Developing communities of practice and research through research informed teaching and learning in cross-cultural groups.

This conceptual research aims to answer three questions: • What is the process for learning where teachers and learners research together? • How can this process be enriched and enhanced, specifically working within an international and cross-cultural student population? • How can a co-existence of a pedagogic research informed learning and teaching environment be embedded with staff and students? This research looks into the way staff research informs pedagogic practice, and how staff work as ’joint partners’ with students to deliver more ’iterative’ education learning models. The research is aimed at the development of inclusive scholarly knowledge-building communities of practice (see Brew, 2006). The research highlights how staff work with students in an iterative communal process through project-based research activity and collaborative teamwork within cross-cultural groups. It also describes the processes of working with students and how it has helped to directly reinforce the curricula and informed the author’s own learning and teaching strategies. Significantly, this type of open engagement with cultural groups has alerted the author to howtraditional linear ’Western’ forms of academic research within art and design can be influenced by Eastern models of research enquiry. The research describes a coexistence of practice where research and enquiry can be fluidly exchanged between teacher and student. Changes were made to curricula to develop a more social constructivist form of working (Gredler, 1997) where both the context in which learning occurs and the social contexts that learners bring to their learning environment were put centre stage. A short film entitled Event digestion, a pedagogic filmic picnic, where students came together to form a community event, highlighted this process. This process was also one of cross-disciplinary staff team-working within art and design where research work is enhanced through creating a more open social experiential learning environment. The research methodology is a predominantly qualitative one through problem solving and action research. It is also situated within a pedagogic research-informed teaching approach where teaching draws upon enquiry into the teaching and learning process itself (Jenkins & Healey, 2005). Methods incorporated have been cross-cultural international focus groups attended by students, ’unstructured’ interviews, student case studies and, importantly, practice-based work. The paper highlights how an active educational model can be developed through learning by doing (Gibbs, 1998) and thinking (Ramsden, 2003), however, coming from a perspective which addresses creativity across cultures (Lubart), is cross-disciplinary, and, importantly, by a practicebase collaborative international team project approach. The practical pedagogic findings will be of use to anyone working in design education wishing to develop cross-cultural curricula through practice-based learning and research

Using a cross-cultural conception of play to explore the play perspectives of children and parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners

This two phase study explored perspectives of play according to children and parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners, in a city in South West England. In an addition to the considerable research base concerning play, this study investigated the frequently overlooked cultural dimension of play and how this affects the education of Somali heritage children in England. The broader contentious concern of play’s role in Early Years and Primary education was also explored. A mixed methods pragmatic approach was employed in this study. In Phase One, a photograph sorting activity based on the Activity Apperception Story Procedure by Howard (2002), was used to enable the participation of young children and participants for whom English is not their first language. Established via this activity were definitions of play and work according to children and parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners. Exploratory Data Analysis was applied to examine this data. In Phase Two, a focus group design was used, with discussions drawing on cross-cultural conceptions of play (Gaskins, Haight & Lancy, 2007; Göncü, Tuermer, Jain & Johnson, 1999). This enabled the exploration of how parents of Somali heritage and primary school practitioners perceive play’s relationship to children’s development and learning, with consideration for their own experiences of childhood. Focus group data was analysed using thematic analysis, supported by the Cultural Historical Activity Theory framework. The findings of this study highlight shared and individual definitions of play, competing benefits of play and the cross-cultural importance of play being intrinsically motivated. Implications for practice centre on the need to recognise play as part of unique cultural milieus at a practitioner, school, educational psychology service and policy level

Understanding the interplay between immigrant nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation

Purpose All entrepreneurs face challenges during their venture start-up process, but immigrant entrepreneurs face additional and distinctive challenges due to their contextual newness. This paper focuses on understanding the intertwined journeys of nascent entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation of immigrants in a small Western European country where immigrant entrepreneurship is still a relatively new phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach The induction-driven, 18-month longitudinal empirical inquiry focused on six early-stage nascent entrepreneurs. Qualitative methods included participant observation during an enterprise program, qualitative interviews and ongoing informal communication. Findings The data uncovered the interplay between the nascent immigrant entrepreneurship and cross-cultural adaptation. This led to the development of a novel conceptual framework which highlights how the cross-cultural adaptation domain links with the process of recognition, evaluation and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities by immigrant entrepreneurs. While varying temporarily and contextually, cross-cultural adaptation was found to create both enabling and constraining tensions within the nascent entrepreneurial experiences of immigrants. Research limitations/implications It is recognized that undertaking just six cases may present a significant limitation of the research, but a close examination of even one individual\u27s lived experience can yield valuable insights. It is hoped that future work will test the highlighted research propositions and other findings in different empirical contexts, and so add to the emerging conceptual framework on nascent immigrant entrepreneurship within the context of cross-cultural adaptation. Originality/value No previous qualitative studies have been undertaken seeking to understand how cross-cultural adaptation interacts with the early stages of nascent immigrant entrepreneurial activity. By integrating new venture creation and cross-cultural adaptation theories, this research contributes to the conceptualisation of early stages of nascent entrepreneurial activities of immigrants in a new host environment. The implications of the research are also relevant to enterprise support bodies, policymakers and practitioners who support immigrant entrepreneurship

Culture : a dimension in design

Building is one of the earliest activities of man, whether building for shelter or for more complex symbolic needs the act of building was not a simple reactionary performance but rather was a behavioural process which embodied the total pattern of physical and intellectual forces acting from within and upon each person as an individual and as a member of a society. The intention of this research is to establish a better understanding of the intellectual development of man and the human society thus revealing the structure of the design activity. By understanding the nature of the design activity the right approach to architectural design education can be developed to prepare the architects of the future to cope with the diversified problems that will face them in the most natural and optimum way. Chapter one is concerned with the controversial physical aspects of the universe. The development of the human mind and consciousness is then traced to uncover the framework by which the different aspects of the universe are related to each other according to human understanding and awareness. Myth, magic and religion were found to be necessary concepts for the human outlook on life, as they signify man's need for symbols and images in communication and for society formation. As societies are formed distinctive cultures appear and develop for each social group, therefore the basic concern becomes the people's culturally meaningful systems of behaviour. Since architecture is a reflection of cultural values it is the three way relationship between the absolute universal rythms, the individual and cultural values, and the architectural output in a society, that determines the understanding of architectural form and the design activity required for its conformation. Chapter two discusses the theory and meaning of value asserting that the history of culture can be understood simply as a history of human values. However moral and aesthetic judgements do not occur in vacuum, and for this reason it is important to analyse them bearing in mind the context and the society in which they were issued. After considering a few methods to aid the designer to arrive at a choice of values; the history of aesthetics and its relation to culture and architecture is delineated. This demonstrates that the history of architecture is the history of the actual aesthetic consciousness and value systems dominating each cultural scene.;Closer investigation of human responses is undertaken in chapter three, demonstrating the effect of culture on human perception as a selective force acting on the subconscious of the individual. The role of meaning and experience in understanding architectural form is substantiated by a cross-cultural field study on the appreciation of form in an attempt to identify the constructs that affect such appreciation and their deviations cross-culturally. The forces acting in an environment to produce architectural forms are then identified and defined as determinants of form. Chapters four and five are concerned with the relation between architecture and the human sciences and design methodology. Human desires and needs are assessed and creativity and imagination are related to the existing design methods. A design activity model based on the human behavioural activity rather than on a cybernetic analogy is proposed in chapter six. This activity model explains qualitatively the architectural design process in relation to the different forces acting on the designer as a decision-maker. Proposals for augmentation of, and changes in the educational system are discussed in chapter seven. The main aim of the proposals in these two chapters is to influence the process of architectural education, so that it becomes balanced in its approach and more effective in educating the architects of the future. Those designers of tomorrow should perform optimally according to their own intellectual and behavioural needs as well as within the technological, cultural and social constraints of their societies. Finally, this research establishes that qualitative analysis is a valid tool in explaining multi-variable situations where most of the variables are unknown as is the case with architectural design. Furthermore, it is recommended that future research efforts should be directed towards qualitative evaluation techniques in architectural design education, which in turn should be concerned with the whole structure of design thought in its technological, cultural and social contexts.Building is one of the earliest activities of man, whether building for shelter or for more complex symbolic needs the act of building was not a simple reactionary performance but rather was a behavioural process which embodied the total pattern of physical and intellectual forces acting from within and upon each person as an individual and as a member of a society. The intention of this research is to establish a better understanding of the intellectual development of man and the human society thus revealing the structure of the design activity. By understanding the nature of the design activity the right approach to architectural design education can be developed to prepare the architects of the future to cope with the diversified problems that will face them in the most natural and optimum way. Chapter one is concerned with the controversial physical aspects of the universe. The development of the human mind and consciousness is then traced to uncover the framework by which the different aspects of the universe are related to each other according to human understanding and awareness. Myth, magic and religion were found to be necessary concepts for the human outlook on life, as they signify man's need for symbols and images in communication and for society formation. As societies are formed distinctive cultures appear and develop for each social group, therefore the basic concern becomes the people's culturally meaningful systems of behaviour. Since architecture is a reflection of cultural values it is the three way relationship between the absolute universal rythms, the individual and cultural values, and the architectural output in a society, that determines the understanding of architectural form and the design activity required for its conformation. Chapter two discusses the theory and meaning of value asserting that the history of culture can be understood simply as a history of human values. However moral and aesthetic judgements do not occur in vacuum, and for this reason it is important to analyse them bearing in mind the context and the society in which they were issued. After considering a few methods to aid the designer to arrive at a choice of values; the history of aesthetics and its relation to culture and architecture is delineated. This demonstrates that the history of architecture is the history of the actual aesthetic consciousness and value systems dominating each cultural scene.;Closer investigation of human responses is undertaken in chapter three, demonstrating the effect of culture on human perception as a selective force acting on the subconscious of the individual. The role of meaning and experience in understanding architectural form is substantiated by a cross-cultural field study on the appreciation of form in an attempt to identify the constructs that affect such appreciation and their deviations cross-culturally. The forces acting in an environment to produce architectural forms are then identified and defined as determinants of form. Chapters four and five are concerned with the relation between architecture and the human sciences and design methodology. Human desires and needs are assessed and creativity and imagination are related to the existing design methods. A design activity model based on the human behavioural activity rather than on a cybernetic analogy is proposed in chapter six. This activity model explains qualitatively the architectural design process in relation to the different forces acting on the designer as a decision-maker. Proposals for augmentation of, and changes in the educational system are discussed in chapter seven. The main aim of the proposals in these two chapters is to influence the process of architectural education, so that it becomes balanced in its approach and more effective in educating the architects of the future. Those designers of tomorrow should perform optimally according to their own intellectual and behavioural needs as well as within the technological, cultural and social constraints of their societies. Finally, this research establishes that qualitative analysis is a valid tool in explaining multi-variable situations where most of the variables are unknown as is the case with architectural design. Furthermore, it is recommended that future research efforts should be directed towards qualitative evaluation techniques in architectural design education, which in turn should be concerned with the whole structure of design thought in its technological, cultural and social contexts

‘Interaction of Cultures through Design’ Cross-Cultural Design (CCD) Learning Model: The development and implementation of CCD design education in South Korean higher education.

This research has arisen from an awareness of the emerging discourses about the future of design education in Korea. The country today is synonymous with advanced technology and high-quality products made by companies such as Samsung. The development of capacity for creativity and innovation in design has not yet been successfully implemented, and it has been argued that much of the responsibility lies with the education system. Currently Korean design education is focused on function, technology and solutions as well as aesthetic values; it drives students to be technically capable without understanding the value of design as a cultural activity. In order to tackle this issue, Korea has been introducing various initiatives in its design education system. These initiatives have focused on the convergence of design specialisms, as well as other disciplines outside of design. Parallel to these, this thesis suggests Cross-Cultural Design (CCD) as one of the possible elements that could aid this transformation. The findings of this thesis suggest that it is important for design students as well as educators to realise design is an activity of cultural production that can improve the quality of our lives. Cross-Cultural Design is not a new concept. There are many definitions and practical implementations found in the various fields of study and within the design industry. Although considerable efforts are being made to explore and understand cross-cultural relationships as a result of globalisation today, there has been limited discussion about cross-cultural concerns from a design practice context. Previous studies on cross-culture have focused almost exclusively on anthropology, sociology and more recently, international business and marketing. This thesis, therefore, seeks to address this gap by examining the potential of Cross-Cultural Design (CCD) practices and develop a Cross-Cultural Design (CCD) educational framework for Korean higher education that encourages designers, design students and Korean universities to become more culturally engaged. Firstly, this thesis begins by examining the current issues facing the Korean education system in Chapter 2. Chapters three and four discuss a general contribution to new knowledge by exploring the key characteristics of CCD, which are: 1) Cross-cultural understanding - understanding the cultural context for designers and the design concepts derived from an in-depth understanding of cultural differences. 2) Originality - enriched creative outputs from cross cultural practice. An ability to think creatively and design whilst retaining unique and novel ideas. 3) Practicality - new design ideas from mixing cultural codes/needs. Creation of usable design for everyday life through combined cultures. 4) Universal design - consolidated cultural needs to achieve Universal design ideas, when appropriate. Universally understandable design with minimised cultural errors and misunderstanding. 5) Cultural identity - celebrating cultural specificity to promote core identities, when appropriate. Cultural identity is also defined through culturally distinctive design, which plays an important role in structuring the Cross-Cultural Design reflection tool and template by providing a set of criteria. The five key characteristics of Cross-Cultural Design presented above are based on various findings of what constitutes the elements within the CCD model (Chapter 3 & 4). This thesis investigates design education through the development of intensive project-based short course learning activities in Chapter 5. As part of the study, five of these CCD short course activities were conducted over five years, starting in 2010. The programmes were developed and conducted in collaboration with Goldsmiths, University of London (UK), Kyung Hee University (Korea), and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP). The focus of these education programmes moved from the inspirational benefits of cross-cultural experience, to the practicality and marketability of culturally engaged design. As a result, a CCD learning model was proposed and developed. This thesis concludes that the CCD learning model can help give a new direction to Korean design education in order to make it more process-oriented, whilst paying attention to cultural issues. This model of education could help create more user-oriented and culturally located design. Korean design education is traditionally built on art education. Cross-Cultural Design education can provide a socio-cultural contribution to the education framework, and introduce a methodological approach to designing as a cultural activity, as well as a reflective approach. Secondly, systemic problems in Korean design education means it is currently not able to meet the social and industrial demands and changes required in a developing Korean society. This thesis proposes that Cross-Cultural Design education can help develop a wider spectrum of design fields, such as convergence design education. Lastly, with regards to social problems, Korean design education suffers from a narrow conception of the possibilities of design, and does not recognise that design can extend to work with other subjects within the university. However, Cross-Cultural Design education helps students and designers understand the importance of design in our everyday lives, and more importantly, the significance of culture within design activities. In a broader context, educators can also benefit from diverse teaching methodologies; supporters such as governments can promote their national culture and boost their design industries. More importantly, consumers will have access to culturally rich and diverse products and services. The potential input of this CCD framework is to contribute to transforming Korean higher education. This framework could also be applied to other geographical contexts, but this is outside of the scope of this thesis

Designing Culture-Tailored Persuasive Technology to Promote Physical Activity

Physical inactivity has been recognized as one of the leading risk factors that account for cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension, etc., with the World Health Organization labeling it as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Research has shown that persuasive technology (PT) can be leveraged as a motivational/supportive tool in tackling the physical-inactivity problem. In particular, research shows that persuasive health applications (PHAs) are more likely to be effective if they are theory-driven and tailored to the target audience. Yet, most existing PHAs on the market are neither theory-driven nor tailored to the target audience. Rather, their designers often employ a one-size-fits-all approach. This makes it difficult to know what design decisions are effective or ineffective among a given target audience. To bridge this gap, I proposed a framework, called the “EMVE-DeCK Framework,” grounded in Bandura’s Triad of Reciprocal Determinism, for designing, implementing and evaluating tailored PT interventions. Basically, the EMVE-DeCK Framework employs “Theory” and “Technology” to explain and change “Behavior.” Moreover, research shows that culture can be leveraged as a personalization mechanism for tailoring PHAs to the target users to make them more effective. However, there is limited cross-cultural research—grounded in theory and empirical evidence—on the effectiveness of culture-based tailoring, especially comparative studies involving understudied populations in the PT research landscape. Hence, using the Hofstede’s cultural framework (individualism vs. collectivism), Social Cognitive Theory, Technology Acceptance Model and the EMVE-DeCK Framework, I conducted a number of comparative studies to understand the culture-specific determinants of physical-activity behavior and the acceptance of a proposed PHA. I used the findings to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of two versions of a fitness app called BEN’FIT—personal version (PV) and social version (SV)—aimed to motivate bodyweight exercise at home. In this dissertation, using the EMVE-DeCK Framework and Canada/United States (individualist culture) and Nigeria (collectivist culture) as a case study, I describe: (1) the cross-cultural user studies and empirical findings that informed the PT intervention; (2) the design and implementation of the culture-tailored PHA; and (3) the evaluation of the overall and culture-tailoring effectiveness of the PHA in a field setting. Finally, based on empirical evidence, I present a set of validated PT design guidelines in the field for designing and tailoring PHAs to users in the individualist and collectivist cultures. This dissertation makes three major contributions to PT research in the Human-Computer-Interaction domain. Firstly, it demonstrates how theory and culture can be employed in the design and development of PT interventions to motivate behavior change. Secondly, it reveals and validates in the field how the individualist and collectivist cultures fundamentally differ in their motivational mechanism of behavior change. Thirdly, it provides an in-the-field validated PT design guidelines for developing tailored PHAs for the two main types of culture. In the physical-activity domain, the dissertation is the first to conduct a theory-driven, in-the-field cross-cultural PT research that focuses on an understudied population from Africa (Nigeria) and compare its findings with those of a widely studied population from North America (Canada/United States)

Designing Culture-Tailored Persuasive Technology to Promote Physical Activity

Physical inactivity has been recognized as one of the leading risk factors that account for cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, stroke, hypertension, etc., with the World Health Organization labeling it as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Research has shown that persuasive technology (PT) can be leveraged as a motivational/supportive tool in tackling the physical-inactivity problem. In particular, research shows that persuasive health applications (PHAs) are more likely to be effective if they are theorydriven and tailored to the target audience. Yet, most existing PHAs on the market are neither theory-driven nor tailored to the target audience. Rather, their designers often employ a one-size- fits-all approach. This makes it difficult to know what design decisions are effective or ineffective among a given target audience. To bridge this gap, I proposed a framework, called the "EMVE-DeCK Framework," grounded in Bandura's Triad of Reciprocal Determinism, for designing, implementing and evaluating tailored PT interventions. Basically, the EMVE-DeCK Framework employs "Theory" and "Technology" to explain and change "Behavior." Moreover, research shows that culture can be leveraged as a personalization mechanism for tailoring PHAs to the target users to make them more effective. However, there is limited cross-cultural research|grounded in theory and empirical evidence|on the effectiveness of culture-based tailoring, especially comparative studies involving understudied populations in the PT research landscape. Hence, using the Hofstede's cultural framework (individualism vs. collectivism), Social Cognitive Theory, Technology Acceptance Model and the EMVE-DeCK Framework, I conducted a number of comparative studies to understand the culture-speci c determinants of physical-activity behavior and the acceptance of a proposed PHA. I used the ndings to inform the design, implementation and evaluation of two versions of a tness app called BEN'FIT - personal version (PV) and social version (SV) - aimed to motivate bodyweight exercise at home. In this dissertation, using the EMVE-DeCK Framework and Canada/United States (individualist culture) and Nigeria (collectivist culture) as a case study, I describe: (1) the cross-cultural user studies and empirical f indings that informed the PT intervention; (2) the design and implementation of the culture-tailored PHA; (3) the evaluation of the overall and culture-tailoring e ectiveness of the PHA in a eld setting. Finally, based on empirical evidence, I present a set of validated PT design guidelines in the eld for designing and tailoring PHAs to users in the individualist and collectivist cultures. This dissertation makes three major contributions to PT research in the Human-Computer-Interaction domain. Firstly, it demonstrates how theory and culture can be employed in the design and development of PT interventions to motivate behavior change. Secondly, it reveals and validates in the eld how the individualist and collectivist cultures fundamentally differ in their motivational mechanism of behavior change. Thirdly, it provides an in-the- field validates PT design guidelines for developing tailored PHAs for the two main types of culture. In the physical-activity domain, the dissertation is the rst to conduct a theory-driven, in-the-fi eld cross-cultural PT research that focuses on an understudied population from Africa (Nigeria) and compare its ndings with those of a widely studied population from North America (Canada/United States)

Learning design in diverse institutional and cultural contexts: suggestions from a participatory workshop with higher education professionals in Africa

Learning design approaches, such as those adopted by the Open University, provide a set of tools and resources for purposefully-designing modules with a focus on student experiences. However, many of the current learning design strategies have been situated within specific institutions in Europe and North America. This means that there are several issues worth considering around if and how established learning design approaches make sense in diverse institutional and cultural contexts. To critically assess the relevance and appropriateness of learning design strategies in new contexts, this article describes an in-depth participatory workshop with 34 education professionals from five African countries. Altogether, 10 suggestions for learning design practices were derived from the consensus of workshop participants, which provide a foundation for the development of learning design practices moving forward

Reflecting on the usability of research on culture in designing interaction

The concept of culture has been attractive to producers of interactive\ud systems who are willing to design useful and relevant solutions to users\ud increasingly located in culturally diverse contexts. Despite a substantial body of\ud research on culture and technology, interaction designers have not always been\ud able to apply these research outputs to effectively define requirements for\ud culturally diverse users. This paper frames this issue as one of understanding of\ud the different paradigms underpinning the cultural models being applied to\ud interface development and research. Drawing on different social science theories,\ud the authors discuss top-down and bottom-up perspectives in the study of users‟\ud cultural differences and discuss the extent to which each provides usable design\ud knowledge. The case is made for combining bottom-up and top-down perspectives\ud into a sociotechnical approach that can produce knowledge useful and usable by\ud interaction designers. This is illustrated with a case study about the design of\ud interactive systems for farmers in rural Kenya

Innovative collaborative design in international interaction design summer schools

[About the book]: Design is changing, and to educate the next generation of designers, these changes need to be addressed. In light of the growing role research and interdisciplinary collaboration play in contemporary design performance, Design Integrations calls for an innovative shake up in design education. Poggenpohl asserts that design research is developed through a typology within academic and business contexts, and follows different research theories and strategies. Such issues in design collaboration are explored in-depth, with essays on an inter-institutional academic project, cross-cultural learning experiences, and a multi-national healthcare project, demonstrating the importance of shared values, interdisciplinary negotiated process and clear communication for tomorrow’s designers