6th Annual Graduate Student Conference 2015
REGISTER NOW - TUESDAY 16TH JUNE 2015: 9.15am to 1pm
Room 5034, Aungier Street Campus
Book your place now by clicking this link - Registration is free and a light lunch is provided
For further details on the programme, see; Graduate Student Conference Schedule 2015
Theme: The Research-Teaching Nexus
Keynote speaker
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Dr. Matthew Martin, St. Mary's University College, Belfast “Writing as Research: Research Methods and the Writing Process” ‘Writing’ is often addressed within research methods modules as an add-on to the process - as if it were a bit like painting the piece of furniture we have just made in order to make it more appealing. In fact, 'writing' needs to be present at the design and construction stages of research. Writing is, indeed, a way of knowing and should be integrated with that understanding in mind. In doing so, we have a better chance of producing a product that speaks meaningfully to our target audience. Matthew is a Senior Lecturer in English and Team Leader for Dissemination at St Mary’s Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (incorporating St Mary’s Writing Centre) |
"Our conference aims to bring together as many people as possible for an enjoyable event, to reinforce a sense of academic community, and to stimulate interest in learning and teaching through the exchange of good practice. Anecdotally, we are aware that every year, participants do take away issues that they have picked up at the conference presentations. Just providing staff with the opportunity to talk to colleagues informally has facilitated exchange of practice"
General Information
Are you interested in hearing more about the latest Irish higher education research/perspectives on important areas for educators today? The purpose of the graduate conference is to disseminate educational research which is relevant and interesting to all academic staff in DIT and involving both present and past graduates from our three programmes; the MA in Higher Education, MSc in Applied eLearning and Postgraduate Diploma in 3rd Level Learning & Teaching.
A diverse and contemporary range of topics are being presented at the conference, including research on:
the application of problem based learning to engineering and to teaching English for academic purposes; investigating the drama-skills required of professional opera singers; preparing jobseeker programme students for placement on an artisan foods course; consideration of the role of the ‘crit’ session in design education; perceptions on the most beneficial learning environment for vocational education; development of a multimedia resource to support students starting their dissertation; organisational story-telling; evaluating data analytics for a virtual learning environment; authentic assessment to promote student engagement, graduate attributes development on placement, peer mentoring to support international students, using learning preferences to inform module design, online learning as a means of developing a community of learners
Programme
9:15-9:30 Registration & Morning Coffee
9:30-9.40 Opening Address and Launch of FOURTH issue of the Irish Journal of Academic Practice (IJAP): http://arrow.dit.ie/ijap/
9.40-10.00 Lightning Talks [x4] These are opportunities to informally share details of a current Learning and Teaching project (topics include Authentic Assessment & Graduate Attributes Development on Placement)
10.00-11.00 Keynote: Dr Matthew Martin: “Writing as Research: Research Methods and the Writing Process”
11.00-11.10 Continuing Professional Development Certificate Presentation
11.10-11.30 Coffee & Refreshments, Posters & Opportunity for Conversations!
11:30-1:00 Graduate Student Presentations: Parallel sessions from current and past participants on the LTTC programmes and CPD modules - your colleagues in DIT and in other higher education institutions.
1:00 Lunch & Conference Close
You will be able to participate in the live discussion on the day by Tweeting using the hashtag: #lttc_gradconf
Video abstracts
Presenters who have participated in the Academic Writing and Publishing module have made short video abstracts to discuss what their presentation will cover, and where they believe their field of research is going. These are available here; Video abstracts 2015
Background to the Conference
One of the aims of the graduate student conference is to build a network of research-informed participants across the programmes in the Learning, Teaching and Technology Centre. By encouraging such networking, it is anticipated that this event will also reinforce participants' understanding of the value of involvement in communities of practice associated with academic disciplines and professions. This conference focuses attention on how learning and academic writing happens within the Academic Writing and Publishing Module on the programmes, as well as how it is experienced in different subject contexts; specifically it encourages participants to critically reflect on their thinking & learning about educational research they are currently engaged with, and to share these reflections with others by involving themselves in this student-led conference and resulting subsequent national and international publications.
Conference Proceedings: Five Years of Progress
Graduate Student Conference Programme 2010
Graduate Student Conference Proceedings 2011
Graduate Student Conference Proceedings 2012
Graduate Student Conference Proceedings 2013
Graduate Student Conference Proceedings 2014
Graduate Student Conference Video Abstracts 2014
Conference Proceeding Book 16 June 2015
In addition, you can read more about the 2014 Conference here, and all previous conferences on our archive pages.