DrLinda Dowling-Hetherington

Linda has extensive teaching experience in the field of Human Resource Management, Talent Management and Talent Development. She has taught in the UCD Quinn School of Business, the UCD Smurfit School of Business and on the College’s global campuses in Hong Kong and Singapore. Her average score on the module evaluation/student feedback process since 2010 is 4.4 out of 5.0.

During 2026/27, her main teaching focus has been on the below modules in the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School:

HRM40660 Human Resource Management (MSc Management) . This module provides students with no previous knowledge or experience of HRM with an understanding of key issues and current developments in the field. The module deals with a range of key aspects associated with the strategic management of human resources. Among the areas covered are: strategic human resource management (HRM); talent management, including recruitment, selection, retention, talent development, employee engagement; reward and performance management systems; and contemporary issues in HRM including HRM and change management; HRM and sustainability (diversity and inclusion; employee wellbeing and supporting carers in the workplace).

HRM40690 Strategic Talent Enablement (MSc Human Resource Management). In this module, we explore, not only how organisations can support employees to develop the knowledge, skills and capabilities needed for success, but also the activities and processes that are intended to have an impact on organisational learning. We examine topics such as: Talent Development – Adopting a Strategic Approach; Learning Organisations and Knowledge Management; Learning and Development Design, Delivery and Evaluation; Employee and Career Development; and Leadership Development.

My teaching goal is to facilitate student learning and engagement both inside and outside the classroom, to provide students with a theoretical grounding in the field of human resource management and for students to develop the confidence to take ownership of their own learning. I also feel it is important to be passionate about your teaching, to continually demonstrate a high degree of enthusiasm for the subject matter and to help students reach their full potential by investing time in nurturing and developing them as a collective and individually.

I believe that students can learn an awful lot from each other by working in groups to discuss course content and share work experiences. With this in mind, I devote a considerable amount of time in the classroom to group discussion and related activities. These activities are often where the most effective and rich learning takes place and it allows for diverse viewpoints and experiences to be shared.

Giving students a solid insight into the latest thinking and developments in the field is critically important. I aim to keep up-to-date through reading, attending conferences, seminars and webinars and through my research on topics related to my teaching. Whenever possible, I try to take the opportunity in the classroom to share information on my research activities. I also aim to expose students to best practice in the field by bringing in guest speakers into each course who will share their insights on recent developments in their organisations and the people management challenges and opportunities they are dealing with on a daily basis. Case studies are generally an important element of my teaching. Students enjoy working on them and they are really invaluable from a learning perspective. It isn’t always easy to find a really good case study for certain topics in the field. In the last year or two, I have started to collaborate with a colleague on writing some new case studies. This is just another way of ensuring that I can bring up-to-date materials to my students.

Feedback is something that I pay particular attention to. Firstly, in terms of feedback from students, there is always something that I can learn from my students about how the course could be improved the next time around. The university module evaluation process gathers feedback from students at the end of the semester, however, this feedback is only useful when preparing to deliver the module the following year. I prefer to take soundings from my students at regular points throughout the semester and this allows me to make adjustments, where necessary, to the module as we go. All in all, this makes for a much better experience for the students and for myself. Secondly, in terms of feedback to students, I believe that students need (and deserve) useful and timely feedback on each piece of assessment they submit. This is something that I invest very heavily in because I believe it does have an impact on students’ learning and they really do appreciate the effort that goes into providing feedback. I commit each year to giving my students written feedback on each assessment. In addition, I will also put aside some time in class to discuss the overall strengths and weaknesses of all coursework that I have graded.

I don’t set specific office hours for my students because I’d rather not confine them to meeting with me during one or two set hours. Instead, my message to students every year is that ‘my door is always open’ and that I will respond to all queries on the same day. I actively encourage them to come see me if they wish to discuss any course topic or to get some advice on how they are approaching the course assessment. I enjoy these conversations with students and they allow me to keep an ‘ear to the ground’ in terms of how the course is going and any areas that might be causing students some difficulty.