Discipline of Education

Dr Iain Mac Labhrainn

Biography

A graduate of the University of Edinburgh (BSc(Hons) Astrophysics) followed by a PhD in Physics (Cosmology) at the University of Durham, then worked as a Senior Research Assistant, Senior Research Fellow (on joint project with Edinburgh, British Aerospace-Space Systems and the European Space Agency), Lecturer and eventually, Reader in Physics at the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and the West of Scotland.

Teaching and research interests in a wide range of aspects of physics, computing and education. Winner of two Awards for teaching excellence, the D. Reidel Research Prize in Physics, the Ramsey Memorial Prize in Astrophysics and of the European Academic Software Award (team).

Has been a Member and then a Fellow of the Institute of Physics; Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Current Research Interests:

Higher Education policy and practice.
The nature of creativity in HE.
Learning Technologies and their strategic deployment.
Models of Learning

Previous:

Astrophysics & Cosmology
Atmospheric Physics
Image Analysis, Neural Networks & Computation

Research Interests

Learning Technologies
Online Learning
Reflective Practice in Higher Education
Higher Education Policy & Strategy

Research Projects

	Project	Start Date	End Date
	INT'L CONFERENCE ON LEARNING COMMUNITIES	01-OCT-15	30-SEP-16
	All Aboard! Enabling & Empowering Staff & Students to Flourish in the Digital Age	01-JAN-15	30-JUN-19

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'The Use of Educational Technology in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Nursing and Midwifery Education A Scoping Review' Hernon, O; McSharry, E; MacLaren, I; Dunne, R; Carr, P (2023) 'The Use of Educational Technology in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Nursing and Midwifery Education A Scoping Review'. Cin-Computers Informatics Nursing, 41 (3):162-171 [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'The use of educational technology in teaching and assessing clinical psychomotor skills in nursing and midwifery education: A state-of-the-art literature review' Hernon, O; McSharry, E; MacLaren, I; Carr, P (2023) 'The use of educational technology in teaching and assessing clinical psychomotor skills in nursing and midwifery education: A state-of-the-art literature review'. Journal Of Professional Nursing, 45 :35-50 [DOI] [Details]
	(2024)	'Evaluating the effectiveness of structured self-evaluation of video recorded performance for peripheral intravenous catheter insertion:a mixed method randomised control trial ¿' Hernon, O; McSharry, E; Simpkin, A; Davies, N; MacLaren, I; Carr, P (2024) 'Evaluating the effectiveness of structured self-evaluation of video recorded performance for peripheral intravenous catheter insertion:a mixed method randomised control trial ¿'. [Details]
	(2024)	'Evaluating Nursing Students' Venipuncture and Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation Knowledge, Attitude, and Performance A Two-Phase Evaluation Study' Hernon, O;McSharry,E;Simpkin,A;MacLaren, I; Carr, P (2024) 'Evaluating Nursing Students' Venipuncture and Peripheral Intravenous Cannulation Knowledge, Attitude, and Performance A Two-Phase Evaluation Study'. Journal of infusion nursing : the official publication of the Infusion Nurses Society, 47 (2):108-119 [Details]
	(2023)	'Effectiveness of structured self-evaluation of video recorded performance on peripheral intravenous catheter insertion: a randomised control trial study protocol' Hernon, O., McSharry, E., Simpkin, A., MacLaren, I. and Carr, P.J. (2023) 'Effectiveness of structured self-evaluation of video recorded performance on peripheral intravenous catheter insertion: a randomised control trial study protocol'. Trials, [Details]
	(2010)	'Stories of Change: The National University of Ireland, Galway' Mac Labhrainn, I (2010) 'Stories of Change: The National University of Ireland, Galway'. Changing Cultures In Higher Education: Moving Ahead To Future Learning, :115-117 [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Conceptualising OEP: A review of theoretical and empirical literature in Open Educational Practices' Cronin, C; MacLaren, I (2018) 'Conceptualising OEP: A review of theoretical and empirical literature in Open Educational Practices'. Open Praxis, 10 (2) [DOI] [Details]
	(2010)	'Stories of Change: The National University of Ireland, Galway' Mac Labhrainn, I,Ehlers, UD,Schneckenberg, D (2010) 'Stories of Change: The National University of Ireland, Galway'. Changing Cultures In Higher Education: Moving Ahead To Future Learning, :115-117 [DOI] [Details]
	(2012)	'The Contradictions of Policy and Practice: Creativity in Higher Education' Iain MacLaren (2012) 'The Contradictions of Policy and Practice: Creativity in Higher Education'. London Review of Education, 10 (2):159-172 [Details]
	(2009)	'Toward a Summative System for the Assessment of Teaching Quality in Higher Education' T. Murphy, I MacLaren, S. Flynn (2009) 'Toward a Summative System for the Assessment of Teaching Quality in Higher Education'. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 20 (2):226-236 [Details]
	(2009)	'Teaching Portfolios and the Quality Enhancement Project in Higher Education' Timothy Murphy, Iain MacLaren (2009) 'Teaching Portfolios and the Quality Enhancement Project in Higher Education'. Educational Futures, 2 (1):71-84 [Details]
	(2007)	'The Civic Purpose and Avowed Mission of Higher Education Institutions–Diversity or Uniformity?' Maria-Alejandra Gonzalez-Perez, Iain Mac Labhrainn, Lorraine Mc Ilrath (2007) 'The Civic Purpose and Avowed Mission of Higher Education Institutions–Diversity or Uniformity?'. International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, 7 (2):187-197 [Details]
	(2004)	'New Trends in web-based learning: objects, repositories and learner engagement' I. MacLaren (2004) 'New Trends in web-based learning: objects, repositories and learner engagement'. European Journal of Engineering Education, 29 (1):65-72 [Details]
	(2000)	'Neural Network Based Methods for Cloud Classification on AVHRR Images' P. Walder, I. MacLaren (2000) 'Neural Network Based Methods for Cloud Classification on AVHRR Images'. International Journal Of Remote Sensing, 8 :1693-1708 [Details]
	(1999)	'A Library of Multimedia Components for Science Education' J. McQuillan, I. MacLaren (1999) 'A Library of Multimedia Components for Science Education'. Research in Learning Technology, 11 :16-21 [Details]
	(1998)	'Shared Teaching with Multimedia-enhanced Videoconferencing' C.N. Duncan, M. Morrey, G. Bayne, I. MacLaren, P. Walder, J. McQuillan (1998) 'Shared Teaching with Multimedia-enhanced Videoconferencing'. Research in Learning Technology, 6 (3):4-15 [Details]
	(1994)	'Neural networks and cloud classification' P. Walder, I. MacLaren, C. Reid (1994) 'Neural networks and cloud classification'. Proc Spie, 2315 (2) [DOI] [Details]
	(1991)	'A uniformly selected catalogue of distant galaxy clusters' W.J. Couch, R.S. Ellis, I. MacLaren (1991) 'A uniformly selected catalogue of distant galaxy clusters'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 249 :606-628 [Details]
	(1990)	'Dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity variations in nearby galaxies' M.R. Issa, I. MacLaren, A.W. Wolfendale (1990) 'Dust-to-gas ratio and metallicity variations in nearby galaxies'. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 236 :237-241 [Details]
	(1990)	'The size-line width relation and the mass of molecular hydrogen' M. Issa, I. MacLaren, A.W. Wolfendale (1990) 'The size-line width relation and the mass of molecular hydrogen'. Astrophysical Journal, 352 :132-138 [Details]
	(1990)	'The Cosmic Ray Gradient and Far-Infrared Observations as a Tracer of Molecular Material in the Galax' I. MacLaren, A.W. Wolfendale (1990) 'The Cosmic Ray Gradient and Far-Infrared Observations as a Tracer of Molecular Material in the Galax'. Journal Of Physics G-Nuclear And Particle Physics, 16 [Details]
	(1989)	'Far - Infrared Estimates of the Mass of Gas in the Galaxy' A. Broadbent, I. MacLaren, A.W. Wolfendale (1989) 'Far - Infrared Estimates of the Mass of Gas in the Galaxy'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 237 :1075-1084 [Details]
	(1989)	'Cosmic Rays and the Masses of Giant Molecular Clouds' I. MacLaren, K.M. Richardson, A.W. Wolfendale (1989) 'Cosmic Rays and the Masses of Giant Molecular Clouds'. Journal Of Physics G-Nuclear And Particle Physics, 151 [Details]
	(1988)	'Spectral energy distributions of galaxies in high-redshift clusters. III-Abell 370 at Z= 0.37' I. MacLaren, R.S. Ellis, W.J. Couch (1988) 'Spectral energy distributions of galaxies in high-redshift clusters. III-Abell 370 at Z= 0.37'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 230 :219-272 [Details]
	(1988)	'Corrections to virial estimates of molecular cloud masses' I. MacLaren, K.M. Richardson, A.W. Wolfendale (1988) 'Corrections to virial estimates of molecular cloud masses'. Astrophysical Journal, 333 :821-825 [Details]
	(1985)	'Spectral energy distributions for galaxies in high-redshift clusters. II-0016+ 16 at Z= 0.54' R.S. Ellis, W.J. Couch, I. MacLaren, D.C. Koo (1985) 'Spectral energy distributions for galaxies in high-redshift clusters. II-0016+ 16 at Z= 0.54'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 217 :239-264 [Details]

Books

	Year	Publication
	(2015)	Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. Ashwin, P; Boud, D; Coate, K; Hallett, F; Keane, E; Krause, KL; Leibowitz, B; MacLaren, I; McArthur, J; McCune, V; Tooher, M., (2015) Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. London: Bloomsbury. [Details]
	(2020)	Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. Ashwin, P;Boud, D; Calkins, S; Coate, K; Hallett, F; Light, G; Luckett, K; MacLaren, I; Mårtensson. K; McArthur, J; McCune, V; McLean, M; Tooher, M (2020) Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. London: Bloomsbury. [Details]

Book Chapters

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Enhancing Cultures of Academic Integrity in Irish Higher Education' Hackett,S; Kavanagh, Y; Kelly, W; MacLaren, I (2023) 'Enhancing Cultures of Academic Integrity in Irish Higher Education' In: Handbook of Academic Integrity. Singapore: Springer. [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'Spaces: How are we creating environments for learning?' MacLaren, I. (2020) 'Spaces: How are we creating environments for learning?' In: Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. :151-170 London: Bloomsbury. [Details]
	(2015)	'Teaching for Learning' Iain MacLaren (2015) 'Teaching for Learning' In: Reflective Teaching in Higher Education. London: Bloomsbury. [Details]
	(2010)	'Stories of Change: The National University of Ireland, Galway' I. Mac Labhrainn (2010) 'Stories of Change: The National University of Ireland, Galway' In: Changing Cultures in Higher Education: Moving ahead to future learning. Berlin: Springer. [Details]
	(2010)	'Our Crisis: Whose Opportunity?' I. Mac Labhrainn (2010) 'Our Crisis: Whose Opportunity?' In: Reinventing the University. :1141-118 Dublin: Glasnevin. [Details]
	(2009)	'The Shift from Teaching to Learning' I. Mac Labhrainn (2009) 'The Shift from Teaching to Learning' In: Wandel der Lehr- und Lernkulturen. Beilefeld (Germany): Bertelsmann Verlag. [Details]
	(2009)	'Irish higher education and the knowledge economy' Kelly Coate, Iain Mac Labhrainn (2009) 'Irish higher education and the knowledge economy' In: International Perspectives on the Governance of Higher Education. London: Routledge. [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2007)	'Theory and practice in the development of teaching portfolios at NUI Galway' Timothy Murphy , Iain MacLaren (2007) 'Theory and practice in the development of teaching portfolios at NUI Galway' In: Teaching Portfolio Practice in Ireland: A Handbook. Dublin: AISHE. [Details]
	(2006)	'Learning By Doing–Using E-Technologies For Academic Staff Development' I Mac Labhrainn (2006) 'Learning By Doing–Using E-Technologies For Academic Staff Development' In: The Challenge of eCompetence in Academic Staff Development. Dortmund (Germany): European E-Competence Initiative. [Details]
	(2006)	'Leading for Learning' R. Matthew, A. Radloff, I. MacLaren (2006) 'Leading for Learning' In: Exploring good leadership and management practice in higher education: issues of engagement. Cambridge, UK: JRA Publishing. [Details]
	(2005)	'New trends in academic staff development: reflective journals, teaching portfolios, accreditation and professional development' I Mac Labhrainn (2005) 'New trends in academic staff development: reflective journals, teaching portfolios, accreditation and professional development' In: Emerging issues in the practice of university learning and teaching. :111-118 Dublin: AISHE. [Details]
	(1988)	'Dust and the Mass of Gas in the Galaxy' A. Broadbent, I. MacLaren, A.W. Wolfendale, (1988) 'Dust and the Mass of Gas in the Galaxy' In: Dust in the Universe (eds: M.E. Bailey, D.A. Williams). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [Details]
	(1986)	'Ultraviolet Colours of Early Type Galaxies in A370' I. MacLaren, R.S. Ellis, W.J. Couch (1986) 'Ultraviolet Colours of Early Type Galaxies in A370' In: Stellar Populations (Space Telescope Series, 130). Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Space Telescope Science Institute. [Details]

Conference Publications

	Year	Publication
	(2010)	*Online Educa On the Future of Learning* I Mac Labhrainn (2010) Unfettered Imagination? Online Educa On the Future of Learning Berlin, , 02-DEC-10 - 03-DEC-10 [Details]
	(2007)	*IUISC: Enhancing Services through Communication and Collaboration* I. MacLabhrainn (2007) Share and Share Alike - New approaches to teaching resources IUISC: Enhancing Services through Communication and Collaboration , 07-MAR-07 - 09-MAR-07 [Details]
	(2004)	*Society for Research into Higher Education Annual Conference* Boland, J,Mac Labhrainn, I, McIlrath, L. (2004) Universities, Students and Community: Promoting civic engagement through service learning. Society for Research into Higher Education Society for Research into Higher Education Annual Conference [Details]
	(2003)	*IUISC: Working Differently* I Mac Labhrainn (2003) Working differently: the role of learning technologies in the 21st Century IUISC: Working Differently Killarney, , 12-MAR-03 - 14-MAR-03 [Details]
	(1997)	*European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories Conference* I. MacLaren, C.N. Duncan, R. Vaughan (1997) Using the World Wide Web for Remote Sensing Education and Training European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories Conference Lyngby, Denmark, [Details]
	(1996)	*Meteorological Satellite Data Users’ Conference* P. Walder, I. MacLaren (1996) Advanced Techniques for Meteosat Image Analysis . In: Eumetsat Publications, EUM P 19 eds. Meteorological Satellite Data Users’ Conference Vienna, Austria, , pp.105-110 [Details]
	(1994)	*10th Meteosat Scientific Users’ Meeting* I. MacLaren, P. Walder, C. Reid (1994) Cloud Classification using Neural Networks . In: Eumetsat Publications EUM P 15 eds. 10th Meteosat Scientific Users’ Meeting Cascais, Portuga, , pp.541-548 [Details]
	(1992)	*9th Meteosat Scientific Users’ Meeting* C.N. Duncan, I. MacLaren, T.Miles, G.C. Watson (1992) A Study of the Radiance of the Earth’s Limb Using Lowtran 7 and Meteosat Images . In: EUMP-11 Eumetsat Publications eds. 9th Meteosat Scientific Users’ Meeting Locarno, Switzerland, , pp.83-89 [Details]

Published Reports

	Year	Publication
	(1992)	The Greenhouse Effect - Fact or Fiction?. I MacLaren (IoP representative) (1992) The Greenhouse Effect - Fact or Fiction?. Council of Science & Technology Institutions, London. [Details]
	(1991)	Final Report on Mosaic Earth Sensor Feasibility Study (TP8829). C.Beard, C.N. Duncan, I. MacLaren (1991) Final Report on Mosaic Earth Sensor Feasibility Study (TP8829). British Aerospace Plc / European Space Agency, Stevenage (UK) and Noordwijk (NL). [Details]
	(1990)	Interim Report on Mosaic Earth Sensor Feasibility Study (TP8760). C. Beard, C.N. Duncan, I. MacLaren, (1990) Interim Report on Mosaic Earth Sensor Feasibility Study (TP8760). British Aerospace Plc / European Space Agency, Stevenage (UK) and Noordwijk (NL). [Details]

Edited Books

	Year	Publication
	(2007)	Civic Engagement and Higher Education: International Perspectives. Lorraine McIlrath & Iain Mac Labhrainn (Ed.). (2007) Civic Engagement and Higher Education: International Perspectives Civic Engagement and Higher Education: International Perspectives. London: Ashgate. [Details]
	(2006)	The Challenge of eCompetence in Academic Staff Development. Iain Mac Labhrainn, C. MacDonald Legg, D. Schneckenberg, J. Widlt (Ed.). (2006) The Challenge of eCompetence in Academic Staff Development The Challenge of eCompetence in Academic Staff Development. Dortmund (Germany): European E-Competence Initiative. [Details]
	(2005)	Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-based Learning: Irish Case Studies and International Perspectives. Terry Barett, Iain Mac Labhrainn, Helen Fallon (Ed.). (2005) Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-based Learning: Irish Case Studies and International Perspectives Handbook of Enquiry and Problem-based Learning: Irish Case Studies and International Perspectives. Dublin: AISHE. [Details]

Newspaper Articles

	Year	Publication
	(2007)	Putting social values back into learning. Iain Mac Labhrainn (2007) Putting social values back into learning. Dublin: Irish Times Newspaper Articles [Details]
	(2007)	On the point of Universities. I MacLaren (2007) On the point of Universities. Glasgow, Scotland: Sunday Herald Newspaper Articles [Details]

Reviews

	Year	Publication
	(2018)	Conceptualising OEP: A review of theoretical and empirical literature in Open Educational Practices. Cronin, C;MacLaren, I (2018) Conceptualising OEP: A review of theoretical and empirical literature in Open Educational Practices. OSLO: INT COUNCIL OPEN & DISTANCE EDUCATION Reviews [DOI] [Details]

Honours and Awards

Year	Title	Awarding Body
1998	European Academic Software Award	European Knowledge Media Association
2001	High Quality Teaching Award	University of the West of Scotland
2000	High Quality Teaching Award	University of the West of Scotland
1983	Ramsey Memorial Prize in Astrophysics	University of Edinburgh
1984	D. Reidel Research Prize in Physics	University of Durham

Professional Associations

	Association	Function	From / To
	Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)	Fellow	/
	Higher Education Academy	Principal Fellow	/

Employment

Employer	Position	From / To
University of Durham	Senior Research Assistant	21-FEB-87 / 02-JAN-90
University of Edinburgh	Research Fellow	03-JAN-90 / 03-OCT-90
University of the West of Scotland (Paisley)	Lecturer (in Physics)	01-NOV-90 / 21-FEB-02
University of the West of Scotland	Reader (in Physics)	21-FEB-12 / 31-JUL-02

Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	1983	University of Edinburgh	BSc	Astrophysics
	1987	University of Durham	PhD	Physics (Cosmology)

Outreach Activities

	Description
	Volunteer Adult Literacy & Numeracy Tutor: National Association for the Care & Resettlement of Offenders, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Glasgow City Council, Community Education
	Public Lectures on Astronomy and Cosmology