TEU Update September 5 2024

DCU Teaching and Learning Week 2024 will run from Monday September 30th to Friday October 4th. The week will kick off on Monday, September 30th, with an in-person event at The Gallery in The Helix on the Glasnevin Campus, running from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM. The programme for the day will feature evidence-based and local practice centred on the theme "Emerging Challenges and New Opportunities". Other highlights will include a staff and student panel discussion on the topic of student engagement, short talks from DCU teaching staff, and a fireside chat with recipients of the President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Alongside these engaging sessions, there will be opportunities to connect with colleagues over coffee and lunch. To book your spot on Monday, please click here to register.

For the rest of the week, each day will feature online sessions on a different theme:

Tuesday (Oct 1st): Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Wednesday (Oct 2nd): Generative AI & Teaching
Thursday (Oct 3rd): DCU in the Community
Friday (Oct 4th): Peer Observation of Teaching

A more detailed programme with registration links for those sessions will be shared in the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you over the course of the week!

The Interactive Oral Community of Practice sessions will resume next Wednesday, September 11th 2024 from 10 am to 11 am online via Zoom.

The Teaching Enhancement Unit facilitates an Interactive Oral Community of Practice (IO CoP) in collaboration with Griffith University. Griffith University has extensive experience, and a body of evidence-based research to show that interactive orals are an authentic assessment approach that effectively helps students develop graduate attributes and promotes academic integrity. This CoP meets on a weekly basis every Wednesday from 10 am to 11 am. Colleagues who may be interested in joining the IO Community of Practice, please contact Lily (lily.girme@dcu.ie) to be added to the CoP list.

Portfolio assessment is student-centred activity which can promote engagement Tosh, (Penny Light, Fleming, & Haywood, 2005). It is a good way for students to evidence their learning in a personal and authentic way, across modules (Jisc, 2019).

Loop Reflect is our platform for portfolio and portfolio assessment at DCU, available to all students and staff. Check out the Reflect Help page for more info and to get started using Loop Reflect with your students. If you require further assistance, raise a ticket at help.dcu.ie

If you are already using Loop Reflect with students, please share these important messages with them (also listed on the Reflect Help page):

Storage space in Loop Reflect is minimal, so students should save artefacts in their DCU student Google Drive, set the sharing settings so “Anyone with the link” can view, and then either paste a link in their portfolio or use the “Google Drive” block to directly embed the item
Students should compress images before uploading them to Loop Reflect, instructions for which are available on the Reflect Help page; alternatively students can use the aforementioned Google Drive method to save an image there, share it, and then use the “External media” block to embed it on a portfolio page
Students should not upload video files to Reflect - the best option is to upload to their DCU student YouTube channel (which all students have) and then embed it from there to a portfolio page (or similarly use the aforementioned Google Drive method)

Loop Reflect Drop-in Clinics will resume again this semester - these clinics are open to all staff and students and all are welcome to attend - so keep an eye out for those notices and please share them with students.

Students can also request help with Loop Reflect by raising a ticket at help.dcu.ie so please also let them know that.

Student enrolment

As students register, they are added to Loop module pages, and they are also added to “cohorts” in Loop, which enables their access to Loop programme pages.

If you find that the Participants list on your Loop page is not showing the number of students you expect, it is because of an issue either with their registration or their DCU account, rather than an issue with Loop.

Teacher access to Loop pages

Module coordinators and other teachers who teach on a module need to be listed as “Instructors” on Banner in order to get access to Loop module pages. Please complete this form for the SIS Programme Team who will add these “Instructors” to Banner.

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 form.