Loughborough University Library: Open Journals
Not a member yet
1614 research outputs found
Sort by
Editorial
No full textStudies in Design Education Craft and Technology has always published a carefully selected range of research studies in Design Craft and Technology. These articles are only printed when we are confident that they have a real relevance to the work of schools and colleges - either in testing the value of existing and new approaches or in exploring the justification for what we do in new ways. We know from readers' responses that many of the articles that we have selected in the past have enabled them to develop their teaching with new certainty and have also given them many valuable arguments with which to further the cause of craft design and technology
The Design Aim in Education
Get PDFIN 1979 Archer published with Roberts a classic article in this journall setting out clear ideas of the nature of design in education. It must be read, but as a temporary precis his aim seems to be the ability to carry out cognitive modelling, necessarily commutative, with or without the aid of physical models, and aimed at solving problems and attaining desires which may be initially unclear. Archer deliberately excludes the search for generalisations as in science. These ideas have provided a clear rallying cry for those advocating design in schools. I hope to extend one aspect of this conception and to point out some practicalities which may require a shift of focus. More detailed accounts of some aspects will be found elsewhere
Editorial
Get PDFThis issue of Studies in Design Education Craft & Technology marks the completion of our first year of 'three in a year' publication. For some years we have hesitated to take the overdue step - we were afraid that there would be insufficient good contributions to enable us to maintain the high standards which we-have consistently achieved. Fortunately, our fears were groundless and our confidence has been justified. Our first two issues this year have been filled with outstanding material and we have an abundance of important contributions for this issue. In it we focus on four themes that are of central importance to our readers. These are, respectively, developments in the primary schools, craft design and technology for girls, assessment and technical and vocational education
Problem Identification for Design
Get PDFDiffering motivations for design activity are discussed as a basis for examining the relationship between problem identification and problem solving. Active rejection of solution concepts in the early stages of problem identification is advocated, and any exhaustive formulation of complex problems is considered impossible. The case for a formal problem identification activity is presented, supported by observations on the human tendencies towards unjustified assumptions, inappropriate transfer of experience, and diverse perceptions of the world. It is concluded that since no single universally correct definition of a complex situation can exist, the task of policy makers is to find an enabling basis for action. In part 2 the nature of design problems is discussed and it is suggested that the resolution of discrepancy between 'what is' and 'what ought-to-be' is a predominantly technical task following the more fundamental processes of problem identification and policy making, which define 'what is' and 'what ought-to-be'. The basis of an approach to problem identification is described which encompasses the purposes of intervention in situations perceived as unsatisfactory. It appears that arbitrary constraints help to maintain the humanity of the man-made world
Reviews
Get PDFThe following publications have been reviewed by the mentioned authors;The Art of Print Making by Erich Rhein, reviewed by John LancasterDevelopments in Art Teaching by Terence Wooff, reviewed by John LancasterResources by Jack Bainbridge, reviewed by Michael SayerPower by Jack Bainbridge, reviewed by Michael SayerThe Potter's Complete Book of Clay and Glazes by James Chappell, reviewed by Michael PaffardWriting and Illuminating Lettering by Edward Johnston, reviewed by John LancasterBasic Mathematics for Technicians by C. W. Schofield, reviewed by F. R. WatsonDesign and Technology - Plastics by R. Millett, reviewed by Michael SayerObjective and Completion Tests in CSE Woodwork Theory by Ernest Clarke, reviewed by Denis TabernerObjectice and Completion Tests in CSE Metalwork Theory by Ernest Clarke, reviewed by Denis Taberne
A Three Dimensional Modeller for Art and Design Education
Get PDFThe original brief for this project was to explore the use of the micro computer for the teaching and promotion of three dimensional understanding in education. Initially it had been intended to adapt existing software, but it soon became apparent that there were no suitable packages for this work. Not only were there very few three dimensional modellers in existence which could meet the resources of education, but these were based on an ancestry of draughting and engineering, presenting often complex and unsympathetic environments for art and design users
The Watermill at Bunbury
Get PDFNo mill could have been created without the millwright, and no historical background complete without his mention. Millwrighting was a craft which grew up with the invention of the water and windmills. It was a completely adaptable craft, for no two mills were ever the same. It had no previous technologies to guide it, except for the construction of the wheel itself and the construction of the building. Both of these crafts came together under the jurisdiction of the one man who had to adapt them to his needs. The wheel needed modifying to take the strains imposed upon it and, more importantly, for cogs or paddles to be fitted. The buildings, and here I include the ancillary constructions to direct the water onto the wheel, had to be custom made to suit the millwright, for this later became the task of the mason
Marion Richardson and the Crab's Claw
Get PDFWhen Marion Richardson began her work, art teaching was suffering from the tyranny of the 'object'. In the year 1908 she gained a scholarship to Birmingham School of Art, then under the direction of R. Catterson-Smith, although some years went past before she was actually taught by him. She spent most of her time drawing crab's claws, bathroom taps, umbrellas, ivy leaves and antique casts and her future did not seem very bright. Indeed, she was faced with the prospect of taking a job in a school herself and teaching recurrent generations of children to draw crab's claws, bathroom taps, umbrellas, ivy leaves and antique casts, and all for what? The reason for all this drawing was not clear to her, and furthermore the experience of drawing in that way had little to do with her experience of art. A letter she received from C.F.A. Voysey some years later must have summed up for her the attitude that drawing was concerned with making likenesses of dead forms, for in it he said: ";The diagrams of dissected flowers and leaves, representing their real form, such as we see in pressed leaves and petals, is the most stimulating to the creative faculty of any exercise I know";.1. The words 'their real form' should be stressed here for they suggest the presence of a belief in nature as choatic and imperfect, while somehow masking an ordered reality which can be discovered through laboratory studies. According to this view, a flower's reality can best be seen when it has been dissected, and a scientifically accurate drawing will capture this essence.It was the 'object' that dictated what was to be drawn, and when the drawing was completed, it was the 'object' that was used to judge the success Qf' the drawing. If it had been made accurately, then this indicated that the student was a skilled draughtsman. Skill itself was seen almost as if it was something that existed outside the student, as the object did; he had to reach out and take it in to himself. The student brought very little of himself to this process. He was seen as empty, needing to be filled with skill in drawing, a skill that was acquired by diligent application to preliminary exercises concerned with umbrellas and crab claws. Even when he had acquired a degree of skill it was still as if he needed to be filled with the external object before he could put an image down onto paper