Research Day at NCI: Exploring Innovative Ideas!

Ideas are still fresh in the air at National College of Ireland (NCI) On Tuesday, June 18th, 2024, the fifth annual Research Day took place in the research block in Mayor Sq. The event was also live streamed on Microsoft Teams, this dual access meant that those who could not attend in person for any reason did not have to miss an amazing day of ideas, presentations, and collaboration.

What is Research Day?

Research Day is an annual event that welcomes NCI staff and faculty to present their research ideas and celebrates their contributions to academia and industry. Every year academics from across NCI (Computing, Business, Psychology, and Education), gather to present their work. Members of the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) and the Library also present their work alongside some special guest speakers.

It is a day to be enormously proud of as there is an exciting, collaborative buzz in the air. The atmosphere is electric as everyone is open and enthusiastic about sharing their research ideas and listening to the innovative ideas of others. It is an opportunity for the entire staff to come together and applaud each other’s hard work.

At NCI they want to applaud everyone who presented their research on Tuesday. From ELI’s discussion of how to look towards creating a restorative community to the work presented by the Psychology department exploring mental health referrals for children and young people who have been involved in social care, to the Cloud Competency Centre team presenting their data versioning framework research, and that is just to name a few!

The day was filled with a broad range of research discussions.

“Research Day is an extremely exciting event. It is wonderful to bring so many colleagues together from multiple departments to explore the broad and exciting research being conducted at NCI. This year there were eighteen presentations scheduled, which is an amazing number that highlights the many brilliant, hardworking members of staff who are making significant contributions to their fields through a diverse range of innovative research projects. We look forward to continually celebrating research and innovation.” said Dr Arghir-Nicolae Moldovan, Assistant Professor in Computing. 

National College of Ireland is thrilled to share that for this year’s Research Day, they welcomed Keynote Speaker, Associate Professor Sinéad McNally from the School of Language, Literacy & Early Childhood Education, DCU Institute of Education, Dublin City University.

Sinéad’s presentation was entitled “Meaningful Consultation with Autistic Students for Inclusive Education from Early Childhood through to University.”

This research explored how important the role of play is in a child’s life, and how the role of play has not really been explored before. For children who have autism, the role of play has not been explored before in any way. The study explores what play is from the perspective of children, specifically focusing on what play is from the perspective of children with autism. The outlook of play for neurotypical and neurodivergent children is quite similar.

When we understand how children view play, we can begin to understand how play can be used for learning. The study stresses that children with autism have a right to have their voices heard and a right to be included in shaping their own educational journey. Looking at what play is and why it is crucial for children’s development is one of the core elements of this research.

Sinéad’s presentation was very impressive. Three key points that stood out surrounded how play is an organic part of childhood. It should be a daily part of childhood, and there are three kinds of play that are especially important to neurotypical and neurodivergent children.

Playing in the yard, having the freedom to choose to play, and having a soft form of challenge in the play is so important. These three factors allow us to see the fun of play. Another key point was that play is simply play. Play should not be withheld as a response to behaviours we do not like, and play should not be given as a reward. Play is just play, and all children deserve to enjoy play every day.

This is a hugely collaborative piece of work; it is a large-scale interdisciplinary study. This study aims to address a societal challenge. The challenge we face is that we currently fall short on inclusive education for children with autism so this study is one of many steps that will hopefully be taken to address these inclusivity issues. This study aims to capture the missing voices of children with autism. Parents, advocates, and teachers have come together in an advisory group to help guide this study.

An admirable and important part of this study is that researchers have spent time speaking to children, asking them for their opinions, asking what do they like about school, what do they dislike, what do they find difficult? What do they love? It is quite shocking that children’s voices have not been considered in this way when looking at children’s classrooms before, so this study is innovative in many ways. We look forward to seeing how this study continues to develop.

“Inclusion is everybody’s business.” ~ Associate Professor Sinéad McNally.

At the National College of Ireland, the research presented by Associate Professor Sinéad McNally aligns with their Autism-Friendly Initiative. NCI has been awarded Autism Friendly Status with Autism advocacy group AsIAm. They want to celebrate students and staff on the autism spectrum and to provide a learning environment that helps all our students realise their potential. To learn about NCI’s Autism-Friendly Initiative, click here.

As part of NCI’s collaboration with Tree Nation to combat deforestation and climate change, Sinéad was thanked with a tree planted in her name. The project selected was the Irish Community Tree Planting.

The Tree planted was Crataegus monogyna: Crataegus monogyna is one of the most common species used as the “hawthorn” of traditional herbalism. The plant parts used are usually sprigged with both leaves and flowers, or sometimes berries. Hawthorn has been investigated by evidence-based medicine for treating cardiac insufficiency, and it is a source of antioxidant phytochemicals, especially extracts of hawthorn leaves with flowers.

To read more about NCI’s partnership with Tree Nation, click here.

The mission of NCI is “Changing Lives through Education,” and Research Day is an event that encompasses and encourages that mantra. To learn more about previous Research Days at NCI, visit their website.