Programme

Safe Haven or Stormy Port? Exploring how tertiary education design impacts our health

 About the Conference

Remote learning experiences during Covid-19 have compounded difficulties for some learners and eased them for others, underlining the important role that learning design has on the student learning experience (AHEAD 2020).

Pre-pandemic research in Ireland demonstrates that many higher education students experience extreme levels of anxiety (38.4%), depression (29.9%) and stress (17.3%). Furthermore, students with disabilities are significantly more likely to experience extreme anxiety (58.7%) than their peers (Price, Smith, & Kavalidou, 2019). While student physical and mental wellbeing is of course influenced and impacted by a wide range of personal factors (Price, Smith, & Kavalidou, 2019), it is also influenced by the learning environment that students must navigate (Dooley, O Connor, Fitzgerald & O’ Reilly 2019). This includes all elements of the education experience, from sense of belonging within the learning community, (Rath 2020) to the academic pressures students face both within and beyond the classroom. 

The Safe Haven or Stormy Port conference seeks to explore the link between education design and student wellbeing. To date, welcome health and wellbeing initiatives have mainly focused on how to support students to better manage the anxiety, stress and poor physical health they may experience while participating in further and higher education.

The AHEAD 2022 conference shifts this focus to explore how the very design of learning environments can impact student wellbeing, raising a number of significant questions:

  • How can education design positively impact student well-being?
  • Can we work together across our colleges and centres to reduce any harmful impact on learners without reducing standards?
  • Can a combination of universal design of the physical/digital environment, universal design for learning (UDL) in the classroom, and high-quality targeted student supports, create educational experiences wherein all students do not simply survive but have the space and opportunity to thrive?
  • How can learners themselves be engaged in these processes of educational design? And how can inclusion and belonging be fostered across the full higher and further education experience?  

In exploring the link between tertiary education design and physical/mental wellbeing, the Safe Haven or Stormy Port conference will showcase good practice in proactively and intentionally designing positive, inclusive tertiary education experiences for all, and efforts that include students as partners when doing so.  

Bibliography:

  • AHEAD (2020). Learning from Home During Covid-19: A Survey of Irish FET and HE Students with Disabilities. Blackrock, Dublin.
  • Dooley, B., O Connor, C., Fitzgerald, A. & O’ Reilly, A. (2019). My World Survey 2: The National Study of Youth Mental Health in Ireland. Dublin: UCD.
  • Price, A., Smith,H.A., & Kavalidou, K. (2019). USI National Report on Student Mental Health in Third Level Education, Dublin: Union of Students in Ireland.
  • Rath, V. (2020) Social engagement experiences of disabled students in higher education in Ireland. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Trinity College Dublin.

This event takes place over 1 week, featuring live presentations and interactive discussions on the daily themes : 

  • Day 1 Safe Boarding for All: The Role of Digital and Physical Accessibility 
  • Day 2 The Winds of Change: Agile Student Support  
  • Day 3 Navigating Beyond the Horizon: International Mobility, Work Based Learning and Social Engagement 
  • Day 4 Testing the Waters: Innovative Student-Centred Assessment Design  
  • Day 5 Bending with the Breeze: Flexible Approaches to Teaching and Learning

 

#AHEAD2022

Full Programme

Click the dropdowns below to explore the content for each day, or click on a day in the navigation bar above. Hover over speaker images to see speaker names, or click see full bio. If you click each presentation you will be able to see the zoom link, download the slides and access further resource links.

 

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Day 1: March 21st

Day 1: March 21st

Workshop Session (Live Only) 12:00-13:00

  1. Writing Good Alternative Text (Live Only)
    Alistair McNaught, Alistair McNaught Consultancy Ltd

Lunch and Poster Viewing 13:00-14:00

Lightning Session (Live and Recorded) 14:00-15:00

  1. Student Project on the wheelchair accessibility of university buildings
    Ellen van Veen, Dutch Expert Centre on Inclusive Education (ECIO) Renate Bosman, Universiteit Utrecht Denise Langreder, Universiteit Utrecht
  2. TCDSense – The Trinity Sensory Processing Project
    Kieran Lewis, Senior Occupational Therapist, Trinity College Dublin Jessica Doyle, Trinity College Dublin Declan Treanor, Director Disability Service, Trinity College Dublin; Chair of DAWN
  3. Inclusion in the DNA of CHARM-EU - strategies for inclusion of universities in the 21st century
    Agnes Sarolta Fazekas, Eötvös Loránd University Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs, Budapest, Hungary Derina Johnson, Trinity College Dublin
  4. Blended learning – a new learning path for young people with intellectual disability
    Imelda Fitzpatrick, Blossom Ireland Maja Trninic, Blossom Ireland
  5. Microsoft | Accessibility, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education
    Cathal O’Connor, Microsoft Ireland and part-time PhD student in UCD

Keynote Session (Live and Recorded) 15:30-16:30

  1. Panel of Irish FET/HE Projects - Democratising wellbeing and accessibility supports
    Trevor Boland, Dublin City University Angela Stewart, Maynooth University Leah Kane, Maynooth University Treasa McGinley, Donegal ETB Dipankar Biswas, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board

Debrief Networking Session (Live Only) 16:30 to 17:00

  1. Trevor Boland, Dublin City University Thomas O Shaughnessy, University of Limerick

Day 2: March 22nd

Day 2: March 22nd

Workshop Session (Live Only) 12:00-13:00

  1. Empowering Students with Peer Assisted Learning (PAL)
    Nevan Bermingham, Lecturer, TU Dublin

Lunch and Poster Viewing 13:00-14:00

Lightning Session 14:00-15:00 (Live and Recorded)

  1. Discover AT - giving students agency through self guided assistive technology exploration
  2. How to use virtual reality in VET, for teachers & trainers, in particular with SEN students
    Ann Burns, Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) Siobhan Nolan, Cork Education and Training Board (CETB)
  3. A review of The Prepare Entry Guide - a resource developed for students with autism new to higher education
    Dr Rebekah Brennan, University College Cork Julie O'Donovan, Munster Technology University Cork campus
  4. Trinity Disability Service Neurodivergent Project
    Clare Malone, Occupational Therapist & Disability Officer, Trinity Disability Service

Keynote Session (Live and Recorded) 15.30-16.30

  1. How student partnership enhances disability support
    Declan Treanor, Director Disability Service, Trinity College Dublin; Chair of DAWN Courtney McGrath, Trinity College Dublin

Debrief Networking Session (Live Only) 16:30 to 17:00

Day 3: March 23rd

Day 3: March 23rd

Workshop Session (Live Only) 12:00-13:00

  1. Creating Inclusive Conditions to Learn, Work, or Volunteer Abroad (Live Only)
    Lorraine Gallagher, Information and Training Officer, AHEAD Hannah Kelly, Programme Manager at NStEP

Lunch and Poster Viewing 13:00-14:00

Lightning Session 14:00-15:00 (Live and Recorded)

  1. Trinity Employability: Disability Inclusion Pathway
    Eithne Coleman, Trinity College Dublin
  2. Game On; Designing inclusive curriculum using gaming and esports to promote health and wellbeing and develop pathways to work
    Sinead Hosey, Epic Global – esports and gaming agency Anne Marie McDonnell, National Learning Network
  3. Ready, Steady, Work Career Programme for Disabled Students
    Laura Coleman, MTU Olga Mitchell, Careers Service MTU Cork
  4. Dream To Drive – A Technology Enhanced Learning Experience in Driver Safety
    Damien Allard, National Learning Network (Mullingar Centre) Ronan Fox, National Learning Network (Mullingar Centre)

Keynote Session (Live and Recorded) 15.30-16.15

  1. Disabled Student Voices on Professional Placement
    Barbara Waters, Journal Editor, AHEAD Dr Vivian Rath, National Disabled Postgraduate Advisory Committee

Debrief Networking Session (Live Only) 16:15-16:45

Day 4: March 24th

Day 4: March 24th

Workshop Session (Live Only) 12:00-13:00

  1. Offering Equitable Choice in Assessment (Live Only)
    Geraldine O'Neill, University College Dublin Dr Lisa Padden, University College Dublin

Lunch and Poster Viewing 13:00-14:00

Lightning Session 14:00-15:00 (Live and Recorded)

  1. Accessibility in team work in post-secondary education: Using UDL to navigate a complex tension in pedagogical objectives
    Dr Frederic Fovet, Assistant Professor, School of Education, Thompson Rivers University
  2. Design and Implementation of a Professional Development Offering for Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education
    Siobhan O'Neill, Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning at UCC Dr Laura Lee, Research Manager for CIRTL, UCC
  3. Universal Design for Learning encourages assessment by design, but what exactly does this mean for educators? (Cast, 2015)?
    Dr Brian Butler, Advisor for Inclusive Education and Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning Fellow, University College Cork Dr Laura Lee, Research Manager for CIRTL, UCC
  4. Academic Integrity - upholding our end of the bargain through offering choice in assessment
    Dara Ryder, CEO, AHEAD

Keynote Session (Live and Recorded) 15:30-16:30

  1. Exploring ungrading for inclusion - what is it and how does it work?
    Jesse Stommel, University of Denver

Debrief Networking Session (Live Only) 16:30-17:00

  1. Carrie Archer, City of Dublin Education and Training Board Tommy Crampton, AHEAD Ireland

Day 5: March 25th

Day 5: March 25th

Workshop Session (Live Only) 12:00-13:00

  1. Clarity for Inclusive Engagement - laying out your VLE course page
    Jennifer Pusateri, University of Kentucky

Lunch and Poster Viewing 13:00-14:00

Lightning Session 14:00-15:00 (Live and Recorded)

  1. Raising awareness of dyscalculia to support teaching and learning
    Ruth Murphy, Disability Projects Co-ordinator, Munster Technological University (MTU) (previously Cork Institute of Technology) Deirdre Casey, MTU
  2. Using film within an inclusive approach to delivery in graduate education: a too often ignored gap in the UDL scholarship?
  3. The Hobby Shed – our Safe Haven for co-production in a shared virtual teaching and learning space
    Fiona McCoy, National Learning Network
  4. “Be Stubborn About Your Goals, But Flexible About Your Methods”
    Siobhan Magner, National Programme Manager for the Sales Apprenticeship, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB) Edel Gavan, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB) Lorraine Devaney, Mayo Sligo Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB)
  5. Why Universal Design for Learning Works
    Ron B. Rogers, OCALI Colleen Kornish, State Support Team 9, the Ohio UDL Collaborative

Keynote Session (Live and Recorded) 15:30-16:30

  1. HyFlex Learning Serves Everybody - Student-directed Learning Model
    Dr Brian Beatty, San Sanfrisco State University

Debrief Networking Session (Live Only) 16:30 to 17:00

  1. Dr Mark Glynn, Head of Teaching Enhancement Unit, Dublin City University

SUPPORTED BY the HEA

The core funding received by AHEAD for its higher education activities is provided by the Higher Education Authority.

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This article appeared in the AHEAD website. Visit www.ahead.ie for more information