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Undergraduate Education | INTERVIEW


Undergraduate Dilemmas

The differences between the attitudes of students, the problems and obstacles they face, and what they can expect when they get to university now when compared to Professor O’Hagan’s time as a student, seem negligible at best. However, that is not to underestimate the dilemmas that many first-year students face.

“We need to recognise that the first year of college is a period of transition,” the Professor points out. “First-year students need time to adapt from school to university and get used to a completely new way of life. A lot of students find college life very difficult, especially when nobody is checking up on what they do day-today. What I think we need is a year of transition to let students adapt to the type of learning which is expected of them at third-level. The bigger responsibility of the university is, therefore, to look after students during this adjustment.”

There are many ways in which the University can aid and hasten this settling-in period. Professor O’Hagan suggests that first-year students should take up accommodation in Halls of Residence in first year to allow them mix with others in a similar situation in a supervised environment. He would also like to see the tutorial system at Trinity used more often, whereby tutors meet with students on a regular basis to discuss their non-academic life.

Professor O’Hagan is keen to see the University take more interest in the general welfare of students. However, once a reasonable settling-in period has elapsed, undergraduates are generally very quickly aware that the level of success which they achieve while at university is very much their own responsibility.

“Students with the best attendance almost always get the best grades,” advises the Professor. “On top of that, those students who have good attendance records tend to get involved in other activities or societies within the University. I think it is essential that, if students are going to get anything out of college, that they participate in activities outside of their academic studies."


Core Values

Many are of the opinion that the core value of universities – which is to educate undergraduates – has become a secondary function in recent years as research projects take precedence. While Professor O’Hagan acknowledges that more research is being carried out, he does not accept that it is to the detriment of undergraduates.

“There are some people who devote a lot of their time to research, but there are still a lot of people who devote a lot of their time to teaching too.”

Research, of course, is essential if one of the main purposes of education is to garner the ability to think and innovate. After all, if a teacher or lecturer cannot pass this on to his or her students, then what kind of teacher does that make them?

“I think it’s very hard to be a good third-level teacher unless you’re a good researcher. Unless we, as teachers, continue to be stimulated by new things then we cannot expect to stimulate our students’ interests. I suppose this is the difference between second-level and third-level, students don’t need to be fed a body, of knowledge at third-level, they need to be stimulated about their chosen subject. This cannot be achieved unless tutors are stimulated themselves and that won’t happen unless we are trying new things, which is research. I essentially see Trinity as a research led University, but teaching is embedded as part of this.”

Professor O’Hagan does acknowledge the changes in how Trinity operates and accepts the general notion that the education system needs to be continually modernised.

“Trinity College has changed and is changing. The big issue that I pose to students is ‘Is there any need for lectures anymore? Could lectures be moved to an IT-based system?’ For example, it is very rare that my students, or indeed myself, go to the library anymore. Every report we need can be downloaded, so that change is happening already,” he says. “Once upon a time I used to meet students to assess their voluntary essays. Now I mark and comment on their work and send it back to them without ever seeing them. This system is better in the sense that students get comments and feedback on their work very quickly.”

The system that the Professor outlines suggests efficiencies have been found through the incorporation of new technologies, but which should come first: the face-to-face relationship between student and teacher, or the IT-based alternative?

“I believe the interaction between teacher and student is very important, but very few students want to talk at classes,” he admits. "I think, though, that there is little need for the lecturer to meet his or her students for the primary function of marking essays. It doesn’t take away from the lecturer/student relationship; the only difference is that I know the students virtually these days.”


For information on undergraduate courses at Trinity visit www.tcd.ie/Admissions/undergraduate


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