Issue 5 - June 2007

Title - An investigation of introductory physics students’ approaches to problem solving
Author - Laura N Walsh, Robert G. Howard, Brian Bowe    [click here for a biography of the author]
Summary - This paper outlines ongoing research investigating students’ approaches to quantitative and qualitative problem solving in physics. This is an empirical study, which was conducted using a phenomenographic approach to analyse and interpret data from individual semi-structured interviews with students from introductory physics courses. The result of the study thus far is a preliminary set of hierarchical categories that describe the students’ problem-solving approaches when faced with various physics problems. The findings from the research presented here indicate that many introductory students in higher education do not approach problem solving in a strategic manner and many do not try to link or use their physics knowledge in order to solve problems. [read full article]

Title - Student non-attendance in higher education. A phenomenon of student apathy or poor pedagogy?
Author - Joanne Cleary-Holdforth [click here for a biography of the author]
Summary - Non-attendance at university seems to be an on-going problem that appears to transcend country, university and discipline. One need only consult the literature on this subject to appreciate the magnitude of this phenomenon [read full article]

Title - The DiTME Project: interdisciplinary research in music technology
Authors - Eugene Coyle, Dan Barry, Mikel Gainza, David Dorran, Charlie Pritchard, John Feeley and Derry Fitzgerald   [click here for biographies of the authors]
Summary - This paper profiles the emergence of a significant body of research in audio engineering within the Faculties of Engineering and Applied Arts at Dublin Institute of Technology. Over a period of five years the group has had significant success in completing a Strand 3 research project entitled Digital Tools for Music Education (DiTME), followed by [read full article]

Title - Key skills: enhancing employability within a lifelong learning paradigm
Authors - Aidan Kenny, Ray English and Dave Kilmartin  [click here for biographies of the authors]
Summary - Employability has become an area of interest among the general public and policy makers alike, with an increasing number of reports in the general media regarding the need for workers in certain sectors to up-skill due to the possible threat of job ‘displacement’. In addition, [read full article]

Title - Investigating staff perceptions of elearning development and support for students with disabilities in higher education
Author - Roisin Donnelly [click here for a biography of the author]
Summary - This paper reports on a study concerned with exploring staff perceptions on improving the design and delivery of e-learning provision for students and staff with disabilities in a higher education institution in the Republic of Ireland. The study aims to clarify understanding on how aspects of e-learning affect some of the key stakeholders in an institution of higher education [read full article]

Title - Learning Theories and Positionalities
Author - Tony Cunningham, Julie Gannon, Mary Kavanagh, John Greene, Louise Reddy and Laurence Whitson   [click here for biographies of the authors]
Summary - One of the challenges academics face when designing pedagogies and curricula is how best to articulate their own positionalities regarding the different ways theories or models of learning inform both the process of design as well as the product. It is difficult to find [read full article]