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Brian Nolan

Abstract

I am delighted to introduce the 15th edition of the ITB Journal, the academic journal of the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown. The first paper included - Using Extended Analogy To Teach Fundamental Computing Concepts by Damian Gordon. Of the eLearning Research Group in the School of Computing, at DIT discusses the use of analogy to help explain complex ideas in teaching. Extended analogy seeks to combine regular analogy with exaggeration or dramatic emphasis. In this case the paradigm is extended by use of Samuel Beckett's play "Krapp's Last Tape" and took cognisance of learning styles and, in particular, a new model of learning styles developed by the author. Seán Stitt of ITB and Daphne Gibbs of the University of Bolton, discuss an important, topical and serious issue in their joint paper on ‘Non-offending mothers of sexually abused children: The hidden victims’. The paper attempts to raise the awareness of health and social care professions (both in practice and in academia) of the absence of any substantial, targeted support, counselling or advocacy services for non-offending mothers of sexually abused children and of the almost complete lack of any meaningful social scientific academic discourse on the nature and extent of the unique problems faced by such mothers. We follow this with a paper on the evolution of the traditional of the traditional lecture in third level entitled’ From passivity to interactivity: how the traditional lecture has evolved as a method of instruction’ by Patricia Doherty of ITB. This paper reviews current thinking in this issue and presents recent feedback from students in order to establish what can be done to improve the lecture as a method of instruction by making lectures more interactive and developing student participation. That is, moving from passivity to interactivity. Lastly, Amanda Clancy, also of ITB, examines the effectiveness of the traditional mode of delivery of academic lectures and contrasts this against distance and blended learning. The paper is called: Factors Relating to the Design of Effective Third Level Learning Environment. Her paper argues that it is essential to ensure that learning environments are well established and help deliver to the students. This paper looks at what the most important factors are when it comes to learning and teaching environments, and what learning environment best delivers these factors. Three learning environments are discussed, Traditional Learning, Blended Learning and Distance Learning.

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