Topic: Irish Agriculture Policy

Lecturer name: Amaya Vega

Date: 8/11/2018
Duration of Learning unit: 2h (usually delivered in 100 minutes without a break)
Module: Agricultural Economics_40945
Topic: Challenges of Irish Agriculture
Mark the type of session:

Lecture X Tutorial ☐ Lab ☐ Studio ☐ Workshop ☐

1. AIM

The main aim of this lesson is to:

 Discuss the four key challenges of Irish agriculture.
 Understand each challenge and discuss it in class (in groups)
 Identify key factors/risks and how to address them from an agriculture policy perspective (role
play game: Minister Michael Creed)

2. MAIN LEARNING OUTCOME & CORRESPONDING ASSESSMENT

Module Learning Outcomes (LOs) Assessment of LOs

At the end of this lesson the students will be
enabled to…
Discuss with confidence the key challenges faced by
Irish agriculture
Understand the main aspects of each challenge
(climate change; Brexit; profitability and CAP
reform)
(Note: each LO has an assessment. Include a variety
of types.)
Students will read an article by Thomas Conefrey
(2018) from the Central Bank of Ireland on Economic
Impact and Current Challenges of Irish Agriculture.
Investigation learning
Students will discuss each topic in groups of four.
Discussion learning
Acquisition learning

Use what they have learned about Irish agriculture Students will identify key aspects of each challenge
policy making to present policy proposals. and will discuss possible policy recommendations.
 As a group, students will formulate policy
recommendations according to the following game:
“If you were Minister Creed, what would you do to
address these challenges?”
Students will present their policy recommendations
to the class.
Production learning
Collaboration learning
Practice learning
Discussion learning

3. THE LESSON

TIME LINE LECTURER ACTIVITIES LEARNER ACTIVITIES

SET INDUCTION (BEGINNING)

5 mins Introduction to the purpose of the Students will learn how we are
lecture going to organise the time during
(5 mins) the lecture.
Take attendance
Understand the idea of the role play
Provide guidelines in terms of the
structure of the lecture

Distribute the article and large post-its

LESSON SEQUENCE (MIDDLE)

20 mins Read article. Students will read article and take

notes
(25 mins)

15 mins Guide students in each group to Students will discuss challenges

discuss challenges and potential and potential policy
(40 mins) solutions. recommendations.

15 mins Sit back and let students Bring post-its with main ideas and
discuss/organise themselves in stick them to the wall
(55 mins) advance of their presentation

15 mins Invite presentation Group 1 (5 Presentation

minutes)
(70 mins) Production learning
 Discussion learning

Invite presentation Group 2 (5 Presentation

minutes)
Production learning

Discussion learning

Invite presentation Group 3 (5 Presentation

minutes)
Production learning

Discussion learning

15 mins Questions and Answers for all groups. Class discussion.

(85 mins) Use some key policy Discussion learning.

recommendations to trigger
discussion

CLOSURE (END)

10 mins Summary of topics. Recap Learn about key messages from

each presentation topic
(95 mins) Highlight importance of understanding
these topics for their final exam Access shared information in
Learnonline
Exam question. Information will be
shared in Learnonline

4. LIST OF TEACHING RESOURCES

For class:

Slides with general comments and guidelines, article and large post-its.

5. CRITICAL REFLECTION

Strengths

(before lecture)

This lecture is about discussion and presentation of key topics relevant for the subject. It is an
interactive session where students will have the opportunity for discuss key topics relevant to their
subject of study as well as practicing their communication skills. I believe they will enjoy it.

(after lecture)
The lecture worked very well. They enjoyed the role play and they presented different views on each
challenge. I learned about the practical side of the different challenges, as most students come from a
farming background.

Challenges

(before lecture)

Given previous experience with this group, students may engage in the presentation activity, but not
in the group discussion. How to deal with disengaged students? How to deal with disruptive
students?

(after lecture)

Students were receptive and participated in the activity quite well. There was no much time for them
to get distracted as they had to present their points at the end. I made it very clear that the material
would come up in the exam and that got them engaged. Also, I believe it was a lecture about very
current topics in Irish agriculture policy and they all had a say in them.

Areas that could be improved upon

I could have given them the article in advance and ask them to investigate further at home. On the
other hand, this may not have made much of a difference.

To what extent did you address different domains of learning?

During the lecture I mainly addressed the cognitive learning domain as part of Bloom’s taxonomy,
focusing primarily on comprehension and analysis, i.e. reading article. I also addressed the affective
domain by introducing a role play where they had to pretend they were the Minister Creed (Agriculture,
Food and the Marine) and they formulated a series of policies to address the challenges faced by Irish
agriculture.

What would I do differently next time?

I would not change much because the lecture worked quite well. I may ask them to read the article in
advance and do a bit of research ahead of the lecture. However, most students may not engage in this
previous activity unless I give them marks for it. I will think about it further closer to the time.
Select & Prioritise Your Content:
For the session, decide what material is used in class and what material the students should study
independently and/or online. To do this, think about the material and its relative importance and
prioritise and list in the appropriate quadrant.
Support Learning Independent Learning
Priority
(Need to Understanding of the key challenges in Irish agriculture Additional challenges faced by Irish
know) agriculture
Application of material already covered to make policy
recommendations

Supplementa
ry
Learning Investigate further online and contribute
Improve communication skills in discussion and presentation
(Nice to to forums

know)