My Working Day: Dr Alan Ringland, lecturer in physical education and sports psychologist to the Irish Paralympic team, loves the mix of applied and academic work
I've been working in the IT sector for about 10 years. Before coming to Ireland I worked in the University of Liverpool and previous to that I taught PE.
I started out in the Tralee Institute of Technology as a lecturer and then took over as head of department. About five years ago, I went back into lecturing.
In the mornings, once I've dropped the kids off to school, I normally see project students, from our BSC in physical education studies. The project work can be quite varied, from examining the effect of exercise on diabetes or monitoring Gaelic football players' endurance levels.
Then, depending on the day, I lecture for up to five hours. Some of the classes will be practical - from teaching PE curriculum to psychology practicals and on to statistical work, which the students don't like. In total, the lecturing contract is about 16 hours a week.
Content has changed quite a lot during the past decade. One of the major changes is the range of courses on offer.
When I started, there was a diploma in health and leisure. A colleague and I developed the BSC in health, fitness and leisure and then developed the PE studies aspect.
The approach to teaching is also constantly changing. When I was an undergraduate, quantitative measurements were in vogue. Now it's more to do with attitudes and case studies and looking at the meaning behind statistics. It's very much a mixed method approach.
I'm of the school of belief that it is much easier to teach through practical activities. I'm also a big believer in group learning - individuals working together to examine a topic and then feeding back into the entire class with their findings.
I still enjoy the work as much as when I started out, although I do have a desire to delve back into research at some stage.
When I did my PE degree in north Wales in 1984, I followed it with a PhD in sports psychology from the University of Ulster. So, on weekends and evenings I am fortunate in that I get to apply my theory, through my work as a sports psychologist.
Generally, if it is the first time I am seeing a client, I go through their background, identify their needs and outline what I can give them as a psychologist. I am usually with each individual for an hour and a half.
In 2008 I will travel to Beijing as sports psychologist to the Irish Paralympic team. It's great to have work with clients that can then be applied back into my working day.
In other words, it's nice to have a mix between applied and academic work, for my sanity more than anything else.