This article explores the normative representations of higher education students in seven films and television series from four European countries. Drawing on the concept of the 'independent learner' as an 'ideal construction', I demonstrate how these texts offer complex and at times paradoxical representations of who gets positioned as the…

This paper explores how a collaborative self-study of teacher educators in the Republic of Ireland supported pre-service and practising teachers on teacher education programmes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teacher educators engaged in student feedback meetings conducted online as a replacement to traditional in-school visits, some of which were…

The continuously changing business world demands that students entering the world of work have an adaptable skill set. The acquisition of appropriate exit-level knowledge, skills and competencies also holds true for young school students and early school leavers. At school level the engagement and connectedness with the outside world and the…

Background: Professional development (PD) in a range of occupations has become increasingly digitised. Numerous digital courses are available, with evidence that social media, blogs and apps are increasingly being used for PD. Yet despite clear benefits, there is little robust evidence on the characteristics of digital PD that impact positively on…

Delivering physical education teacher education (PETE) programmes through online platforms has been proposed as an alternative (or complementary) to traditional in-person modes of learning. Focusing on empirical studies, this mixed studies review explores the use of online teaching and learning in PETE and synthesises literature published between…

Prior to the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, anatomy practical sessions at Trinity College Dublin involved eight to 10 students per donor station, rotating between digital learning, anatomical models/osteology, and dissection activities for three hours weekly. To maintain cadaveric participation in the anatomy laboratory while…

This study explores students' perceptions of the effectiveness of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) design project, taken as part of a first-year engineering module, in developing professional skills needed for engineering practice. Students completed surveys before and after the PBL group project, and produced personal reflections on the process.…

This article is a narrative résumé of a year-long collaborative critical inquiry into teaching methods with teachers of modern languages in Irish secondary schools. Putting myself, a cultural stranger and first-time qualitative researcher, at the core of this self-study, I discuss first the context and methodological framework of the study to…

Much research has been carried out in the history of mathematics education to find the factors that influence student achievement in the subject. Among these factors, student attitude towards mathematics has been consistently studied. There has often been a correlation found between students' attitudes and their achievement. In recent years…