Now Ye're Talking - to a Head of Department in an Institute of Technology

Boards.ie: Niamh · 30-03-2017 8:16am #1

Last week's AMA was very educational and this week we have another educational one of a different sort.

Our guest this week has spent time working in both industry and in academia and now heads up a department at one of the country's Institutes of Technology. He is here to answer questions you might have about college life, academia and anything else third-level related.

Ask away!

Cookie_Monster · 30-03-2017 8:24am

what (type/area of academia) department?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 9:34am

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

what (type/area of academia) department?

In the computer science/technology area.

Permabear · 30-03-2017 10:14am

This post has been deleted.

GLaDOS · 30-03-2017 10:24am

Do you think the standards of 3rd level institutes are dropping in order to facilitate increased numbers of students, as that means more money?

gizmo555 · 30-03-2017 10:27am

What do you think of the pressure to redesignate Institutes of Technology as universities? Will this actually benefit students or graduates? Or is it just window dressing to add to the prestige of senior management?

(I'm open to correction, but I'm not aware that the previous redesignation of Regional Technical Colleges as Institutes of Technology made the slightest difference to students & graduates.)

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 10:35am

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

It varies greatly. In terms of prepared for computer science, those that have an interest in the area and have reasonably good points tend to come better prepared. However, a good proportion are just not up to the level of maths required, which is a significant issue.

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Again, I welcome the proposed introduction of computer science as a subject in the Leaving Certificate, that can only be a good thing.

However in terms of preparation, I think a certain percentage of school leavers tend to be full of self-doubt, suffer from anxiety, lacking confidence and unable to make decisions for themselves. That is an area I think we as a society need to work on.

GLaDOS wrote: »

Do you think the standards of 3rd level institutes are dropping in order to facilitate increased numbers of students, as that means more money?

I don't think there is a concerted effort to drop standards to get more bums on seats. All third level institutions are subject to rigorous review by various people/bodies outside of the respective organisations, with paper trails for auditing purposes.

I do, however, think that there is a concerted effort to increase student numbers to make up for the shortfall in funding. That includes non-standard students, such as students from deprived areas, with disabilities, mature students and international students.

endacl · 30-03-2017 10:35am

Do you have any thoughts regarding 'college places for all'?

A bit of background. I teach at 'second and a half level' - PLC students. We've noticed in recent years that there's been a huge drop off in PLC applications. What we used to get, in broad strokes, were those who felt they could use a little more prep time before getting stuck into a degree, and those who weren't quite up to the required standard yet. We were broadly successful, with a majority of students achieving a full award and progressing.

In recent years, Institutes of Technology have been offering (and filling) courses with students who are patently not ready/prepared/equipped to complete them, based on a relatively low points requirement. In some areas, drop out rates are massive. As a result, these student lose a year of free fees if they opt to repeat or to change areas. The cynic in me must point out that the Institutes of course receive tuition fees for each of these students.

Are ITs serving students well by filling courses with candidates who won't pass beyond their first year, and who probably should be taking a different route?

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/over-70-of-students-drop-out-of-certain-college-courses-1.2929551

mahamageehad · 30-03-2017 10:37am

My experience with third level education in Ireland in the IT/Media area is that the courses are pretty far behind what the industry expects. For example, a large emphasis was put on learning Actionscript 3.0 and JavaScript, but very little emphasis was placed on the concepts of object oriented programming or using libraries. From speaking to others I get the impression that I wasn't the only one in that position. Do you feel that your Department is on top of things in that respect or are there other constraints behind the scenes that make updating courses and curriculums difficult?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 10:40am

gizmo555 wrote: »

What do you think of the pressure to redesignate Institutes of Technology as universities? Will this actually benefit students or graduates? Or is it just window dressing to add to the prestige of senior management?

There is an element of prestige, that is without question, but not necessarily for senior management. I have been involved with the IDA in bringing employers into Ireland, particularly in the technology area, and one of the first things they ask is whether there is a university present. Cue discussion involving "well, it's an institute of technology, but it's not that much different from a university/so why isn't it a university". There is also an international element to it - outside of the Anglo-Saxon sphere of influence, the term Institute or Technology does not carry much weight (despite my efforts, on more than one occasion, to point to Massachusetts institute of technology. And no, I do not have delusions of grandeur, it's merely to make a point in terms of the naming of the institute. I am not for a moment comparing any IoT in Ireland to MIT).

There are, of course, many, many other factors in the naming, but those two above are key, in my mind.

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 10:49am

endacl wrote: »

Are ITs serving students well by filling courses with candidates who won't pass beyond their first year, and who probably should be taking a different route?

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/over-70-of-students-drop-out-of-certain-college-courses-1.2929551

There was an interesting discussion recently at a forum I attended, that basically centered around why don't we leave the Level 6 courses to the PLC sector (for the reasons you articulate above) and focus on Level 7 and above. One of the comments was that the minister for education actually wants the competition for places. I'd love to find a quote/reference for that, because I find it a terrible duplication of resources and a blurring of the lines.

In terms of serving students, there is, across the sector, a wide recognition that there is a percentage of students coming in to 1st year who are simply not ready (see my previous comments above). So student retention and supports are well developed and very targeted at such students. I would not necessarily accept that the IoT's are doing them a disservice, but I would accept that a significant amount of resources are being poured into supporting 1st year students who are not that well prepared.

mahamageehad wrote: »

My experience with third level education in Ireland in the IT/Media area is that the courses are pretty far behind what the industry expects. For example, a large emphasis was put on learning Actionscript 3.0 and JavaScript, but very little emphasis was placed on the concepts of object oriented programming or using libraries. From speaking to others I get the impression that I wasn't the only one in that position. Do you feel that your Department is on top of things in that respect or are there other constraints behind the scenes that make updating courses and curriculums difficult?

To modify a typical programme takes, in my experience, on average two years. It's a continually moving goal post. In my institute's example (don't want to give specifics here), we are on top to a certain extent as we basically went to local employers and said "tell me exactly what you want". Now is it cutting-edge and full of all the latest and greatest technologies? No. Is it what three particular employers want? Yes.

Plus, you have the issue of staff development. A lot of staff, myself included, are out of industry a number of years. So to get them back up to speed on the latest and greatest technologies takes time, effort and money, the latter of which is just simply not there.

I would therefore answer your question by stating that given the resources we have, we do the best we can.

mahamageehad · 30-03-2017 11:32am

Some follow up questions if I may.

I was struck during my Erasmus placement in Germany by how focused the students were on industry, and also how focus the faculty were. I don't have direct stats but every professor in the media department I was in was also actively working in the industry. I believe it was a requirement for them. Some more so than others, for example one lecturer that lectured part time in the evenings on top of his regular job as lead developer at a popular game studio here, but all were involved in industry actively. I certainly don't want to degrade the work of people that are passionate about their industry but no longer working in it, but is it a problem in your opinion to have lecturers get too far away from the industry and therefore out of date? When I finished my bachelor a number of us were offered a masters degree complete with teaching hours which I thought was insane. 5 years of industry experience later, i still wouldn't feel ready to take on lecturing, not to mine student me!

You mentioned that your students are prepared with the skills the industry requires, even if it's not the latest and greatest thing. Do you mean the industry specific to your IT location or the broader Irish industry or further?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 11:43am

mahamageehad wrote: »

I was struck during my Erasmus placement in Germany by how focused the students were on industry, and also how focus the faculty were. I don't have direct stats but every professor in the media department I was in was also actively working in the industry. I believe it was a requirement for them.

I think Germany in particular has nailed it in terms of post-compulsory education. In particular, they have a very robust apprenticeship system where not only are apprenticeships not looked down on (or at the very least, viewed as "only for manual labour type jobs"), they are well tailored to the needs of industry and have the full support of industry.

mahamageehad wrote: »

Some more so than others, for example one lecturer that lectured part time in the evenings on top of his regular job as lead developer at a popular game studio here, but all were involved in industry actively. I certainly don't want to degrade the work of people that are passionate about their industry but no longer working in it, but is it a problem in your opinion to have lecturers get too far away from the industry and therefore out of date?

Two things: incentives and unions.

What would the incentive be for a lecturer, say in his or her mid-late 40's, in the job 15-20 years, to go back out into industry? Genuine question. There is no incentive, nor imperative. Me personally, I would love to do it (time management issues aside!). But for a person of a certain age, why would they do it?

Secondly, unions. I could start, but I would turn this into a venting/therapy session for me. Going by past experience, unions wouldn't let this happen without significant changes to terms/contracts/payments. I'll leave it at that.

mahamageehad wrote: »

When I finished my bachelor a number of us were offered a masters degree complete with teaching hours which I thought was insane. 5 years of industry experience later, i still wouldn't feel ready to take on lecturing, not to mine student me!

Where we do well is in terms of in-house training and staff training. I am aware of a number of IoTs (and universities, to be fair) that have developed credit-bearing courses on the likes of teaching, learning and assessment. So the assumption is that you are experienced and knowledgeable in your field, you can then be trained up to become a more effective educator.

mahamageehad wrote: »

You mentioned that your students are prepared with the skills the industry requires, even if it's not the latest and greatest thing. Do you mean the industry specific to your IT location or the broader Irish industry or further?

I would say the skills are very transferrable to the broader Irish IT industry. Let's be honest here, object orientated programming is object orientated programming, no matter what language. Same for SQL/Databases and networking, web development etc.

srsly78 · 30-03-2017 11:50am

Regarding training grads for software development positions: have you started teaching students version control yet? It's beyond a joke at this stage! Academics seem to be absolutely clueless as to what goes in real jobs.

Always trying to hire, all I want are:
Basic ability to use linux
Basic ability to use git
Basic ability to use python

It's not much to ask!

scudzilla · 30-03-2017 11:51am

Did you read Lara's Escort AMA? Lot to live up to :pac::pac:

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 11:54am

srsly78 wrote: »

Regarding training grads for software development positions: have you started teaching students version control yet? It's beyond a joke at this stage!

Yes, they do indeed learn about version control.

EDIT:

srsly78 wrote: »

Always trying to hire, all I want are:
Basic ability to use linux
Basic ability to use git
Basic ability to use python

Check to all of the above. However, using Linux in a computer lab and using Linux in industry are vastly different.

srsly78 wrote: »

Academics seem to be absolutely clueless as to what goes in real jobs.

Well think about it - the majority have left industry years ago, some have completed a PhD in their field, a few don't even have industry experience. However, any course (and on a broader scale, programme) must have industry input or it will not get approved at a local level, nor at a national level (i.e. QQI). So I can say with conviction that all courses/programmes have industry input.

And that's why there is a massive drive to incorporate a work placement/internship in all programmes - to make up for this perceived deficiency.

srsly78 · 30-03-2017 11:56am

Another problem I have is "industry input" basically seems to mean microsoft tells you what to do. They essentially bribe unis/its with free windows etc - all to make sure students don't learn useful things like linux! Similarly with software like Matlab (free for academic use but costs a fortune outside).

Can you comment on this? Is your course platform/software agnostic? Or are you focused on proprietary stuff?
edit: Cool you kinda answered it above

I'm kinda cranky about this topic because I spend all day porting matlab code to python >.<

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 12:00pm

srsly78 wrote: »

Another problem I have is "industry input" basically seems to mean microsoft tells you what to do. They essentially bribe unis/its with free windows etc - all to make sure students don't learn useful things like linux! Similarly with software like Matlab (free for academic use but costs a fortune outside).

Nonsense. Microsoft provide Office 365 and Outlook, that's as far as it goes. Actually, now that I think of it they do provide Azure on which we run, you've guessed it, Linux. But we also have an AWS subscription too.

While I do have contact with Microsoft, I have also had contact with a lot of other big IT companies. Plus, don't forget, most (if not all) IoT's have a local mandate - so that means dealing with IT companies you probably have never heard of within 50 miles of the institution. Add in to that IT departments of non-IT companies and you have a (hopefully) removal of bias.

srsly78 · 30-03-2017 12:02pm

Heh I also use Azure to run linux (the ironing is delicious).

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 12:04pm

srsly78 wrote: »

Heh I also use Azure to run linux (the ironing is delicious).

And conceptually, from a pedagogical perspective, it can be a hard concept to teach (virtualisation, that is).

gomamochi1 · 30-03-2017 12:08pm

Can you tell me the rates for external examiner on a degree program and guest lecture rates. I had been doing this for Dkit until recently and they requested I do them gratis due to budgets. I withdrew my service as I found that it was quite a laissez faire attitude by my colleague as she was setting exam questions on my lectures- I am quite sure she is well reimbursed! Thanks

beauf · 30-03-2017 12:16pm

I'd be curious why drop out rates aren't widely published, also how many get jobs in their chosen field, rather than jobs only distantly related.

I think there is a serious mismatch between students expectations, the media reporting of the job market and the actual job market.

frozenfrozen · 30-03-2017 12:16pm

How long do you reckon the current tech bubble will last (if you do believe there is one, and if not - why not?)

I'm alluding to the likes of snapchat having zero means of monetization.. and the huge figures put on tech startups without plans to generate a return, many of which end up getting swallowed by Alphabet and closed down

PTH2009 · 30-03-2017 12:20pm

Does the drink culture that is associated with college life damage the academic life's of some of your students ???

Do you think there we too many FETAC courses and PLC courses around that are given students a false sense of hope ???

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 12:27pm

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Can you tell me the rates for external examiner on a degree program and guest lecture rates. I had been doing this for Dkit until recently and they requested I do them gratis due to budgets. I withdrew my service as I found that it was quite a laissez faire attitude by my colleague as she was setting exam questions on my lectures- I am quite sure she is well reimbursed! Thanks

I honestly don't know what they are for external examiner, the Finance people look after that (not trying to avoid the answer, I genuinely sign the piece of paper and that's as far as it goes in terms of payment from my side).

In terms of guest lecture, can you clarify what you mean? Do you mean a once-off, during a semester? Or do you mean a part-time lecturer teaching scheduled hours?

beauf wrote: »

I'd be curious why drop out rates aren't widely published, also how many get jobs in their chosen field, rather than jobs only distantly related.

I'll put on my ecumenical hat here and say that we are legally obliged to provide these figures to the various regulatory bodies. So the likes of the HEA compile these figures and report them.

beauf wrote: »

I think there is a serious mismatch between students expectations, the media reporting of the job market and the actual job market.

I think that is a fair comment for certain courses. If I show my true colours here, I can genuinely say that is not the case for IT/Computer Science courses as there are more jobs than graduates every year.

frozenfrozen wrote: »

How long do you reckon the current tech bubble will last (if you do believe there is one, and if not - why not?)

I'm alluding to the likes of snapchat having zero means of monetization.. and the huge figures put on tech startups without plans to generate a return, many of which end up getting swallowed by Alphabet and closed down

I think it's like old adage that economists have predicted 15 of the last 3 recessions. So I don't necessarily think there is a tech bubble like the one back in 2001, however, I do think that a combination of the US coming out of recession and the lack of IPOs of "big name" companies going public has resulted in a level of pent up demand. However, if you read the business press (yes, I read the Financial Times), there is considerable debate as to whether all US stocks are overpriced currently.

I do think there are unreasonable expectations made of companies such as Twitter and Snapchat and the like. Are we in a situation where companies are simply building up a userbase and that's what is for sale? As opposed to a decent product service? Yes, I do think there is an element of that. Looking at you, Viber.

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 12:31pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

Does the drink culture that is associated with college life damage the academic life's of some of your students ???

Oh, most definitely. I could tell you some stories about students coming in for meetings with me at 9:00am and reeking of booze. It is related to my earlier comments about society preparing school leavers for the responsibilities of independent living and learning and being a productive member of society.

Don't get me wrong, I like a drink, I am most certainly not anti-drink. I think it is more to do with a maturity and freedom thing.

PTH2009 wrote: »

Do you think there we too many FETAC courses and PLC courses around that are given students a false sense of hope ???

No. Again, to relate back to my earlier comments. I think such PLCs (just to be pedantic, FETAC is gone now

) offer an alternative pathway to ease that transition out of second level for students who perhaps don't know what they want to do, or would struggle greatly with third level (due to lack of maturity, etc.).

Pelvis · 30-03-2017 1:14pm

As a current part-time student in an IoT, studying IT. How do you think part timers fare against the full timers both as students and post studies in industry? (taking age into account, i'll be mid thirties when I'm done!) Personally, working full time and dealing with course studies I find I am unable to devote the necessary time required to improve my practical skills.

Where do you think a student going into their final should focus their efforts (with the final year project in mind), what skills are most in demand?

xLisaBx · 30-03-2017 1:30pm

What do you think about the idea of the grant system being turned into a loan system?

What are your feelings on publishing results from exams, with the students names, so the whole class can see who is doing well and who is struggling?

DoItTomorrow · 30-03-2017 1:53pm

Do you think DITs campuses are being cash starved due to GrangeGorman?

Are you embarrassed by the pathetic WLAN (the networking labs have zero coverage just for irony)? The HEANET link is totally underused as access is so poor.

Is the repeating plan to merge with the other ITs a good idea or a waste of resources?

Have you any plans to have CA graded during the semester and not after the exams when it defeats the purpose of its own existence?

helimachoptor · 30-03-2017 2:27pm

Back in my day (early 00's) doing comp sci, Soldier of Fortune was our LAN game, whats the current one?

Have you had any really good ideas come out of your students/postgrads (appreciate you may not want to give identifying info here)

connemara man · 30-03-2017 2:30pm

Do you see waste in how IoTs are run?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 2:46pm

Pelvis wrote: »

As a current part-time student in an IoT, studying IT. How do you think part timers fare against the full timers both as students and post studies in industry? (taking age into account, i'll be mid thirties when I'm done!) Personally, working full time and dealing with course studies I find I am unable to devote the necessary time required to improve my practical skills.

I think part-timers, particularly those with some sort of industry/life experience bring an awful lot to the table, in terms of learning, commitment and general cop on. I don't have figures as to how they compare in terms of grades and the like, though it would be interesting to compare. It is difficulty, I fully acknowledge.

Pelvis wrote: »

Where do you think a student going into their final should focus their efforts (with the final year project in mind), what skills are most in demand?

I think you should focus on what you are good at and what you enjoy, that will ensure that you can talk enthusiastically about it at an interview and (hopefully) demonstrate what work you have done in that area in terms of projects. Skills that are in demand are data analytics, developers of all creeds and cloud infrastructure. Nobody is going to be good at all three, hence my advice to stick to what you are good at.

xLisaBx wrote: »

What do you think about the idea of the grant system being turned into a loan system?

From my middle-class, well-paid, secure job perspective, it does seem to be a good idea. I do think it is the lesser of several evils. No, it is not ideal and yes, it puts an unnecessary burden on young graduates. But something has to be done to fund third level education.

xLisaBx wrote: »

What are your feelings on publishing results from exams, with the students names, so the whole class can see who is doing well and who is struggling?

Very, very dangerous.

As I have alluded to in a number of posts above, I deal on an almost daily basis with students who feel insecure, suffer from anxiety and confidence issues. Do you really think this would help them?

And of course, the Data Protection Commissioner would not be happy about that at all.

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 2:50pm

DoItTomorrow wrote: »

Do you think DITs campuses are being cash starved due to GrangeGorman?

Are you embarrassed by the pathetic WLAN (the networking labs have zero coverage just for irony)? The HEANET link is totally underused as access is so poor.

Is the repeating plan to merge with the other ITs a good idea or a waste of resources?

Have you any plans to have CA graded during the semester and not after the exams when it defeats the purpose of its own existence?

You obviously have signed up to Boards.ie with an axe to grind. I have no connection with DIT, so I cannot answer your question.

Rather than hide behind a vague username on the internet, why not act like an adult and approach your head of department?

helimachoptor wrote: »

Back in my day (early 00's) doing comp sci, Soldier of Fortune was our LAN game, whats the current one?

You know what? I honestly don't know. Students have stopped challenging staff to games of late. Maybe because we were so bad.

helimachoptor wrote: »

Have you had any really good ideas come out of your students/postgrads (appreciate you may not want to give identifying info here)

Yeah, I've had students in the newspapers, receive national awards and the like. On more than one occasion I have gone "Wow, would you look at that?"

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 2:52pm

connemara man wrote: »

Do you see waste in how IoTs are run?

I see inefficiencies, yes. But I'd like to think I do my best, within the confines of the organisation, to minimise such inefficiencies as best I can.

And I'd also add that any large organisation with 5,000+ people involved is going to have inefficiencies.

fiachr_a · 30-03-2017 3:09pm

What % of first years fail or drop out?
How many students in your college have 500+ LC points?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 3:16pm

fiachr_a wrote: »

What % of first years fail or drop out?

How many students in your college have 500+ LC points?

The drop out rate varies from programme to programme. I think somebody posted earlier a link to the Irish Times article that claimed a 70% drop-out rate for some courses (which I find difficult to accept - the Head of Dept. is responsible for quality/progression/etc. so if that is the case, there is something seriously wrong). I have worked in another IoT where the drop-out rate for computer science was 50% (that was a few years back).

I'm not trying to avoid the question, but it varies from year to year. But drop-out rates for 1st year programmes are concerning (again, see my previous comments on this matter).

In terms of the 500+ LC points, I don't have access to that kind of information. The data protection laws are quite strict in this regard. I would need a very good reason to request that kind of information (and I don't have one, other than being nosey).

Gloomtastic! · 30-03-2017 3:25pm

Back to your earlier comments on student anxiety, self-doubt etc. Why do you think it's different now to when I was a student in the 80s. What's changed?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 3:31pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Back to your earlier comments on student anxiety, self-doubt etc. Why do you think it's different now to when I was a student in the 80s. What's changed?

We have debated this at length and still can't figure it out.

My own personal feeling on the matter is that it is that "perfect storm" of factors combined - the pampered, heavily-parented son/daughter who has never had to do anything for themselves, make decisions or go outside their comfort zone. I do also think there is a whole Irish Catholic guilt thing swirling around in there too, to the extent that we have not yet quite let go of the past. Add in to that the whole narcissism around social media and you have a potent mix.

Other theories include that there is more of a recognition of these issues. Back in the 80's you would probably have been told to "man up and get on with it" or something that effect. Now, people are encouraged to talk about their feelings and told that it is ok to feel down and ok to feel unsure (which, I should point out, I don't have a problem with). I do sometimes wonder, though, have we, as a society, gone too far.

fiachr_a · 30-03-2017 3:35pm

Are most of your students less intelligent than students going to an Irish university?
Do employers take your college's qualifications seriously?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 3:39pm

fiachr_a wrote: »

Are most of your students less intelligent than students going to an Irish university?

I'm a numbers man. Tell me how I quantify intelligence and I'll give you an answer.

fiachr_a wrote: »

Do employers take your college's qualifications seriously?

So I just want to be clear on what you are asking me here - are you asking if employers take an honours degree, at Level 8 on the national qualifications framework seriously?

srsly78 · 30-03-2017 3:43pm

When it comes to software development employers don't give a fsck about where you went to college or your grades, only if you can do the job. Hell, even if you can't do the job you will probably still get hired.

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 3:49pm

srsly78 wrote: »

or your grades

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this in all cases. Some employers do look for grades.

Admittedly, most employers are more interested in project work (both inside and outside of college), but a few have looked for grades.

RedXIV · 30-03-2017 3:50pm

I was contemplating seeing if I could sign up for a few hours of evening lecturering as I've about 10 years in IT at this point. Any tips in this regard about how to approach it? Would you recommend it even?

Are there any skills in particular you find it hard to find lecturers on?

Hollister11 · 30-03-2017 4:01pm

What do you think of the computer science course in national College of ireland compared to the likes of an IT

silverharp · 30-03-2017 4:06pm

I have a son who I see studying in a STEM field in the future , he is curious about tech and has high math abilities. So I guess from my or my kid's perspective, what ways can he think about zooming in on something ? are there areas that have permanent talent shortages or how to keep an eye on this? do some areas tend to have a glut of students versus opportunities? what areas would you tend to have to go abroad to work?
In very general terms are courses that sound a bit "exotic" also a bit gimmicky and are just dressed up science courses. Im thinking of one course I heard about called Nano technology, without any knowledge it sounds like the students get whisked off to the cutting edge of technology whereas the cynic in me just thinks its a derivative of an applied physics degree?

Apologies for the ramble....

Agent Smith · 30-03-2017 4:09pm

Serious Questions:
Do you have a bedside locker?
Whats in your bedside locker?

Super serious Question :
Do you think brexit will have much of an effect on your dept?

fiachr_a · 30-03-2017 4:16pm

What % of your students come from fee-paying schools?
What's the gender ratio of full-time lecturers in your college?
Do you consider some of your courses a waste of time for students?

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 5:33pm

RedXIV wrote: »

I was contemplating seeing if I could sign up for a few hours of evening lecturering as I've about 10 years in IT at this point. Any tips in this regard about how to approach it? Would you recommend it even?

Oh, I would most certainly recommend it.

They key thing to remember that no candidate, especially a part-time member of staff, will have all the attributes. So if you can have some of the following attributes, you will be in with a shout:

be a nice person (approachable)
Be honest (you won't know everything)
Make sure you know what teaching is about
make sure you know the QQI levels and what is expected at each
Know how to assess properly
Get some experience teaching/training
Know about the institution, the department and the programme

RedXIV wrote: »

Are there any skills in particular you find it hard to find lecturers on?

Part-time, no. As people who are in full-time positions and are doing it for the interest are usually easy to come buy. Total opposite for full-time. If you have somebody who is a developer on 75,000 Euro, he or she is not going to come to an IoT and start on 35,000. Repeat that for every single subject in the programme. So getting a suitable calibre of staff, particularly in IT, is very, very difficult (calibre is the keyword here. You would be shocked at the CVs I have seen. I'll be generous when I say delusional).

Hollister11 wrote: »

What do you think of the computer science course in national College of ireland compared to the likes of an IT

I presume you mean the Computing one? Looks good. Nice structure, comprehensive range of subjects. Standard enough, though.

silverharp wrote: »

I have a son who I see studying in a STEM field in the future , he is curious about tech and has high math abilities. So I guess from my or my kid's perspective, what ways can he think about zooming in on something ? are there areas that have permanent talent shortages or how to keep an eye on this? do some areas tend to have a glut of students versus opportunities? what areas would you tend to have to go abroad to work?
In very general terms are courses that sound a bit "exotic" also a bit gimmicky and are just dressed up science courses. Im thinking of one course I heard about called Nano technology, without any knowledge it sounds like the students get whisked off to the cutting edge of technology whereas the cynic in me just thinks its a derivative of an applied physics degree?

Apologies for the ramble....

If your son has an aptitude for maths, then Data Analytics/Big Data is where it's at. It's a hybrid science/computer science/maths area, needing high technical proficiency, with a deeply analytical mind.

To keep up to date with skills in demand, look out for the National Skills Bulletins. Some people read the death notices every day, I read the National Skills Bulletin.

I'm a Head of Department in an IT, AMA · 30-03-2017 5:43pm

Agent Smith wrote: »

Serious Questions:
Do you have a bedside locker?

Yes I do. Ikea's finest.

Agent Smith wrote: »

Whats in your bedside locker??

Well, on my locker is a copy of "How to win friends and influence people", a copy of "Pedagogy for nerds", a plastic comb (for the combover), a clothes brush (for the tweed jacket ), my Nokia 3310 and an alarm clock radio dating from ca. 1989.

In my locker are just the usual mundane stuff, socks, y-fronts and check shirts.

Agent Smith wrote: »

Super serious Question :
Do you think brexit will have much of an effect on your dept?

I would not necessarily say it will have an effect, but I firmly believe it gives us an opportunity to market ourselves as a college in an English speaking part of the European Union to international students. See my comments above on Technological University.

fiachr_a wrote: »

What % of your students come from fee-paying schools?

What's the gender ratio of full-time lecturers in your college?

Do you consider some of your courses a waste of time for students?

I'll answer your questions when you answer mine. See my previous post to you.

Tom Dunne · 30-03-2017 5:46pm

fiachr_a wrote: »

What % of your students come from fee-paying schools?

What's the gender ratio of full-time lecturers in your college?

Do you consider some of your courses a waste of time for students?

Do not post in this thread any more.

Tom Dunne · 30-03-2017 5:50pm

Seeing as I am here... describe your typical day.

Now Ye're Talking - to a Head of Department in an Institute of Technology

Comments