Congratulations to the fourth year Physical Education students who presented their final year projects in a poster session in PESS on Wednesday 26th April. The posters were on display all day and during this time they were evaluated by the supervisor. Later a formal oral presentation session started at 4.00pm where sixty students presented in small groups to an independent assessor as well as their peers. The posters were evaluated on a range of criteria such as content, visual impact and oral defence. The efforts of the students must be commended in the production of high quality posters. Topics ranged from examination of the relationship between fundamental movement skills and physical activity participation; an examination of the physical education curriculum in Ireland; development of individual educational plans; the pedagogy and curriculum of elective subjects Mathematics, Irish and Geography. The students were supervised by 17 staff across a range of departments. It is safe to say that the event was enjoyed and appreciated by all and deemed a great success. In addition to the 4th year group the event was also attended by the 3rd year physical education cohort.
After the poster session, students and PESS faculty attended an inspirational talk by John Halbert, Director of Curriculum and Assessment with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). John shared his vast experience and views of curriculum development and physical education provision in Ireland and was a wonderful note for the 4th students to end their degree programme.
The day finished with refreshments in the PESS café and the announcement of the winner of the Poster Session. Adrian Morrissey received the highest scores for his poster. His research focused on determinants of physical activity in adolescents and he was supervised by Dr. Matt Herring. PESS would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the 4th year Physical Education students on their excellent delivery and defence of their research. It was inspiring to hear many students indicate the value of research for their teaching careers ahead. Some indicated an interest in further research at some time in the future. It was a journey which began in the 2nd semester in 3rd year with a project choice and a supervisor and ended with an excellent presentation of dedicated work. Well done and thank you to all involved.
Dr. Ciarán MacDonncha: Physical Education Final Year Project Module Coordinator, PESS.
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