Sometimes when I’m talking to friends who work in jobs that are not in universities, I realise just how lucky I am. After all, where else would you get paid for talking with a room full of bright people about something that you’re passionate about? Certainly, anyone who works in a university (or, indeed, anywhere else for that matter) can tell you about things that need fixing, from the toilets in the Arts Building to the availability of lab space. However, at the end of the day, any of us who teach at some level realise what a privilege it is.
In some respects, this is both any university’s great strength and weakness. The ways in which a passionate and committed group of teachers constitute a strength is almost so obvious that it hardly needs stating. Any student survey that wants to make a point about good teaching will inevitably contain a line such as “the lecturer was obviously enthusiastic about the topic”. The ways in which this can sometimes be a weakness, however, are a little less obvious and as such are worth teasing out. Sometimes, when we get wrapped up in a topic, it can become a bit too easy to focus on an individual module and so to miss the big picture.
One of the things that the Trinity Education Project is trying to capture is the perspective of the whole programme. In other words, what do the whole four (or five) years of an undergraduate degree look like? More to the point, what does that whole programme look like from the perspective of a student, not only starting out, but at any point along the way? How does it all connect?
Sometimes, when we get wrapped up in a topic, it can become a bit too easy to focus on an individual module and so to miss the big picture
This has thrown up some interesting questions. Not all programmes currently operate in terms of prerequisites (modules that a student must have completed before taking another module), corequisites (modules that must both be taken at the same time), or, indeed, modules that are compulsory and modules that are optional. Individual modules are often great on their own, however, the bits of architecture that tie them together are not always thought through as carefully as they should be, although this varies around the university. I know that as a student, trying to navigate through a degree, the glue that holds a programme together is important. I’m not always sure that those of us who teach are as clear on why we do what we do in terms of the bigger picture.
The Trinity Education Project wants to help schools think about their programmes as “programmes” more effectively. One way in which we’re going to do this is by sharing expertise around the campus. Earlier in the term, we put out a call for what we are calling “Trinity Education Fellows”. These are members of staff with not only a passion for teaching, but an interest in reflecting on pedagogy – the method and practice of teaching. The Trinity Education Fellows will be bought out of some of their own teaching (yes, I see the irony) to work with schools and departments other than their own. One of the things that we want to do here is to mix things up a bit, bringing some fresh perspectives and unexpected questions to the process.
After strong interest from around the campus, we’ve appointed six Trinity Education Fellows: Dr Daniel Faas from sociology, who will be working with computer science; Dr Nicholas Johnson from drama, who will be working with law; Dr Nicola Marples from zoology; who will be working with languages, as well as drama, film and music; Dr Cicely Roche from pharmacy, who will be working with BESS; Dr Nóirín Nic A Bháird from biochemistry and immunology, who will be working across the STEM subjects; and Dr Michelle Share from education, who will be working with English and with history and humanities. Of course, this does not cover all of the university and we’ll be reaching out to other disciplines and schools in other ways. However, keep an eye out for them. They have a key role to play in helping us try to see the big picture and to make it better.
Prof Chris Morash is the Vice-Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Trinity, and is Project Sponsor of the Trinity Education Project.
