Ms. Sarah Quinn

Summary

Collaboration across five European countries to develop educational resources for health and social care professionals to support their work with those who have refugee/forced migration experience.

Funding Agency

EU

Programme

Erasmus Plus

Project Type

Community-engaged and other

Summary

A grant-funded drama collaboration between the Discipline of Occupational Therapy at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), the Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy (Female) Prison and the Dhá Lámh Theatre, Ennis. Seven third year TCD students fulfilled their peer education university requirement by co-facilitating a weekly drama group with 8 female prisoners. The project had a number of aims including: 1. building on the peer education premise that effective learning can take place when there are no experts. It did this by creating an atmosphere conducive to collaborative work, where students and prisoners worked alongside each other to develop the drama skills relevant to this project. 2. providing an opportunity for reflection on learning so that students integrated their community experience with their academic learning and the prisoners were enabled to identify practical learning from the project that they could apply in other contexts. 3. exposing students to a community group they did not typically have contact with and providing the prisoners with opportunity to interact with a group from outside the prison community with the view to breaking down prejudice. The project recognised the mutuality of service-learning projects and reinforced this by ensuring work was driven by the whole group and that partnerships were respectful and non-judgemental.

Funding Agency

Campus Engage (Network for the Promotion of Public Engagement in Higher Education)

Programme

Peer-education module; Occupational Therapy

Project Type

Civic-engagement for social/occupational justice

Person Months

2

Summary

A multi-service collaboration between TCD and homeless services to develop a supported volunteering project for those who are experiencing homelessness. Following considerable participatory action research preparing resources to support the project, the TCD OT students, as part of their community-based learning module, will be paired with service-users from homeless services to support them weekly in their capacity as volunteers. This is a community engaged research project that additionally provides students with module credits.

Project Type

Community-engaged

Summary

This action research study set out to enhance the learning experience for senior fresh students in a service-learning module - the Study of Occupation Practice. As their service was off campus, students were required to attend debriefing sessions to reflect on their practice and engagement. These sessions were supported by online discussion and reflective diaries. This project built on previous course enhancements by continuing to develop online supports for reflective practice. Additionally, learning was enriched by the production of podcasts providing student-to-student support and advice to upcoming senior freshers. Fourteen student-led, acted and filmed podcasts were produced and made available online. These were, in turn, used in debriefing sessions in following years.

Funding Agency

Centre for Learning Technology

Project Type

Technology Enhanced Learning Innovation Project

Person Months

2

Summary

The Study of Occupation Practice course (a service-learning course) required senior fresh students to facilitate their partner's engagement in meaningful occupation. Taking an action research approach, feedback from students and community partners identified certain issues with the course. In particular both parties needed clarity around their role and function when engaged in service-learning. Consequently, the study set out to enhance communication with community partners and improve supports for students' learning and reflection. A pamphlet was designed and produced, in collaboration with community partners, making explicit the student-role and course objectives which streamlined communication between students and partner organisations. The study examined students' ongoing reflection and tracked learning through moderating an online discussion forum and evaluating weekly structured online reflective diaries. Findings suggested that students struggled to facilitate occupation and manage aspects of the environment. With increased exposure and guided personal reflection they gradually began to learn when to act, how to act, and how to draw on personal resources. The initiatives effectively supported students' personal and professional development, strengthen partnerships and enriched the experience of engagement for all parties.

Funding Agency

Dean of Students, TCD

Programme

Service-Learning Grant

Project Type

Exploration of teaching and learning

Person Months

3