TU Dublin Lecturers Receive National Award for Innovative Student Learning Project
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TU Dublin lecturers Hilda Burton, Niamh Braiden and Dr Patricia Medcalf have been recognised with a prestigious national award for their role in an innovative experiential learning project that brought students into the heart of a live theatre production.
Alongside project collaborator Niamh Honer, Engagement and Marketing Manager at The Civic Theatre, the lecturers received the Jennifer Burke Award at the Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA) EdTech 2026 Conference. The award, presented by Dr Alison Egan and Dr Martina Crehan, recognises excellence and innovation in teaching and learning.
The award-winning project centred on a partnership between TU Dublin and The Civic Theatre, providing students with an authentic industry-based learning experience through the staging of playwright and actor John Connors' acclaimed production, Ireland's Call.
Students from TU Dublin's Advertising & Marketing Communications and Marketing programmes on the Tallaght Campus played a central role in planning, promoting and facilitating a special one-night performance of the play at The Civic Theatre on 20 November.
Dr Patricia Medcalf said the project exemplified TU Dublin's commitment to experiential learning and industry engagement.
"Experiential learning is at the heart of what we do at TU Dublin. This project gave students the opportunity to engage with a live industry brief, collaborate with external partners, and develop skills that cannot be fully replicated in a classroom setting. Seeing the students take ownership of the project and facilitate meaningful conversations around important social issues was incredibly rewarding."
The project was designed to give students the opportunity to apply their learning in a real-world setting while engaging with important social and cultural issues through the arts.
Commenting, Hilda Burton said:
"This project provided students with the opportunity to showcase their abilities in a commercial setting. They genuinely became more than we could imagine through this learning experience, and it was fantastic to witness this as their lecturer".
Ireland's Call follows the life of a young working-class man from Dublin's Northside and explores themes including addiction, violence, masculinity and generational trauma. Following the performance, TU Dublin students hosted a thought-provoking post-show discussion featuring Jonathan Smith, co-founder of Blue Balls Ireland, Barry Dempsey of Jigsaw, and feminist activist and teacher Leah Whelan.
The discussion invited audience members to reflect on issues raised by the production, including class-based oppression, institutional neglect and the challenges facing young men in marginalised communities.
Reflecting on receiving the Jennifer Burke Award, Niamh Honer said:
"I'm incredibly proud to share that my academic colleagues, Hilda Burton, Niamh Braiden, Patricia Medcalf and I are honoured to receive the prestigious Jennifer Burke Award. This project brought together two areas I am deeply passionate about: arts engagement and immersive, authentic student learning experiences.
Together, we enabled students to co-create in a way that closely reflected contemporary creative industry practice, fostering autonomy, collaboration and meaningful professional learning."
The Jennifer Burke Award highlights the impact of collaborative, student-centred approaches to teaching and learning. The recognition reflects TU Dublin's commitment to providing students with authentic learning opportunities that foster creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and industry engagement.
The project demonstrates how partnerships between higher education and the creative sector can create meaningful learning experiences, address important social issues, and prepare students for professional practice.