of technology, please contact the TEU team teaching.enhancement@dcu.ie. We will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.

Consultancy request form

Interested in requesting a workshop or more extended consultation on a specific topic? Use this consultancy request form.