Best H Dip in Ireland

Zippacat · 06-11-2011 3:34pm #1

Hi,

I am in the process of applying for the H Dip for the year 2012/2013. As far as I know the course is offered in 4 universities- Cork, Maynooth, Galway and Dublin. I'm trying to decide which would be the best overall. Does anyone have any advice about which is the best? Or what are the positives and negatives of each course? Or are they identical? Any help or info would be really appreciated.

Zippacat

UnLuckyAgain · 06-11-2011 4:07pm

Zippacat wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the process of applying for the H Dip for the year 2012/2013. As far as I know the course is offered in 4 universities- Cork, Maynooth, Galway and Dublin. I'm trying to decide which would be the best overall. Does anyone have any advice about which is the best? Or what are the positives and negatives of each course? Or are they identical? Any help or info would be really appreciated.

Zippacat

No H.Dip is better than any other - all of them are equally accredited by the DES and TC for teaching purposes. The differences between them are mainly to do with lecture timetables and teaching practice placements. For example, UCD do teaching placement every morning and then lectures in the afternoon. Whereas NUIM do teaching placement all day Mondays and Fridays and then lectures Tuesday-Thursday. As far as I know, Galway do a block placement for a few weeks at a time periodically throughout the year.

Zippacat · 06-11-2011 4:26pm

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

Zippacat wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the process of applying for the H Dip for the year 2012/2013. As far as I know the course is offered in 4 universities- Cork, Maynooth, Galway and Dublin. I'm trying to decide which would be the best overall. Does anyone have any advice about which is the best? Or what are the positives and negatives of each course? Or are they identical? Any help or info would be really appreciated.

Zippacat

No H.Dip is better than any other - all of them are equally accredited by the DES and TC for teaching purposes. The differences between them are mainly to do with lecture timetables and teaching practice placements. For example, UCD do teaching placement every morning and then lectures in the afternoon. Whereas NUIM do teaching placement all day Mondays and Fridays and then lectures Tuesday-Thursday. As far as I know, Galway do a block placement for a few weeks at a time periodically throughout the year.

Thanks for all the info. That's really helpful.

Zippacat · 06-11-2011 5:30pm

Does anyone know how the teaching hours are scheduled in UCC? Is it every morning or is it on specific days of the week?

Jane98 · 06-11-2011 5:53pm

Zippacat wrote: »

Does anyone know how the teaching hours are scheduled in UCC? Is it every morning or is it on specific days of the week?

In UCC, lectures are scheduled afternoons from 2pm so teaching takes place in the mornings. Depending on your school, you may be timetabled to come in everyday or less.

Zippacat · 06-11-2011 6:20pm

Jane98 wrote: »

Zippacat wrote: »

Does anyone know how the teaching hours are scheduled in UCC? Is it every morning or is it on specific days of the week?

In UCC, lectures are scheduled afternoons from 2pm so teaching takes place in the mornings. Depending on your school, you may be timetabled to come in everyday or less.

Thanks for the help.

spurious · 06-11-2011 7:33pm

There is also the part-time course in DCU run over two years. From any 'Dippers' I've seen recently, that course seems to be very 'real-world' and thorough.

paddy.81 · 08-11-2011 6:30pm

Hi,

I did my Dip in TCD. I think the closing date is at the end of November and you need to have a personal statement and references. Interviews are held sometime in February. We had school Monday morning, Thursday and Friday and lectures on Monday afternoon Tuesday and Wednesday.

Printer · 11-11-2011 11:40am

I was wondering about this too. Has anyone done the Dip in UL with languages? wondering what the placement arrangements are there. The website has very little information.

Postgrad10 · 12-11-2011 10:34pm

Printer wrote: »

I was wondering about this too. Has anyone done the Dip in UL with languages? wondering what the placement arrangements are there. The website has very little information.

I personally went to UCD( no choice with PAC) and in comparison with my friends PGDE course in NUIM , UCD wasn't as good . That's just my opinion . NUIM supports their students and lectures are first rate .

cruizer101 · 12-11-2011 10:41pm

In UL the placement is Mondays for the first Semerster, a two block now which is the last weeks of college before study and exam weeks, and then a 6 week block in the new year.
On Mondays expected to teach min of 4 classes and in the week placments looking at 18 ish.

However the course is UL are changing to 2 year course as far as I know, in fact I thought the others were too. Definitly if thinking of UL you will want to check this, give teh education depatment a ring if there is nothing up on website about it.

peanuthead · 13-11-2011 3:46pm

Postgrad10 wrote: »

NUIM supports their students and lectures are first rate .

100% agree with this.

seachto7 · 13-11-2011 8:09pm

cruizer101 wrote: »

In UL the placement is Mondays for the first Semerster, a two block now which is the last weeks of college before study and exam weeks, and then a 6 week block in the new year.
On Mondays expected to teach min of 4 classes and in the week placments looking at 18 ish.

However the course is UL are changing to 2 year course as far as I know, in fact I thought the others were too. Definitly if thinking of UL you will want to check this, give teh education depatment a ring if there is nothing up on website about it.

Anymore info on this? They are changing the 1 year Dips to 2 years?

cruizer101 · 13-11-2011 10:48pm

Thats my understanding alright, we were told we are the last year of 1 year grad dips, the reason is they weant to make it a level 9 course. And although it is currently a level 9 thats going to be reduced to a level 8 for all. Its quite complicated really and all a bit up in the air. But if you are thinking of doing it I would contact the University directly and get them to confirm.

mrboswell · 14-11-2011 3:42pm

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

No H.Dip is better than any other - all of them are equally accredited by the DES and TC for teaching purposes. The differences between them are mainly to do with lecture timetables and teaching practice placements. For example, UCD do teaching placement every morning and then lectures in the afternoon. Whereas NUIM do teaching placement all day Mondays and Fridays and then lectures Tuesday-Thursday. As far as I know, Galway do a block placement for a few weeks at a time periodically throughout the year.

Many would disagree. A number of principals that I have spoken to say that academically Maynooth is the best place, including one that gives occasional lectures in UCD.

I went to Trinity and didn't think it was that great to be honest.

whiteandlight · 14-11-2011 6:06pm

mrboswell wrote: »

Many would disagree. A number of principals that I have spoken to say that academically Maynooth is the best place, including one that gives occasional lectures in UCD.

I went to Trinity and didn't think it was that great to be honest.

This was my anectotal evidence based opinion too. Maynooth the best overall. Based on opinions from several principals and teachers

edgecutter · 14-11-2011 6:16pm

The best place to do your hdip would be the first college that accepts you. Its damn hard to get into the course so apply for all colleges regardless of them being good, bad or even too far away.

mrboswell · 14-11-2011 7:10pm

edgecutter wrote: »

The best place to do your hdip would be the first college that accepts you. Its damn hard to get into the course so apply for all colleges regardless of them being good, bad or even too far away.

Unfortunately, very relevant in todays times...

Tracy Jacks · 14-11-2011 7:59pm

I'm in the same boat and hoping to do the PDE next year and I was just wondering if the overall price for application is based on how many colleges you apply to. UCD and NUIM would be my top 2 choices but if I don't have to pay extra to add NUIG and UCC I will. Is it the same price if you put down 2 preferences versus 4? I find the website a little confusing!

Benicetomonty · 14-11-2011 9:22pm

From what I understand, inspection-wise, Maynooth seems to be the worst...if 'worst' is the right word! Certainly compared to what I've heard about Trinity, when you can almost schedule the visits yourself (if a good friend of mine is to be believed), Maynooth will keep you on your toes

. The project where you have to video-tape yourself teaching a class is also unique to Maynooth (as I understand, open to correction here.) That was quite daunting I can tell you!

UnLuckyAgain · 15-11-2011 12:55pm

UCD is great for teaching placement - every morning, every day, all year.

The actual lectures on the other hand....

cazhater · 30-03-2012 1:25pm

I'm doing the PDE at Nuig. And we also have micro teaching - where we're recorded teach, so it's not just nuim! To be honest I don't think it matters a great deal where you do the dip- its the placement taht counts! If your lucky enough to be landed to be placed with a good co-operative teacher then Your sorted..the dip is really all inquiry based learning- so If you lack initiative then This is not for you! It's very demanding both emotionally and acedemicaly but an amazing experience none the less!

maynooth_rules · 30-03-2012 2:40pm

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

UCD is great for teaching placement - every morning, every day, all year.

The actual lectures on the other hand....

This, So so much this. It is structured perfectly in UCD but the lectures are an utter shambles IMO.

UnLuckyAgain · 30-03-2012 3:26pm

maynooth_rules wrote: »

This, So so much this. It is structured perfectly in UCD but the lectures are an utter shambles IMO.

UCD has the most inspections too, 7 total for the year, so in that sense it has an advantage (or disadvantage if you dread the idea of inspections)

Caraville · 02-04-2012 10:10am

Did mine in UCC and it was rubbish, the teaching part was fine although my supervisor was totally archaic and idealistic so found it hard dealing with her. The lectures were an absolute waste of time, I reckon I have never once used one thing that was mentioned in them. The philosophy, history and sociology of education lectures are completely pointless.

To be fair I did my dip 8 years ago so maybe it has improved. Also one piece of advice I would give wherever you go is just whatever your supervisor wants you to do, even it it's not the way you see yourself teaching long-term, just do it. It'll make your life easier and your grades better. And don't worry about all the stupid lectures and exams too much, your teaching practice is the most important of all.

Ms.M · 12-04-2012 7:03am

I did mine in UCD. Awful! One of the lecturers (I won't name and shame but he was IT) had an assessment where the Dippers were to give a presentation on a particular topic. They were put in pairs and each week a different pair would give a presentation and be marked by their peers. Well they would have to be... Since the lecturer went on holiday!

Maynooth seems to enjoy a favourable reputation. But really, in this climate and the way teaching jobs are going, avoid any extra expense. I'd still go to UCD if I had the option now because it's close.

ViveLaVie · 20-08-2012 1:11pm

Does anyone know what the PDE is like in NUIG and UCC?

Am I right in saying that the PDE in UL doesn't allow for English as a subject?

thefasteriwalk · 20-08-2012 3:18pm

Benicetomonty wrote: »

From what I understand, inspection-wise, Maynooth seems to be the worst...if 'worst' is the right word! Certainly compared to what I've heard about Trinity, when you can almost schedule the visits yourself (if a good friend of mine is to be believed), Maynooth will keep you on your toes . The project where you have to video-tape yourself teaching a class is also unique to Maynooth (as I understand, open to correction here.) That was quite daunting I can tell you!

Nope, we also did micro-teaching in UCC (recording a class for peer assessment). I did my dip two years ago and I found the lack of consistency with the UCC course ridiculous. For intance, we did a module on 'Educational ICT' and ICT was dealt with in many of the other modules as something to embraced bla bla bla. However, my supervisor was a retired principal who hated the use of ICT - instead she wanted us to spend the year 'mastering the blackboard'. Therefore, whenever it was coming up to inspection time I had to stop using the data projector etc. just to keep her happy. It also meant that for much of the year I wasn't able to practise what I was learning in Educational ICT and other modules.

mick kk · 22-08-2012 9:22pm

Did mine in NUIG - absolute joke. Teaching practice was fine but most of the lecturers were terrible.
Many lecturers were unprepared for their lectures. They relied on waffle and presentations that were very poor. They applied none of the theory to their own teaching.
One exception was history. I liked the history of education because the lecturer was excellent. However, none of it was any use in the classroom.

Apart from that the rest were pathetic. I pity the people who will have to do two years of this nonsense when its introduced.

I will never forget the ICT module. The computers were from the 1970s. The lady who gave the class was unreal...and not in a good way.

mtoutlemonde · 22-08-2012 9:26pm

Tracy Jacks wrote: »

I'm in the same boat and hoping to do the PDE next year and I was just wondering if the overall price for application is based on how many colleges you apply to. UCD and NUIM would be my top 2 choices but if I don't have to pay extra to add NUIG and UCC I will. Is it the same price if you put down 2 preferences versus 4? I find the website a little confusing!

I thought the overall price for application was for all the colleges offering the PDE? You put down the four and you get offered one of them?

Miss Lockhart · 22-08-2012 9:51pm

AFAIK the standard application fee allows you to apply for all of the NUI colleges. TCD/DCU is separate. You should be able to list all of the NUI colleges in order of preference for that price.

FWIW I think there could very well be some courses that are better than others but for the most part it is impossible to compare, as nobody has experienced them all and I think a lot depends on your specific subject methodologies. I have no doubt that principals can favour certain courses though.

I would highly recommend NUIM based on my experiences. I liked the layout of the teaching practice, found my tutor and supervisor to be fair, realistic and supportive and with only one exception, found the lectures to be good. I definitely feel the education department is extremely supportive of student teachers while also insisting on very high standards.

drvantramp · 23-08-2012 8:58am

Caraville wrote: »

Did mine in UCC and it was rubbish, the teaching part was fine although my supervisor was totally archaic and idealistic so found it hard dealing with her. The lectures were an absolute waste of time, I reckon I have never once used one thing that was mentioned in them. The philosophy, history and sociology of education lectures are completely pointless.

To be fair I did my dip 8 years ago so maybe it has improved. Also one piece of advice I would give wherever you go is just whatever your supervisor wants you to do, even it it's not the way you see yourself teaching long-term, just do it. It'll make your life easier and your grades better. And don't worry about all the stupid lectures and exams too much, your teaching practice is the most important of all.

I would not agree it was rubbish and it has a very good reputation overall. True, the modules you mention are perhaps pointless in the day to day sense of teaching but surely that is the year to get an overview of education. If not then, when?

Also dip students would certainly need to worry about stupid lectures and exams as these will effect final grades in a very competitive market.

I would agree that TP is the most important of all and following guidance of supervisor is critical and many as you say are too distant from the current classroom.

Best H Dip in Ireland

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