Volume 9, Number 1 is available at www.aishe-j.org.
An excerpt from the Introduction to Volume 9, Number 1
The current issue of AISHE-J has come about through collaboration with colleagues the International Conference on Engaging Pedagogy (ICEP). ICEP is an annual event that brings together researchers and practitioners in the field of third-level education to discuss means and methods of improving student engagement. A key factor in achieving this has been to offer delegates, authors and presenters opportunities to share their experiences with each other. This is reflected in the overarching theme of espoused by ICEP, ‘the voice of the educator’.
The development of ICEP has been interesting: the first ICEP conference was held in Dublin at Griffith College where many of the original ICEP members were based. Since then it has been hosted by University College Dublin; Maynooth University; National College of Ireland; Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown; Athlone Institute of Technology; Sligo Institute of Technology; and the College of Computing Technology.
This year ICEP is proud to be returning to Griffith College for its 10th anniversary homecoming.
In the last decade, ICEP has grown from strength to strength, attracting the attention of many prominent members of the teaching and learning community. This is apparent in the calibre and diversity of papers presented to date and in the relentless commitment of the steering committee and founding members. It is further evidenced in the recognition of ICEP as a T&L Partner by the Irish National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, a status shared with AISHE.
This AISHE-J / ICEP joint issue is important for both ICEP and AISHE-J. Many members of the ICEP steering committee and the AISHE executive have worked side by side for years, but until now have not formalized these efforts in a manner as significant as this issue. As two of the core functions of ICEP are the sharing of best practice and dissemination of research findings, through this issue we hope to find a wider discussion channel, leading to a more varied audience than we traditionally enjoy. This not just in terms of readership, but also at the authorial and editorial levels as well. AISHE–J has a stated mission towards early career writers. Some of the authors in this issue, who have presented and published at ICEP several times, have now published their first journal article in the area of teaching and learning. Similarly, we hope that through this issue some long-time AISHE-J readers and authors consider attending and perhaps presenting at ICEP in the future.
The ICEP steering committee would be delighted to receive submissions for this year’s 10th anniversary conference to be held in Dublin at Griffith College, with a date to be fixed soon for late November or early December. We also welcome all readers to join us for what we hope will be the best ICEP yet. For more information please keep your eye on www.icep.ie and consider joining our mailing list. If you have a specific question or comment, feel free to directly contact any members of the ICEP steering committee, whose contact details can be found on our website.
To our readers, we hope that you will find the issue informative and productive in terms of
supporting your practice. We would also like to encourage you to consider submitting your work to the journal and, if you would be prepared to devote some time to the ongoing work of AISHE-J, to register as a peer reviewer in your area of expertise.
It would be remiss of us to close this introduction to the issue without registering our
appreciation of the work everyone who has contributed to the issue, as authors, peer reviewers, and editors in their various roles. On this occasion, it is also important to thank the ICEP steering committee and the wider ICEP community for making the issue possible. Without the work of ICEP, in listening to the voices of the higher education community, and in facilitating the work of that community in relation to topics such as presented in this issue, the discourse and the practice of higher education would be much the poorer.
Introducing the final issue of 2016, we commented that the contributions of the authors
demonstrated a gratifying level of commitment to the student. Although the topics and
educational contexts of the papers presented are at somewhat of a remove from those of the last issue the same sense student-centredness is present in this issue. On that satisfying note, it gives us great pleasure to bring you the Volume 9 Number 1, Spring 2017 issue of AISHE-J.
Brett A. Becker, ICEP Steering Committee, Technical Editor AISHE-J
Saranne Magennis, Editor AISHE-J
28th February 2017
