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It is widely recognised that high-stakes assessment can significantly influence what is taught in the classroom. Many argue that high-stakes assessment results in a narrowed curriculum where students learn by rote rather than developing higher cognitive skills. This paper describes a study investigating the various cognitive objectives present from Bloom’s Taxonomy Educational Objectives on the Leaving Certificate biology examination. The study analysed examination papers from the past and current biology syllabuses. Analysis was also carried out to determine the marks being awarded to the different cognitive objectives. The findings show that the examination predominately includes questions that do not promote higher levels of thinking. The majority of the marks on the paper were allocated to the lower objectives of the taxonomy, suggesting students can rely on rote learning to succeed when undertaking the biology examination. This study strongly highlights how high-stake examinations have a narrow scope in terms of student achievement and shows how current biology examination procedures promote low-level learning. This low level of thinking promotes rote learning and regurgitation of facts, requiring little to no understanding of the topics. To prepare students for the working world, there needs to be a shift from only terminal exams to a mixed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Every student who enrols in a degree programme involving service mathematics in the University of Limerick in Ireland is given a mathematics diagnostic test. The diagnostic test was developed due to mathematics lecturers’ anxiety regarding students’ mathematical competency levels. Students receive the 40 question paper-based test in their first service mathematics lecture without prior notification. Initial analysis of students’ work revealed that many students were having difficulties with basic algebra and arithmetic in particular [Gill, O. 2006. “What Counts as Service Mathematics? An Investigation into the ‘Mathematics Problem’ in Ireland.” PhD diss., University of Limerick]. Further research highlighted the significant decline in diagnostic test performance and the changing profile of service mathematics students between 1998 and 2008 [Faulkner, Fiona, Ailish Hannigan, and Olivia Gill. 2010. “Trends in the Mathematical Competency of University Entrants in Ireland by Leaving Certificate Mathematics Grade.”Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications29 (2): 76–93]. One of the most notable changes to the student profile over time was the increase in mature students (non-standard students) entering service mathematics programmes. Although non-standard students had a lower mean performance in the diagnostic test, they were found to have a higher mean performance in some cases in service mathematics compared to standard students. This paper explores some of the possible reasons for such findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some of the main concerns in international higher education are the feeling of isolation among international students and their inability to adapt to the host environment, which may result in sub-optimal academic performance. Theoretically, peer learning can be an effective method to reduce these problems since it has the capacity to address isolation and adaptability issues among international students in a way that improves their learning experience and outcomes. Given the above, our study was designed to investigate this topic, focusing on the experience of international students. In this exploratory case study of a leading Irish university, we adopted a survey method via questionnaire to quantify and compare the experiences of a sample of international students at the said university. Five aspects of peer learning were explored, namely usage rate, current practices, outcomes, challenges, and coping strategies. We also included an open-ended section in the survey instrument for respondents to offer qualitative suggestions to the host institution. Through methodological triangulation of the quantitative and qualitative data, we discovered diverse practices, challenges, and outcomes of peer learning across different groups of international students in this university. The paper concludes with a discussion of research implications and suggestions for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines and discusses the profiles of applicants and entrants to the DGO (Dioplóma Gairmiúil san Oideachas) initial teacher education programme between 2000 and 2011. The DGO is the only initial teacher education programme in Ireland that is specifically designated to prepare student teachers for the second-level Irish-medium (SLIM) school sector. It is delivered entirely through the Irish language. This study examines data collected from all DGO applicants (N = 1002) between 2000 and 2011. Results show that demand for this programme has increased over the past decade. The academic quality of applicants has risen dramatically in recent years and 75% of successful applicants are female. The data show that a significant proportion of DGO applicants are native Irish speakers from Gaeltacht (areas in Ireland where the Irish language Gaeilge is the vernacular). There has been a severe shortage of applicants with qualifications in certain subject areas, in particular in Sciences, Mathematics and European languages. Drawing on findings from this study as well as on national statistics and educational policy documents, this paper discusses how changes to the DGO selection process may contribute to better meeting the staffing demands in SLIM schools in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the development and implementation of an online educational intervention designed to enhance moral reasoning in higher level tax students. Before decisions are made about how to behave ethically, cognitive moral reasoning takes place. The importance of education in developing morally sensitive individuals who use principled moral reasoning has been widely acknowledged. The literature contends that moral reasoning might be enhanced through certain forms of intervention studies. An online educational intervention designed to enhance moral reasoning in tax was developed and empirically tested for effectiveness through the use of a pre- and post-test and focus group feedback gathered from students. Students' contributions to ethical discussions were analysed to determine their perceptions of salient issues concerning ethics in tax. This paper will inform future educators and researchers designing effective ethics interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Across many countries, young people are differentiated into academic and vocational tracks, a pattern that is closely related to their social class background. The Irish secondary system has been largely undifferentiated, but the introduction of a pre-vocational programme, the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA), has brought an element of tracking into upper secondary education. This article explores whether allocation into the LCA track reflects processes similar to those highlighted in international research. It goes further than these studies by explicitly recognising the role of school organisation in influencing student's learning careers and educational decisions. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the determinants of track placement in the Republic of Ireland. Using in-depth qualitative case study interviews with students from Irish post-primary schools, this paper examines the factors influencing students' decisions to enter the LCA programme. This paper explores the extent to which individual agency and school-level factors influence track choice by focusing on the learning careers of individual students within specific school contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irish public policy strongly promotes greater flexibility in higher education. This review paper examines Irish policy conceptualisations of flexible learning. The review finds that the promotion of flexible learning is positioned within strongly economistic discourses of lifelong learning, and primarily in human capital terms of meeting the skills needs of the workforce. Irish policy largely presents flexible learning approaches unproblematically as positive and beneficial. This paper demonstrates that flexible learning is not an unproblematic concept and reveals some problems and tensions relating to Irish flexible learning policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, music at Leaving Certificate level has come under increasing focus in media and higher education discourse as an easy option. In particular, scant attention has been paid to the musical knowledge and skills needed in the transition to higher music education within the Irish context. This paper addresses the perceived gap in knowledge through an examination of documents and student and lecturer experiences in higher music education. Findings reveal that students who have access to private music tuition because of their greater cultural, social and economic capital have a distinct advantage in higher education over those who have relied on the state for music education. Moreover, there would appear to be a shift in emphasis from practical to theoretical knowledge in the transition to higher education. More critically, the paper argues for a reappraisal of curriculum and knowledge at both levels in light of the implicit privileging of epistemic access to ‘powerful’ knowledge in private music education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports a longitudinal study of levels of moral reasoning in a convenience sample of Irish undergraduate university students, using the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2). The study was timely, as higher education institutions are becoming increasingly interested in the promotion of social capital and the development of the whole person. A total of 259 students completed the DIT2 at the beginning, mid-point and conclusion of their degree course. As with similar international studies, increases in levels of moral reasoning over time were statistically significant. However, Irish students' DIT2 scores were markedly lower than their international peers with 62% of graduating students at the pre-conventional and conventional stages. The paper suggests some context-related explanations for the under-performance of Irish students including the instrumentalist nature of Irish post-primary education, the prevailing culture of consensualism, authoritarianism and anti-intellectualism, the conflation of religious and moral education and the emphasis on economic outputs and contractual accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a historical perspective on government policies for the rationalisation of higher education (HE) in Ireland through a critical re-appraisal of the initiative for ‘merger’ of Trinity College and University College Dublin. The initiative launched by Donogh O'Malley in 1967 was the first significant attempt by an Irish government to transform the institutional architecture of HE. This study sheds new light on the rationale for merger. A key motivation for the merger was to overcome ‘the problem of Trinity College Dublin’: policy-makers sought to integrate Trinity College, long regarded as a Protestant ‘enclave’ in a predominantly Catholic society, within the Irish HE system. O'Malley's initiative sought to bring Trinity College Dublin (TCD) firmly under the control of the state and transcend traditional religious divisions, by circumventing the ‘ban’ on the attendance of Catholics at TCD imposed by the Catholic bishops. This paper also explores the emergence of proactive, interventionist approaches by Irish ministers and officials to policy formulation and implementation in HE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last number of years, opportunities to learn in higher education for people with intellectual disabilities have increased. Consequently, this subgroup of students is gradually becoming part of an increasingly diverse college community. Because learning varies across different individual cultures and systems of higher education, our current understandings of how students with intellectual disabilities learn are inadequate. This study set out to explore how people with intellectual disabilities learn in one Irish college. Eighteen students with intellectual disabilities were asked to make a drawing of how they understood learning and were interviewed by six of their peers who trained as co-researchers. The findings indicate that the learning experiences of these students are as complex and as multifaceted as any other college student. A model that captures this learning is presented using four categories: the Cognitive Stages of Learning, Self-regulation of Learning, Learning as Collective Meaning Making and the Supportive Environment and Learning. The learning potential for people with intellectual disabilities presented in this paper goes some way to addressing preconceived notions associated with the label of intellectual disability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents, for the first time, comprehensive measures of geographic accessibility to higher education both within and between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Using geographic information system techniques, we find high levels of geographic accessibility to higher education in both jurisdictions. However, when we differentiate by type of higher education institution, we find that overall accessibility to universities in the Republic of Ireland is poor relative to Northern Ireland. Using data on enrolment and mobility rates, we find evidence that these geographic inequalities in accessibility may play a role in determining the type of higher education an individual pursues in the Republic of Ireland. Our analysis also explores the potential accessibility implications of recently announced changes to the structure of the higher education system in the Republic of Ireland. These changes are shown to result in an improvement in geographic accessibility to a university education in the south-west and south-east, with the north-west remaining at a disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty years after the publication ofInvestment in Education, Patrick Clancy wrote that the report represented ‘“the” foundation document of education’ in the era since the introduction of economic planning in the late 1950s. This paper considers the importance of the report in disseminating theories of human capital formation (as well as other less recognised influences) among Irish political and educational elites.Investmentcontributed to a seminal shift in educational policy linked to a widely held conviction among politicians, officials and international advisers that education was vital to national economic salvation. This paradigm shift was informed not only by changing domestic priorities driven by a legacy of economic failure but also by wider international trends inseparable from the Cold War, especially the importance accorded to education and technological development as key battlegrounds in the global struggle between the capitalist West and the Soviet Union. Defining ideas ofInvestment– notably increased financing of education as an essential factor in economic development and the necessity for a far-reaching expansion of participation at post-primary and higher levels, not least to meet a perceived shortfall in the supply of well-qualified workers – became central to Irish educational policy over the two generations that followed publication of the report, as illustrated by quantitative trends examined here. Due to the extraordinary persistence of these features over this period, it is worthwhile examining their emergence as lasting forces in an ‘effective history’ of education that is much more than historiographical interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The importance of education in developing morally sensitive individuals who use principled moral reasoning when facing dilemmas has been widely acknowledged. In the context of the criticism levelled at the Irish higher education system for failing to fulfil the role of intellectual leader and moral critic within the public domain, this paper examines the impact of education level (both undergraduate and post-graduate) and type (arts or technical/profession-based) on moral reasoning using 311 Irish participants from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. An enhanced understanding of the impact of education on moral reasoning will facilitate the development of educational initiatives aimed at augmenting moral reasoning in higher-level students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]