DCU Home | Our Courses | Loop | Registry | Library | Search DCU
<< Back to Module List

Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

All Module information is indicative, and this portal is an interim interface pending the full upgrade of Coursebuilder and subsequent integration to the new DCU Student Information System (DCU Key).

As such, this is a point in time view of data which will be refreshed periodically. Some fields/data may not yet be available pending the completion of the full Coursebuilder upgrade and integration project. We will post status updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Technology & the Person
Module Code NS230 (ITS) / PSY1003 (Banner)
Faculty Science & Health School Z-Nursing
Module Co-ordinator-
Module Teachers-
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
None
Description

This module will explore the human technology interface and the emerging psychological, social, ethical and clinical debates and dilemmas.

Learning Outcomes

1. Critique the roles, uses and impact of technology in health, illness and disability
2. Discuss the role of the body and embodiment in health, illness and disability
3. Examine the personal impact of living with and depending on technology for health and wellbeing



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture24Attendance at weekly lectures
Group work15Reviews of peer-reviewed journal articles including identification, reading, review and preparation of in-class presentation
Assignment Completion50Essay preparation including the collection of case study data and integration of relevant theory and research
Independent Study36Self-directed reading
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Typologies of health technology: Life sustaining technology; life lengthening technology; life enhancing technology; enabling technology, information and communication technologies; point of care technologies; preventative (screening) technologies.

Definitions of the body: where does the body end and begin? The technologised body; living through technology; embodiment; body image.

Impact of technology on understanding of health: how does technology influence our discourses and understanding of what it means to be well?

Technology and issues of self-identity; How technology influences the user’s relationship to their own sense of self and how they interact with themselves.

Personal impact of living with and through technology for health and wellbeing.

The role and social impact of health technology in society; What technology use indicates about cultural norms and how culture influences our understanding of technology.

Ethical dilemmas and decisions that technologies can bring about; living at risk.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment0% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
EssayA case study of an individual who uses or has used Assistive Technology and that integrates theoretical, conceptual and empirical research. A proposal for the case study must be submitted and approved in advance.85%
Group assignmentIn groups, students will identify, prepare and present reviews of two peer-reviewed journal articles.15%
Indicative Reading List

  • Lauritzen, S. O & Hyden, L. C. (Eds.): 2006, Medical Technologies and the Life World: The Social Construction of Normality (Critical Studies in Health and Society), Routledge, London, 978-0415364348
  • MacLachlan, M.: 2004, Embodiment: Clinical, Critical & Cultural Perspectives, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 978-0335209590
  • MacLachlan, M. & Gallagher, P.: 2004, Enabling Technologies: Body Image and Body Function, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, 978-0443072475
  • Bauby, J. D.: 2004, The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly, Harper Perennial, London, 978-0007139842
  • Cole, J.: 0, Still Lives: Narratives of Spinal Cord Injury, MIT Press, MA, 978-0262532846
  • Frank, A. W.: 1995, The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness and Ethics, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 978-0226259932
  • Scherer, M. J.: 2003, Assistive Technology: Matching Device and Consumer for Successful Rehabilitation, American Psychological Association, Washington DC, 978-1557988409
  • Swain J, French S, Barnes C, Thomas C.: 2013, Disabling barriers – Enabling environments., Sage, London,
Other Resources

None

<< Back to Module List