Mapping Existing Research Output Focused on Higher Education Teaching and Learning in Ireland 1990-2015

The purpose of this six-month 'snapshot' project was to map the extent and characteristics of research on teaching and learning in the Irish higher education field. This is the first such study focused on Ireland, and the first systematic study of teaching and learning research at a national level. The project set out to capture the nature and key characteristics of such research in Ireland between 1990 and early 2015, including the main fields of interest the types of publication and historical development. The two main benefits of such a study are that it provides; i) an evidence base for the enhancement and development of teaching and learning at a time of major change in Irish higher education; ii) direction for further research, and coordination of research. The first phase of the study involved a systematic review of published research, comprising a wide range of sources, and involving electronic and hand searches. This was followed by a review of conference papers (Phase 2) and of research by identified experts (Phase 3), resulting in the identification of a total of 2275 records. The first stage of analysis in the study consisted of a review of abstracts for key themes. The thematic approach followed that of Malcolm Tight's (2012) analysis of higher education research in the English language outside US and Canada. In the second stage, full papers will be sourced for full text analysis.