Loughborough University Library: Open Journals
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What Do We Do When We Draw?
Get PDFThis paper is a reflection on drawing in two parts. The first gives a brief outline of anthropology’s engagement with this practice, bringing out the distinction between the ‘retrospective’ approach of Alfred Gell, which begins with the finished drawing and works back to the intentions of the drawer, and the ‘prospective’ approach of Tim Ingold in which drawing is understood and actively engaged with as a skilful activity, as a form of knowing in rhythmic, uncertain negotiation between observation and gesture. The second part elaborates a series of ruminations on drawing drawn from my own practice, whose aim is to articulate some of the strangeness of drawing as a practice, the way it unsettles any simple understanding of what we do when we draw
Instructor perceptions of student information literacy: comparing international IL models to reality
Get PDFThis study assesses the information literacy (IL) perceptions of instructors at a technical college in the Middle East, the College of the North Atlantic - Qatar. Students at this college are instructed in four areas of study – engineering technology, information technology, business studies and health sciences – which takes place exclusively in English and uses a Canadian curriculum. A web-based survey sent to instructors asked questions in two general areas on their perceptions of student information literacy based on the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) definition. Initially, over half of the respondents believed that their students were information literate. However when asked a series of questions about each of the seven IL skills identified by SCONUL, there was a large discrepancy between what skills instructors wished their students achieved, versus what was actually achieved by the end of their programme. Students’ inability to critically evaluate sources of information was seen as the weakest skill by instructors and was considerably lower than the skill level reported by university professors in similar studies. Instructors also conveyed their belief that students lacked strategies when searching for information. When compared to faculty perceptions of students in universities, overall perceptions of IL competency of college students in this study are lower. The study reinforced the need to provide students with tools/strategies to cope with large volumes of information and, when searching, to select appropriate and credible sources of information for both academic and personal uses
An Initial Model for Generative Design Research: Bringing together Generative Focus Group (GFG) and Experience Reflection Modelling (ERM)
Get PDFUnderstanding people’s experiences and the context of
use of a product at the earliest stages of the design
process has in the last decade become an important
aspect of both the design profession and design
education. Generative design research helps designers
understand user experiences, while also throwing light on
their current needs, preferences and future expectations.
In this paper, two complementary methods, namely the
Generative Focus Group (GFG) approach and Experience
Reflection Modelling (ERM), will be presented through a
research case focusing on the development of sustainable
design considerations in the areas of effective use of
resources, and product maintenance and repair. The first
method makes use of generative tools (i.e. diaries and
timelines) to gain feedback from a group of experienced
users. It facilitates group discussions and enables engaging
user participation to develop potential design directions. In
contrast, the second method utilizes a special toolkit of
abstract two- and three-dimensional product parts to
reveal the needs, preferences, and expectations of the
individual in a more in-depth manner, with the intention
being to further explore the insights and design directions
that emerged during the application of the first method.
This paper proposes an initial model that brings together
these two methods, incorporating generative tools and
techniques that are adaptable, participatory and engaging,
and discusses their implications for design education
A Delicate Presence
Get PDFThe focus of this paper is on exploring the delicate position that drawing can inhabit, between absence and presence. The paper unpicks the value of delicacy to uncover a web of tensions between the seen- unseen, touching-not-touching and crucially, absence and presence. This ‘delicacy’ in drawing is then critically repositioned through the lens of recent writing from the field of feminist science studies to explore the possibility of a new critical position vis-a-vis discourse of presence in drawing. The significance for us is that through looking at drawing we become sensitised to the possibility of other states of being, which in turn may offer fresh lenses though which to see the world. Equally, in co-opting new forms of critical discourse from other fields of thought might we enrich our understanding of graphic encounters
Presence and Drawing
Get PDFDrawing, if it explores rather than defines, has the capacity to unlock the subconscious. It is a deeply human activity. I believe both the act of drawing and the conscious viewing of drawing afford our human connectedness and our capacity to explore human intimacy, human depth, human soulfulness and ultimately human worth
Exploring Biomimicry in the Students’ Design Process
Get PDFSince the very early days of history, human beings
‘designed’ things by looking at nature. In our days, the use
of nature in design has become more systematic and
detailed. Although as old as humanity itself, use of nature
especially in the field of design still offers novelty and
often brings success in solving problems in a sustainable
way.
When it comes to industrial design education specifically, it
seems to be a promising method to mimic the nature in
designing new products; however different dynamics
effect and sometimes prevent students to use natural
analogy in their projects. It is observed that industrial
design students aren’t eager to use biomimicry which is a
type of natural analogy in their design projects although
they learn about it in different courses as a creativity
method.
The study therefore aimed to find out about two issues
related to the matter: a) trying to find out and understand
the reasons behind this reluctance against the use of
nature, b) if they were presented a methodology, in what
ways this reluctance would be overcome and they would
go beyond taking nature as not only a formal source of
inspiration
Book review of Upson, M., Hall, C.M. and Cannon, K. 2015. Information now: a graphic guide to student research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Get PDFBook review of Jacobson, T.E. and Mackey, T.P (eds). 2015. Metaliteracy in practice. London: Facet.
Get PDFBook review of Gilton, D.L. 2016. Creating and promoting lifelong learning in public libraries: tools and tips for practitioners. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Get PDFLimestone Conversations
Get PDFA long time ago – when I was drawing cross-sections of
blast furnaces for metalwork A-Level – I noted the
existence of crushed limestone as part of the iron-making
process. I was never very clear what it was doing there –
something about acting as a flux to take the impurities into
‘slag’ that floated on top of the liquid iron, allowing it to
flow. But the main characters in the drama always seemed
to be the iron ore and the fuel (coke). Limestone always
seemed like an after-thought; a bit-part actor