Home > Events >  U21 Teaching & Learning Conference > Programme > Abstracts

 
    U21 Teaching & Learning Conference
Does Teaching & Learning Translate?
Conference papers
 
  Geraldine O'Neill  Designing a range of enquiry-based learning approaches to support student engagement across a variety of disciplinary contexts
   
  Dr Geraldine O'Neill
  University College Dublin
   
    Enquiry-based learning (EBL) is a term used ‘to describe approaches to learning driven by enquiry….. EBL is usually organised around collaborative work in small groups or with structured support from others, thus promoting the social interaction and cohesion that can be difficult in a mass system¹ (p.1-2)’. EBL attempts to move the student from a passive to more active participant in their own learning, it aims to increase student engagement in this process. Transforming all or part of a programme to EBL requires not only a shift in staff and students’ roles in the learning process but also the new approach needs to align with the context, language and orientation of the subject area.

In a new initiate to develop Enquiry-based learning in University College Dublin (UCD), the educational developers have found that this approach can mean different approaches in different disciplines. No one approach appears to suit all contexts. For example, in some contexts, such as Engineering, the more project-based approach holds more weighting whereas in the health sciences the more discursive structured problem-based learning approach is more popular. In addition, some disciplines have introduced EBL in a full programme, while others have developed it in only one module. These approaches can differ, for example, in a) the extent to which EBL is used in the programme, b) the nature of the tasks/problems², c) how the groups are organised/timetable, d) the role of the staff-students in the process, e) the level of student engagement and autonomy, and f) the relationship between group-work and other teaching methods³.

This diversity has challenged UCD’s educational developers to be open to a variety of approaches in order to successfully implement enquiry-based learning. This paper will highlight the comparisons and contrasts of a range of the approaches being designed in this early stage of curriculum development from a variety of contexts within the University. This paper will highlight the need for flexibility in the approach to designing EBL curricula and will share some of the diverse approaches to its implementation.

1. Kahn, P., & O’Rourke, K. (2005) Understanding enquiry-based learning in Barrett, T., MacLabhrainn, I., & Fallon, H (eds). Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-based Learning: Irish Case Studies and International Perspectives, CELT, Galway.

2. Hung, W. (2006) The 3C3R Model: A conceptual framework for designing problems in PBL. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem Based Learning 1(1): 55-77

3. Smith, A.C., Stewart, R., Shields, P., Hayes-Klosteridis, J., Robinson, P., & Yuan, R. (2005) Introductory Biology classes: A framework to support active learning in large enrollment Introductory Science courses. Cell Biology Education 4: 143-156.