In Higher Education, science and health degree programmes involve significant practical elements. In many cases, students spend as much time in practical or clinical skill sessions each week as they do in classroom based lectures. These hands-on sessions engage students, develop both soft and technical skills, while allowing theory to be put into practice. However, in many cases, the design, assessment and feedback aspects of practical sessions has not received the attention warranted, with traditional approaches often persisting. This paper discusses a nationally funded, multi-institution enhancement project focused on implementing and evaluating digital technologies to enhance assessment in science and health practical sessions. Via an initial baseline analysis, four thematic areas were identified for pilot development: [1] Pre-practical videos combined with online/app quizzes, [2] Electronic lab notebooks, [3] Digital Feedback and [4] Rubrics. In collaboration with student partner groups, employers and academic staff, the TEAM (Technology Enhanced Assessment Methods) project designed and implemented 42 pilots in practical sessions across the four partner colleges, engaging almost 1,600 students. In this paper, the key lessons identified during the baseline analysis which informed the project, as well as those from the subsequent survey and focus group evaluation of participants’ pilot experiences, will be presented. Overall, the implementation of TEAM has represented a major success across the partner colleges, providing a strong foundation for continuous, iterative improvements in this field.

Background/Aim: Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are phytochemicals with potential cancer-preventative properties derived from the breakdown of glucosinolates that exist in cruciferous vegetables. Studies, to date, have demonstrated that various ITCs possess the ability to act as anticancer agents in different cancer types. This study investigated the anticancer properties of dietary ITCs (allyl-ITC, benzyl-ITC, phenylethyl-ITC) and synthetic (phenylbutyl-ITC and phenylhexyl-ITC) on liver and prostate carcinoma cells in vitro. Materials and Methods: The effects of ITCs on cellular viability, migration, invasion, clonogenicity, apoptosis induction and reactive oxygen species generation were assessed in HepG2, DU145 and 22Rv1 cells. Results: All ITCs reduced metabolic activity in each cell line with the most significant being phenylethyl-ITC. Both dietary and synthetic ITCs suppressed the migratory and invasive potential of all cell lines, inhibited colony-forming capability and induced apoptosis. Phenylethyl-ITC exposure resulted in the significant generation of reactive oxygen species. Conclusion: These data highlight the potential advantages of utilizing ITCs to delay the carcinogenic process and the potential for dietary and synthetic ITCs to act as anticancer agents.

This is a cross institution project involving four Institutes of Technology in Ireland. The objective of this project is to assess the use of technology to enhance the assessment of laboratory sessions in Science and Health. In science, health and engineering, the laboratory sessions are at the core of the learning process for skill development. These laboratory sessions focus on the skills acquisition. The Irish Institute of Technology sector, in particular, develops these skills and considers them essential for ‘professionally ready’ graduates. In terms of student progression and retention, the assessment structure has been identified as having a significant impact on student engagement. The Technology Enhanced Assessment Methods (TEAM) project led by Dundalk Institute of Technology and partnering with Institute of Technology Sligo, Athlone Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Carlow is exploring the potential offered by digital technologies to address these concerns. It aims to develop a framework for applying the principles of effective assessment and feedback to practical assessment. The TEAM project also aims to facilitate dialogue among stakeholders about what it is we want student to learn in laboratory sessions and how our assessment can facilitate this. A peer network of discipline-specific academics and students in the Science and Health field has been established across all four Institutes. As the network focuses on authentic skills assessment in all core modules, including physics and chemistry, the best practice from this project will inform future assessment procedures across laboratory sessions and may be considered for application within a Science and Materials Engineering context. Assessing the skills acquired in this environment takes many forms. Using student and stakeholder feedback along with an extensive literature review of the area, the team identified key technologies that cut across science and health disciplines, with the potential to influence and enable the learning process. The emphasis was on developing a powerful learning environment approach to enable students to deepen their learning through engagement with the process. The areas identified are: (i) Pre-practical preparation (videos and quizzes), (ii) Electronic laboratory notebooks and ePortfolios, (iii) Digital Feedback technologies and (iv) Rubrics). This paper describes the student experience and perceptions of the adoption of digital technology in science practical assessments. It also describes the process involved in setting up the pilot structure and it presents the initial results from the student survey.

The Irish Higher Education sector has experienced a variety of key policy developments in the recent past. The publication of a ‘National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030’ was followed by the establishment of the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (NFETL) and the subsequent publication of ‘A Roadmap for Enhancement in a Digital World’ 2015–2017. In tandem, the National Forum devised the first national enhancement theme ‘Teaching for Transition’ and more recently ‘Assessment for, as and of Learning’ with research funding allocated. This paper will discuss two current national educational research projects that focus on the development of digital pedagogy. The first focuses on supporting transition through enhancing feedback in first year using digital technologies. Y1Feedback is a two-year (2015–2017) multi-institutional change project involving two universities and two institutes of technology (IoTs). Informed by both an analysis of current assessment and feedback practices across the four partner institutions, in addition to a review of the literature, a number of themes for action emerged, including embedding assessment and feedback literacies, provide opportunities for dialogic feedback and fostering sustainable feedback practices that encourage self-regulated learning. These informed the development of a range of approaches to implementing technology-enabled feedback. A complementary project, the Technology Enhanced Assessment Methods (TEAM) for Science and Health Practical Settings project, also funded by NFETL, involves four IoTs. The development of both technical and soft skills is considered essential in terms of both student learning and employability, in Science and Health Practical Settings. The IoT sector, in particular, places a major value on producing graduates who are ‘workplace ready’ with an emphasis on developing practical skills. Assessment plays a key role in influencing student learning, effort and engagement. The TEAM project (2016–2018) is exploring the potential offered by digital technologies to address concerns such as over-assessment, authenticity and graduate skill development, particularly as there is considerable scope for improvement in practical assessment practices at undergraduate level. This paper will outline the activities in the project phases for each project. In keeping with the timing of the projects, findings will be presented. The paper will explore how these projects are both supporting national strategic objectives and used to leverage curriculum enhancement within an Irish institute of Higher Education including the engagement of students as partners and the development of digital and assessment literacies amongst staff and students.

METHODS (TEAM) TO HEALTH AND SCIENCE PRACTICAL SETTINGS; BRINGING DIGITAL SKILLS TO LABORATORY AND CLINICAL SKILL SESSIONS. Ronan Bree 1 , Edel Healy 1 , Moira Maguire 1 ; Don Faller 2 , Nuala Harding 2 , Ann Mulvihill 2 ; Dina Brazil 3 , David Dowling 3 , Yvonne Kavanagh 3 , Gina Noonan 3 ; Akinlolu Akande 4 , David Doyle 4 , Jeremy Bird 4 . 1 Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dundalk, Louth, Ireland. 2 Athlone Institute of Technology, Athlone, Westmeath, Ireland. 3 Institute of Technology, Carlow, Carlow, Ireland. 4 Institute of Technology, Sligo, Sligo, Ireland

Ion transport (Cl-36 uptake) and immunochemical studies were undertaken to detect the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) in apical membrane vesicles prepared from human placenta. Cl-36 uptake into membrane vesicles was studied in the absence and presence of inwardly directed potassium gradients and valinomycin (K-o = K-i and K-o > K-i, where K-o is potassium concentration outside and K-i is potassium concentration inside the vesicles). The sensitivities of Cl-36 uptake to the inhibitors 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2' -disulfonic acid (DIDS), bumetanide, and diphenylamine-2-carboxylate were investigated. Each compound significantly inhibited uptake under both sets of conditions. Additional inhibition of Cl-36 uptake was found when the compounds were added together, indicating that they were acting at least partly on different components of the Cl-36 uptake. The DIDS- and bumetanide-insensitive component of transport was more selective for Cl than I. These findings suggested that this component may, at least in part, represent Cl transport via CFTR. Addition of adenosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (0.8 mM) led to a decrease in total Cl-36 uptake but masked in the overall decrease was an increase in the DIDS- and bumetanide-insensitive component of Cl-36 uptake. Western blot analysis of the apical membrane proteins with an antibody specific for a region of human CFTR detected a protein band of similar to 190 kDa. These ion transport and immunochemical studies provide evidence that CFTR is located in human placental apical membrane vesicles.

Sodium transport into human placental brush border membrane vesicles was examined in the presence of an outwardly directed sodium gradient leading to the formation of an intravesicular negative charge. 22Na entered the vesicles in a time dependent fashion. The activation energy of the uptake process was calculated and was found to be 11.2 kcal/mol, similar to the value of ionic diffusion in free solution. Amiloride inhibited Na uptake in a concentration dependent fashion with an IC50 value of 3.08 μM. Neither ouabain nor bumetanide had an effect on Na Uptake at6concentrations up to 100 or 1000 μM, respectively. The system presented here indicates Na transport via channels without involvement of the NaK-ATPase or the NaKCl cotransporter. The system may be useful in investigating Na transport defects in cystic fibrosis.

Apical membrane vesicles from human term placenta were isolated using a magnesium precipitation technique, and the purity of the vesicles was assessed morphologically using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and biochemically, using marker enzymes. The vesicles were found to be morphologically intact and significantly enriched in enzymes associated with apical membranes.