Education - Teaching & Learning in Higher Education - Third Level Education

Course Outline

The MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (for third-level education teachers) is designed to encourage you to research your teaching and your students’ learning in more depth. Teachers will identify a research topic to pursue and will write a publishable paper for a specific teaching and learning journal in their own disciplinary area or in the broader educational field of the scholarship of teaching and learning. The focus of the MA is to encourage you to identify with your teaching an inquiry process, to peer review your teaching, to network with peers interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning, and to publish in this field.



On completion of the course, you will be able to:

1. Identify and apply principles of a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) approach in the college classroom;

2. Critically evaluate your teaching in light of your students’ learning;

3. Design an inquiry project around a teaching and learning issue;

4. Apply appropriate approaches and research methodologies to identify and harness student learning;

5. Study and present a teaching and learning issue to a professional standard (equivalent to that of a publishable paper/article);

6. Communicate effectively with other scholars in the field of teaching and learning;

7. Peer review your teaching within a SoTL community;

8. Articulate with increased awareness your worldviews and values in relation to SoTL practice and how they inform their academic identity and sense of belonging as a higher education professional.

The MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is normally taken over one academic year. It comprises two modules:



TL6020 Research Methods & Approaches for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (10 credits)

TL6021 Dissertation in Teaching and Learning (20 credits)



TL6020 focuses on studying ways to identify and harness student learning. Participants will critically examine inquiry frameworks in relation to various research methods relating to teaching and learning in higher education in the context of SoTL approaches, discussing and critiquing their chosen methodology. They will develop a study proposal based on SoTL principles, beginning with their own identity as educators and researchers within the context of their disciplines, and exploring how that might facilitate and inform inquiry into teaching and learning.



TL6021 focuses on the key elements necessary to build a scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education (SoTL) project to the professional standards equivalent to that of a publishable article/paper, including: identifying and profiling the chosen journal/audience; contextualizing the chosen inquiry; reviewing literature to interrogate the problem; selecting inquiry approaches to investigate student learning; collecting and analysing data, and identifying implications and interventions for future scholarly practice. Participants work closely with a supervisor to review submitted drafts of the work in progress, as well as gather in group sessions to share drafts and support each other’s work in peer community.

The minimum academic entry requirement is a Second Class Honours Grade II in a primary honours BA degree (NFQ, Level 8) or equivalent, and MUST have attended and satisfactorily passed the UCC Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, or equivalent. The programme is open to all staff who meet these requirements and also teach in the third level education sector. (This could include supervision, placement work, lab-based work, in the field or in an online context).



In exceptional circumstances, and subject to review by the programme team, applicants with a primary ordinary degree (NFQ, Level 7) may also be considered subject to meeting the teaching requirements.



For Applicants with Qualifications Completed Outside of Ireland

Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements. For more information see our Qualification Comparison page.



International/Non-EU Applicants

For full details of the non-EU application procedure visit our how to apply pages for international students.

• In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

• Note that not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above. For more information contact the International Office.



English Language Requirements

Applicants who are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university-approved English language requirements.

Closing Date: 31 July 2025

1 year part-time, Online

Start Date: 8 September 2025