UCD PGDE 2011/2012

lducd

Hi everyone, anyone have clashing subjects in the orientation timetable?

Celephais

So do we register in Theatre Q on Wednesday, where we have the rest of the introductory lectures, or do we have to go down to the School of Education for that? I'm assuming it's just in the theatre, but I'm still slightly paranoid that I'm wrong.

Dionysus

williamob wrote: »

Hi,

Does anyone know how much the tax relief is worth on the PGDE fees?

Thanks

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

As far as I know, its 20% on a maximum of €5000. So basically, you get €1000 tax relief as the course fees exceed €5000.

I received the 20% on all the fee of €6530 because I had paid the fees in two separate tax years (the tax year ends in December).

scoreB

Hey guys, im josh, im doing music and geography as my subjects. how is everyone finding the course?

UnLuckyAgain

scoreB wrote: »

Hey guys, im josh, im doing music and geography as my subjects. how is everyone finding the course?

Enjoying the course so far. Everything seems to be falling into place with regards to lesson plans etc. Bit hazy about the "reflective portfolio" electronic submission concept but i'm sure it'll become clearer over time.

Einhard

scoreB wrote: »

Hey guys, im josh, im doing music and geography as my subjects. how is everyone finding the course?

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

Enjoying the course so far. Everything seems to be falling into place with regards to lesson plans etc. Bit hazy about the "reflective portfolio" electronic submission concept but i'm sure it'll become clearer over time.

I'm grand with my subject choices, but I curl up into the foetal position every time they mention the ICT aspect of the course!! :pac:

scoreB

Does anyone have any good resources sites for geography? My students dont have their books yet and i cant find any good worksheets on the internet for them! thanks

delta_bravo

scoreB wrote: »

Does anyone have any good resources sites for geography? My students dont have their books yet and i cant find any good worksheets on the internet for them! thanks

Just get some images/graphs/maps relating to the topic and make a worksheet yourself around it. only takes 10-15 mins.

Avery

For those doing the course this year, word of advice is no matter how much of a pain it is, keep on top of the plans and your lesson reviews. Do them everyday, keep them and back them up!

I know a few people who let it slide and come May were going back and trying to review missing lessons from November etc

cnoc15

Hey all - heard of a few people meeting with their supervisors already - I havent heard anything from mine yet - getting nervous now!

Sean2847

cnoc15 wrote: »

Hey all - heard of a few people meeting with their supervisors already - I havent heard anything from mine yet - getting nervous now!

Neither have I. I'm not really nervous though. Just trying to think positively.:eek:

highly1111

I had to "fire" my first supervisor as she was so brutal and failed to show up by mid-term - spoke to Marie about it and I get the impression compliants had being made before. She was shifted off my case straight away!! I hope it's not the same lady!!

Tidygirl

Hey all,

Is there any iPhone /smartphone/dictaphone users out there interested in doing a record n swap?

I am looking to buddy up for the tues reflective portfolio and thurs pp1 lectures? I've only one hour of college on each of these days and I would love to rotate attending with people. I test recorded today's lecture using the voice memo on my phone, was sitting middle bout 3 or 4 rows up and it worked perfectly. I know we're all in the same boat and have loads of work. I don't like missing lectures and this is the perfect solution ( in my head it is anyway!!)

Also I would get any notes in the lecture too for my swap buddy/buddies!

Just throwin the idea out there anyway folks....Discuss!

And any UCD Staff/Lecturers out there who are now going to hunt me down for this.... It's all about prioritisation!!!!

mr. pfft

Hey,

Was anyone at the lecture on Tuesday 11th Oct? Was there an announcement that our course has been downgraded to a grade 8 qualification?

Obviously, this would have huge implications for us next year. Was this actually what Judith said???????

Tidygirl

Yeah she defo said it's level 8 but I don't think that means its been downgraded. A level 9 is masters and this is below a masters

delta_bravo

Tidygirl wrote: »

Yeah she defo said it's level 8 but I don't think that means its been downgraded. A level 9 is masters and this is below a masters

http://www.nfq.ie/nfq/en/FanDiagram/nqai_nfq_08.html

Postgrad diplomas are regarded as Level 9. Higher Diplomas are Level 8. Did they give a reason why it is being downgraded?

Tidygirl

Yeah sorry I misunderstood the grading. Asked about it in school today. This is ridiculous!

slickjoe

This can't be legal, we applied for a postgraduate course and we have paid for it.... We all need to stick together on this

delta_bravo

slickjoe wrote: »

This can't be legal, we applied for a postgraduate course and we have paid for it.... We all need to stick together on this

I did the course last year. What are the ramifications for this to you though? As long as the Teaching Council are recognising it thats all you need. It doesn't really make a difference what level on the nqa framework it is. Well thats my understanding of it anyway.

slickjoe

delta_bravo wrote: »

slickjoe wrote: »

This can't be legal, we applied for a postgraduate course and we have paid for it.... We all need to stick together on this

I did the course last year. What are the ramifications for this to you though? As long as the Teaching Council are recognising it thats all you need. It doesn't really make a difference what level on the nqa framework it is. Well thats my understanding of it anyway.[/Quote


The main problem is that the degree will not be recognised abroad and a lot of people are doing the course with the intention of going abroad

delta_bravo

slickjoe wrote: »

The main problem is that the degree will not be recognised abroad and a lot of people are doing the course with the intention of going abroad

Did they tell you this? Did they explicitly say this won't be valid outside of Ireland?

Because the idea of Level 8 and Level 9 is not a european thing afaik. This is an Irish thing so really it would have little bearing on recognition I think,

slickjoe

delta_bravo wrote: »

slickjoe wrote: »

The main problem is that the degree will not be recognised abroad and a lot of people are doing the course with the intention of going abroad

Did they tell you this? Did they explicitly say this won't be valid outside of Ireland?

Because the idea of Level 8 and Level 9 is not a european thing afaik. This is an Irish thing so really it would have little bearing on recognition I think,

Yea they told us in the lecture that it will not be recognised in the UK or Oz

delta_bravo

Well that is a major issue then.

Did they give a reason why?

UnLuckyAgain

From a phonecall to the NQAI, they told me that the course never was level 9, it was never officially given a rating on the NFQ and that now it has been officially been designated Level 8 status. In other words, ALL teaching qualifications (H.Dip. Ed, PGDE, PDE, G.D.E etc) are level 8 and are a standard teaching qualification.

slickjoe

UnLuckyAgain wrote: »

From a phonecall to the NQAI, they told me that the course never was level 9, it was never officially given a rating on the NFQ and that now it has been officially been designated Level 8 status. In other words, ALL teaching qualifications (H.Dip. Ed, PGDE, PDE, G.D.E etc) are level 8 and are a standard teaching qualification.

Surely it should be ok for the UK then

UnLuckyAgain

slickjoe wrote: »

Surely it should be ok for the UK then

Yes, I asked this specifically and they said there is no change whatsoever. You can see it for yourself here:

http://www.qualrec.ie/documents/CrossBoundaries_001.pdf

The UK have two teaching qualifications (both called PGCE for some strange reason) but one has modules at master's level and as a result is higher than the other. Both however, entitle you to register in the UK as a teacher.

As you can see from that scale, even at Level 8, the H.Dip is comparable to UK qualifications. The rule seems to be that once you are registered here, you can register elsewhere.

Miss Lockhart

This will cause problems for people applying for a grant.

Since it is Level 8 it will not now be seen as "progression" from degree, so it will not be eligible for grant applications after a degree.

UnLuckyAgain

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

This will cause problems for people applying for a grant.

Since it is Level 8 it will not now be seen as "progression" from degree, so it will not be eligible for grant applications after a degree.

Yeah its tricky, because the statement from the NQAI say it won't affect grants but your train of thought seems logical too? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

freire

Miss Lockhart wrote: »

This will cause problems for people applying for a grant.

Since it is Level 8 it will not now be seen as "progression" from degree, so it will not be eligible for grant applications after a degree.

Well spotted.

No coincidence I'm sure. They're a damned sneaky lot.

tomissex

I've been offered a place for next year and I know this is a pretty old thread but I was just wondering if any of you could give me a bit of info
Just wanted to know what the timetable is like? I have a job that only requires 11 and a half hours (ie. one 4 hour evening shift and a day at the weekend) Would it be at all feasible for me to do this or do you finish late every evening? I'll be doing Irish and Spanish if that makes any difference. Thanks!

UnLuckyAgain

tomissex wrote: »

I've been offered a place for next year and I know this is a pretty old thread but I was just wondering if any of you could give me a bit of info
Just wanted to know what the timetable is like? I have a job that only requires 11 and a half hours (ie. one 4 hour evening shift and a day at the weekend) Would it be at all feasible for me to do this or do you finish late every evening? I'll be doing Irish and Spanish if that makes any difference. Thanks!

This year lectures were Monday - Thursday starting at 2pm. Monday was 2-5, then Tuesaday - Thursday 2pm - 3pm (Then some subject methods lectures were after that so it depends on the timetable for this year). Workshops were on every fourth Friday from 2-4.

Tidygirl

tomissex wrote: »

I've been offered a place for next year and I know this is a pretty old thread but I was just wondering if any of you could give me a bit of info
Just wanted to know what the timetable is like? I have a job that only requires 11 and a half hours (ie. one 4 hour evening shift and a day at the weekend) Would it be at all feasible for me to do this or do you finish late every evening? I'll be doing Irish and Spanish if that makes any difference. Thanks!

Hey! Well done on gettin a place firstly! I have worked throughout the course- worked about 60 hours a month last yea and have upped my hours now as we're finished college. I work every second saturday all day. It is definitely doable. have a chat with your employer, if they are any way decent you will work something out! Good luck!

highly1111

Working throughout the dip is very doable - No matter what they tell you otherwise. It's rubbish. Once you're organised and stay on top of your lesson plans. You'll only be late one a week (the night of your special methodologies) and that'll be until latest 7. It is possible that each methodology for each subject could be on separate nights - someone who did your subjects would be able to tell you more - I did business and economics and the methodologies were both on a Wednesday.

Other days lectures are from 2-4 (nothing on a Friday from memory) and you're kinda expected to be in school until 1 each day but my school never expected that of me. They recommend you do that to get in the schools good books - however it was a load of rubbish for most of my dip colleagues.

tomissex

Thanks so much for all of your replies! Great to hear that as I've been worried about surviving financially throughout the year. Can't wait to start now Thanks again!

tomissex

Me again

The timetable on the Edu Dept site has tutorials on Monday at 2 but when I registered for modules earlier that didn't come up. Any of you know what it is and should I be worried that I couldn't register for it?

http://www.ucd.ie/t4cms/PDE_Draft_Timetable_Semester_1.pdf