8 NEWS & F E ATU R ES Students’ Union launch Random Acts of Kindness Challenge Paddy Henry In a month where cheer, kindness and festivities are spread across communities the Students’ Union have sought to do their bit with the launch of December’s edition of their Charity Challenge initiative. This week, the Union formally launched their Random Acts of Kindness Challenge, which encourages students to spread kindness throughout the month of December. The initiative, which is the second of the union’s six charity challenges is running from December 1st until New Year’s Eve. Money raised from the programme will go towards supporting the Students’ Union’s charitable partners, Galway Autism Partnership, Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Helplink Mental Health. The aim of the Challenge is to encourage participants to commit to completing a target number of Random Acts of Kindness (RAKs) throughout the month! Some of the RAKs that are planned include beach clean-ups, letter writing to nursing home residents, a giant Secret Santa, getting to know neighbours and reaching out to those in need. So far, the Charity Challenge initiative has proven successful. November’s Kilometre Challenge, which encouraged participants to stay active and connected while raising almost €2,000 for local charitable causes last month. December’s edition of the Charity Challenge has already proven to be popular with over 250 participants registered already. Students’ Union President Pádraic Toomey spoke of his excitement at the launch of the month long initiative, and spoke of the accessibility of the challenges, stating that each challenge is adaptable to one’s own ability “We are very excited to start our RAK Challenge to support three amazing charities. These events will help our students and staff to feel part of the NUIG community, have fun and keep active while fundraising. Our challenges are not one size fits all events - each participant can adapt them according to their own capabilities.” Vice-President and Welfare and Equality Officer Róisín Nic Lochlainn also spoke of her delight at the being involved in the initiative, and spoke of the importance of spreading positivity and kindness around the wider community “It’s great to see students and staff coming together as a community for a project like this even if we are apart. Spreading positivity and kindness is going to have an amazing and lasting impact on everyone involved. It will also raise vital funds for three very worthy charities.” Participants can still register online on the Students’ Union’s website while donations can be made online via the NUIGSU Charity challenge GoFundMe page.
SIN Vol. 22 Issue 05
Mixed reaction to online language learning Mary Raftery Many students feel that in-person interaction is crucial to their learning of a language at Third Level. Language students have been hopeful for the return of language labs on campus for semester two. Unfortunately, this looks unlikely as the use of headsets and microphones are essential in labs and it would prove quite difficult to disinfect them after every student. First-Year students are bearing the brunt of the absence of in class teaching. Some argue they do not know any different, but it is fair to say they are in an unfavourable position relative to previous years. They have not yet met their classmates or lecturers in person and have not been able to participate in faceto-face group activities, a vital component of language learning. However, under the circumstances which have become our new normal such as facemasks and social distancing, group work may be more effective online. SIN spoke to Dr Tina-Karen Pusse, Head of the School for Languages in NUI Galway, who agreed that in the interim, online languages classes will be the only recourse. “I would say that learning languages entirely with online tuition is a challenge, but it is the better option compared with students having to remain at one spot in a classroom not being able to engage in group activities, which are central for learning, and at the moment easier to organise in Blackboard breakout groups than on site at sufficient distance.”
Dr Pusse also acknowledged that students can benefit from being in the comfort of their own home and from recorded lectures; “What works particularly well is that there is a subset of students who might have been intimidated to talk in front of a classroom, but feel more encouraged to get involved from the familiar surroundings of their bedrooms” “Students who have struggled with attendance issues in the past, or who were sick for an extended period now have the opportunity to access recorded sessions that they have missed.” Dr Michaela Schrage-Frueh, Coordinator of BComm. International with German, also believes online learning is proving to be successful, “I actually think that online language learning can be quite interactive and effective. I use a mix of asynchronous and synchronous classes.” “It’s a lot more work to make the learning experience effective and varied and to create a sense of class community but it’s possible to achieve this. My students (in Second-Year) seem to be happy enough with the experience according to various polls and surveys over the past weeks.” SIN spoke to a Final Year French student who feels she is not reaping any benefits of online language learning, “It’s weird because it is meant to be really interactive, but we just end up reading notes, so it is not working. I feel I have lost my French. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever spoken this little French.” Leanne Younge, a Final Year student studying BComm. International with Ger-
man also feels online language teaching fails to promote conversation, “It’s hard to properly grasp what she’s asking us to do with tasks and stuff, so it is hard to keep concentration. We don’t talk as much or practice speaking as we would in class’” A difficulty for the lecturers in this regard is that students can be unwilling to switch on their cameras and microphones. Dr Pusse spoke about these challenges, “The biggest challenge is that students are reluctant to switch their cameras on, and therefore for us as lecturers it is hard to judge whether something we explain is understood or not. Also, even if cameras are switched on, it makes a difference that there is no direct eye contact, and therefore no nonverbal understanding cues,” The Language Department envisage a blend of on-campus and online language learning post-Covid. Dr Pusse described how this would work, “For the future, we are therefore thinking about combining the advantages of online tuition with classroom settings, for example by not offering all classes on site in years to come.” “For lecture formats with little interaction, an asynchronous online option might be an advantage as it produces fewer timetable clashes and students can watch grammar introductions or consult discussion boards as often, or as slowly as they need to. If we can then combine these with life conversation classes, role play and performative modules such as our drama groups, this would be the best of both worlds.” she added.
University announce New Executive Dean appointments Paddy Henry NUI Galway have announced the appointments of Professor Rebecca Braun and Professor Geraint Howells as Executive Deans of their respective colleges. Braun, a professor of Modern Languages and Creative Futures at Lancaster University, and co-director of the multi-disciplinary Institute for Social Futures at the University will take up her role in the College of Arts, Social Science, and Celtic Studies. The professor who grew up in Ireland is a graduate of French and German at the University of Oxford and has had an illustrious career in academia, having been awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council Leadership Fellowship at the University of Liverpool, a Scatcherd European Scholarship from the University of Oxford and an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship to work in Berlin. She has published widely in the area of German literature and world literature in leading international venues, is one of the lead editors of German Life & Letters, and routinely works with partners in government and the creative sector. Speaking about her appointment Rebecca said, “I am honoured to be joining NUI Galway as the Executive Dean of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies. The College has a fantastic wealth of ideas and expertise across an enviable range of disciplines. I am really looking forward to working with all College members to amplify this work, bring in new voices, and grow our audiences across the university, region and wider world.” Joining Professor Braun is Professor Geraint Howell who will take up the role as
Executive Dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Law. Howells, a Professor of Commercial Law and Associate Dean in Humanities for Internationalisation at Manchester University. He brings with him a wealth of experience having served as Dean of Law at the City University of Hong Kong and Head of the Law School in Manchester, and, previously, in Lancaster.
He has published extensively on consumer law, product liability and European private law and was a member of the Acquis group developing common principles of European contract law and tort law. Howells is also a former President of the International Association of Consumer Law and edited the Consumer Law Journal for many years. Commenting on the new appointment, he said: “I have been heartened by the warmth of the welcome extended to me by the NUI Galway community. I was attracted by our strengths in Business, Public Policy and Law that make us well placed to promote inter-disciplinary research into the great challenges facing our society alongside other leading international research institutions. This research base feeds into innovative and topical teaching programmes that attract a diverse student population. I hope we can continue to serve our local community, whilst ensuring our excellence is available to the global community.” President of NUI Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, welcomed the new appointees and expressing his confidence in their abilities to strengthen their new departments, stating: “I am delighted to welcome Professors Braun and Howells to NUI Galway. Both bring a great breadth of experience and I look forward to working with Rebecca and Geraint to strengthen and build on the strong, collegial foundations in the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies and the College of Business, Public Policy and Law, to living our values of respect, excellence, openness and sustainability for the public good, and to further developing new programmes of research and teaching.” Both will assume their new roles in January.
