Jul 31, 2009 2
Jul 28, 2009 0
nice use of photos below as extra material with video content as it plays
Jul 22, 2009 0
In this section on problems Schon looks at the difference between “problem solving” and “problem setting”. Prior to this quote on page 40 Schon looks at problems in practice in relation to what he calls “technical rationality”. This is where practice is based on a very scientific approach towards solving problems. In contrast “problem setting” is brought about in a way by an unscientific approach.
Technical rationality depends on agreement about ends. When ends are fixed and clear, then the decision to act can present itself as an instrumental problem. But when the ends are confused and conflicting, there is as yet no “problem” to solve. A conflict of ends cannot be resolved by the use of techniques derived from applied research. It is rather through the non-technical process of framing a problematic situation that we may organize and clarify both the ends to be achieved and the possible means of achieving them.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 41
This extract emphasizes “framing” as a key to “problem setting” where that frame is about identifying a problem and then how that problem will be explored.
But with the emphasis on problem solving we ignore problem setting, the process by which we define the decision to be made, the ends to be achieved, the means which may be chosen. In real-world practice problems do not present themselves to the practitioner as givens. They must be constructed from the materials of problematic situations which are puzzling, troubling, and uncertain. In order to convert a problematic situation into a problem, a practitioner must do certain kind of work. He must make sense of an uncertain situation that initially makes no sense.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 40
The research process is “making sense” out of what is not totally understood.
When we set the problem, we select what we will treat as “things” of the situation, we set boundaries of our attention to it, and we impose upon it a coherence which allows us to say what is wrong and in what directions the situations need to be changed. Problem setting is a process in which, interactively, we name the things to which we will attend and frame the context in which we will attend to them.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 40
There is some important points in here in relation to the ideas of “things, boundaries, directions, and context…”
Jul 22, 2009 0
A useful overview of practice by D. Schon in a section reflecting on practice.
The word “practice” is ambiguous. When we speak of lawyer’s practice, we mean the kind of things he does the kinds of clients he has, the range of cases he is called upon to handle. When we speak of someone practicing the piano, however, we mean repetitive or experimental activity by which he tries to increase his proficiency on the instrument. In the first sense, “practice” refers to performance in a range of professional situations. In the second it refers to preparation for performance. But professional practice also includes an element of repetition. A professional practitioner is a specialist who encounters certain kinds of situations again and again…As a practitioner experiences many variations of a small number of types of cases he is able to “practice” his practice. He develops a repertoire of expectations, images and techniques. He learns what to look for and how to respond to what he finds. As long as his practice is stable, in the sense that it brings him the same types of cases, he becomes less and less subject to surprise. His knowing-in-practice tends to become increasingly tacit, spontaneous and automatic, thereby conferring upon him and his clients the benefits of specialization.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 60
A practitioner’s reflection can serve as a corrective to over learning. Through reflection he can surface and criticize the tacit understandings that have grown up around the repetitive experiences of of a specialized practice, and can make a new sense of the situations of uncertainty or uniqueness which he may allow himself to experience.
Schon, D 1983, The Reflective Practitioner, Ashgate, London. pp. 61
Jul 22, 2009 0
In a second library workshop we covered some endnote tips.
The endnote download
A named library needs to be set up first in a folder on the desktop. Endnote is then opened up each time from the library file which is like a project file used in other software.
The style is browsed/selected from the drop down in the top left hand corner of the interface.
A database search can be conducted directly from within endnote. Chose the online search icon at the top of the interface and then chose the rmit library catalogues. This feature the ‘RMIT Library Catalogue Connection File’ needs to be downloaded from the web to the desktop then added to the Connections folder inside the Endnote X2 folder on the desktop.
Toggle between the preview and search buttons at the bottom of the interface window.
Notes:
Adding the latest Harvard 6v9 style used by RMIT University to endnote. This download is dropped into the Styles folder inside the Endnote X2 folder.
The preferable citation support is the more comprehensive RMIT Business version available as pdf download.
UQ Endnote tutorial support page.
Endnote website.
Notes on use:
Endnote is touchy and has very set protocols in regards to use.
- Only put in one reference per source ie a book, then edit in additions per citation in the body of the text ie adding page nos
_ this includes removing the author in a citation etc
- Use book sections when referencing from that section and this is a separate reference type
- multiple editors need to be tabbed down onto separate lines
- organistations as authors need a comma at the end
- the abcd aspect in this style is about…”Table 3 Reference Type : Several items with the same author and year.
Quote : If you are referring to more than one work written by the same author in the same year, the letters a,b,c etc are added to the date to indicate which one you mean. – Business College Harvard Referencing Guide on p.10
- with editors the ‘in’ includes the editors and title of the book in the citation
- online video as a audiovisual material reference
- working with creative commons licenses for material included in a text online
Jul 22, 2009 1
Assoc Professor Soumitri Varadarajan gave a workshop a couple of weeks ago to MCD postgrads on writing for publishing within the context of the field of design. Soumitri’s Zero Waste blog. Soumitri’s Faint Voice blog. My own notes from the presentation. A key thread underlying his presentation was clarity. Clarity of purpose and delivery. He started with the SeVeRe acronym which translated into:
Structure
Voice
Rules
This seems quite rigid but Soumitri stressed not to take all this writing/publishing business to seriously. A light-hearted approach with a touch of cynicism relaxes the writing process.
“Clarity is only possible if you know the material really well”. Sketch out a structure but be open to change. “It is useful to have a toolkit of different structures for different scenarios” Know the context before you come up with the structure. For example the context of the journal and what previous papers look like. Some publications want essays and discussions for example some design journals. Other publications want a clear argument. Soumitri uses the tool mind node to map out structures beforehand. “Take the existing structure from a journal and mind map that structure.”This can be down to the paragraph level with a word count also down to this level. He even will often look at balancing the number of paragraphs in each chapter to have an equal average. These paragraphs on average aim at a 300 word count.
Voice. There needs to be a clear goal behind the writing, an aim, an argument. Soumitri spoke of his own critical and opinionated take on issues as an example.
Clarity is achieved by “picking the arguments carefully” and using pace, rhythm to work and develop that argument. A quick energetic start for example that levels off into a steady rhythm that rises and lowers in varying ways throughout. Clarity and substantiation in a tone that is unapologetic. Boldness of purpose and delivery is crucial. “Tell the reader the argument, tell the reader how you will argue it”.
“Commit to a perspective and start.”
Other quotes:
“Take shots but sit inside your field”
References:
Soumitri referred to an interest in Foucault and the concept of Heterotopia.
With a social science background he referred to a thick description.
Listening to factual radio is useful in relation to the way radio shows are introduced. These introductions are succinct, clear and tell you what will be discussed and how. All in an interesting way to catch your attention and ear for the duration of the program.
A paper example Service design for India: The thinking behind the design of a local curriculum that demonstrates clarity.
The post industrial media wiki SynchronicThickDescription written my AM with reference to Geertz.
Jul 22, 2009 0
AD invited me along to the Len Lye lecture by Roger Horrocks last week and then I went back later on to check out the ACMI exhibition downstairs. Len Lye is well known in New Zealand as a NZ artist and I have the first book (biography) that Horrocks wrote in 2001. Also, I had meet and knew of Horrock’s work in NZ from previous experience in the NZ film and TV industry back in the 90s. Horrocks played a significant role in the development of NZ on Air and the Film and TV industry. I have always been inspired by Lye’s work and commitment to artistic pursuits. In this exhibition it was great to see a single idea, the exploration of motion as an art form flow through varying types of artistic practices from painting to filmmaking to kinetic sculpture. Lye’s pursuit of motion hold all of these varied outputs together and the show uses a chronological approach to develop this sense of progression back and forth across these genres. In relation to practice it struck me how Lye’s exploration of motion demonstrates the tendency towards a particular theme that holds a practice together. It takes real skill and aptitude to keep hold of a focus and have a continuing sense of what you are doing and why.
Yesterday I went back with the PP2 studio group. This is an inspirational show and Lye who lived a lot of time overseas does not shake that NZ exuberance. Waiting for the kinetic works to do their thing is a delight and I will have to take the wee one to see them.
Jul 21, 2009 0
Jul 20, 2009 0
