Postgraduate Diploma

Course Outline

The modules below are available for credit as part of the Postgraduate Diploma 2026/27, or can be taken on a standalone basis (i.e. you do not have to be taking the complete PgDip and can simply take one or more of these for interest). Each module is rated at 10 ECTS, and has its own assessment requirements.

• CEL264 Supporting Student Learning (Semester 2)
  

This module covers a wide range of topics that are relevant to student academic success. Many of these are contextual factors that can serve as barriers or stressors for students, whilst others might be enablers of success. Participants explore these aspects together as a group and are informed by a number of guest speakers, from across the wide range of support services in the university, as well as by engaging with the literature and current policy debates

There is scope for discussion, discovery, and analysis, in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. All discussions in class, and in the online discussion area, are private, within the group and the course team. This offers a safe space for honest and open discussion, with empathy and respect for one another.

• CEL277 Independent Study (over the course of the academic year)

This is an independent study module, allowing participants to design and undertake a small-scale enquiry of their own choosing. A variety of topics and approaches is possible, and whilst there are no taught sessions, an information meeting will be held early in the academic year for those interested in pursuing their own project.

Essential information is provided via Canvas. The module runs across the academic year, to allow colleagues to join on a rolling basis to suit workload constraints.

• CEL6103 Research, Supervision and Development (Semester 1)
  

  This 10 ECTS module is suitable for new and more experienced postgraduate supervisors who wish to enhance their practice. It is organised around online seminars and self-study materials. It is in two parts:

  1. We look at your own research career development, reflecting on where you are now and making an action plan for the next steps in your own research;
  2. We explore the various stages of research degree supervision – getting started, institutional sources of support, developing supervisory relationships, supporting student writing and doctoral assessment processes.  

  There are two assessment tasks for this module, one related to each part of the curriculum.

• CEL6108 Collegiality, Management & Leadership in Education (Semester 2)
  

  In this course we will explore a wide range of topics, including: 

  • models of leadership and their application to the HE context;
  • the Irish HE context: governance, funding, policy; 
  • developing and supporting teams, groups and organisations;
  • strategy, planning, and evaluation;
  • leading and managing courses and programmes;
  • engagement collaboration, community, and culture.

  The course has a number of guest speakers from key management and leadership positions in the university, and includes guided reading and the development of a personal leadership profile.

• CEL6109 Sustainability in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education (Semester 1)

This module aims to unpack the varying definitions and principles of the concept of sustainability and provides a space for participants to embed sustainability into their own teaching and learning practice. Topics to be explored include pedagogical approaches for sustainability; teaching techniques for embedding sustainability into the curriculum; digital tools for embedding the SDGS into university modules; learning how to provide safer spaces for students to voice fears and anxieties about the climate crisis. Participants  of this module will be encouraged to apply their learning in their own subject area.

• CEL6110 Assessment in Higher Education (New 2026)

This module recognises assessment as a powerful tool in education -  to promote and guide learning, to develop skills of self-appraisal, to mark checkpoints in a students’ learning journey and to ensure students have achieved their programme outcomes and graduate with an award.  It also recognises the challenges faced since the Covid pandemic of 2020 and the advent of GenAI. 
The module is an opportunity for lecturers to explore assessment in more depth, return to the basics of how formative and summative assessment can work together to promote student engagement and learning, learn about alternatives to their traditional approaches to assessment, and consider the security of different approaches in a GenAI world.

Course Overview: 

Participants will engage in seven workshop-style sessions, that encourage interrogation of assessment practices in higher education.  Independently, they will engage with the current literature on assessment, feedback, academic integrity, authentic assessment, alternative forms of marking and other topics as appropriate.  A major focus of the module will be to help staff build assessment and feedback literacies and to apply these to their own teaching.
Topics to be explored will include: assessment of, for and as learning, authentic assessment, assessing online, assessing large classes, feedback and feedforward, programme-focused assessment, synoptic assessment, academic integrity considerations, different approaches to marking, rubrics, and the impact of GenAI on assessment.

• CEL6111 Digital Education for Teaching & Learning (New 2026)

This 10 ECTS module is designed for academic staff in Irish higher education who wish to develop a critical, reflective, and practice-oriented understanding of educational technologies for teaching and learning. The module explores both the practical use of learning technologies - such as generative AI, podcasting, video production, open educational resources (OER), and digital learning platforms - along with considering the theoretical and critical perspectives that shape contemporary debates in educational technology. This includes, for example, the impact of Artificial Intelligence on both teaching and student learning. Drawing on key scholarship and theory, the module foregrounds questions of pedagogy and institutional context in technology-enhanced learning.

Participants will engage with developing their own digital competencies, along with engaging with models of on-campus, online and blended teaching, and will develop evidence-informed approaches to designing, facilitating, and evaluating digital learning experiences. The module adopts an applied, inquiry-based approach, combining lectures, workshops, guest speakers, and guided independent learning. Assessment is structured to support professional practice, critical reflection, and the creation of high-quality digital learning materials. Skills and knowledge developed across the semester culminate in a final integrative assignment demonstrating attainment of the module learning outcomes.

Should you have any queries please contact celt@universityofgalway.ie

Why Choose this Course?

Who’s suited to this Course?

The Postgraduate Diploma in Academic Practice is particularly suited to those with a number of years teaching in higher education.  The programme provides an opportunity to enhance existing practice through critical and scholarly reflection, and skill development.  However, it is also of value to early career university teachers seeking a more advanced introduction to various areas of academic practice.

Course Schedule

Semester 1

CEL6103 Developing Postgraduate Supervision and Research Career Development ONLINE Thursdays, fortnightly 11:00 from 17th September, 2026 until 10th December, 2026

CEL6109 Sustainability in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education  ON CAMPUS Wednesdays, fortnightly 14:00-16:30 from 9th September, 2026 until 2nd December, 2026

CEL6111 Digital Education for Teaching and Learning ONLINE/ON CAMPUS Fridays, starting September, 2026 (Final dates and times tbc).

CEL277 Independent Study (over the course of the academic year)  Information Session 11:00 Friday 18th September, 2026 ON CAMPUS AMB1006

Semester 2

CEL264 Supporting Student Learning ON CAMPUS Thursdays, fortnightly 14:00-16:30 from 14th January, 2027 

CEL6108 Collegiality, Management & Leadership in Education ON CAMPUS Thursdays, fortnightly 14:00-16:30 from 21st January, 2027 

CEL6110 Assessment in Higher Education ON CAMPUS starting January, 2027 (Final dates and times tbc).

Course Fees

University of Galway staff do not pay fees for this programme.

 External candidates will normally be required to pay fees.  For more information please contact celt@universityofgalway.ie

Find Out More

Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching
AMB1012, Arts Millennium Building
University of Galway
Tel. 091 492 2924
Email celt@universityofgalway.ie

Applications & Selections

Applications for CELT Programmes AY 2026/2027 will open March 2026. For further information please contact celt@universityofgalway.ie 

Who Teaches this Course

Iain MacLaren

Jan Smith

Fiona Concannon

Alma Clavin

Elizabeth Hurley

Mairead Greene

Michelle Tooher