Mission

The National Academy works with Irish higher education institutions to develop and implement policy and practices aimed at enhancing the student learning experience at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The Academy supports institutions through investigation and dissemination of national and international examples and models of good practice.

The National Academy's mission is:

• To enhance higher education in Ireland by working in collaboration with institutions to promote innovation, support development and sustain good practice in the integration of research and teaching and learning.
• To build capacity of academic staff and graduate students that will contribute to an innovative work force.
• To provide an efficient, cost effective and quality service to the Irish Higher Education sector.
• To promote a greater awareness of the forms of integration of research, teaching and learning and to encourage all:

Research-led teaching and learning: The curriculum is informed by the research interests of academic staff. Teaching emphasises the understanding of research findings. Research findings are used to inform the curriculum.

Research-oriented teaching and learning: The curriculum emphasises the processes by which knowledge is produced in the field as much as on learning the content of a subject. Teaching focuses on enquiry skills and on acquiring a ‘research ethos’.

Research-based teaching and learning: The curriculum contains many activities in which students actually conduct research e.g. enquiry based projects. These activities are based on authentic processes of enquiry and are connected to the research of the institute.

Research-informed teaching and learning: The curriculum is informed by a systematic enquiry into the teaching and learning process itself. The 'scholarship of teaching' approach relates to teachers who are actively involved in evidence-based efforts to establish the effects and effectiveness of student learning, teaching and academic practice.