Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings

Project review meetings are part of the project management process and are organised to assess progress and resolve any design conflicts to avoid delays in construction. One of the key challenges during a project review meeting is to bring the stakeholders together and use this time effectively to address design issues as quickly as possible. At present, current technology solutions based on BIM or CAD are information-centric and do not allow project teams to collectively explore the design from a range of perspectives and brainstorm ideas when design conflicts are encountered. This paper presents a system architecture that can be used to support multi-functional team collaboration more effectively during such design review meetings. The proposed architecture illustrates how information-centric BIM or CAD systems can be made human- and team-centric to enhance team communication and problem solving. An implementation of the proposed system architecture has been tested for its utility, likability and usefulness during design review meetings. The evaluation results suggest that the collaboration platform has the potential to enhance collaboration among multi-functional teams

Graphic Thinking and Digital Processes: Three Built Case Studies of Digital Materiality

Think strategic link between computer programming; digital modeling; the data; matter and CNC manufacturing in the various stages of the architectural project is key to update our discipline with new technologies. Our proposal to articulate and digital graphic thought processes; developable folded geometries and compositions is rooted in an expanded graphic thinking through multiple conceptual tools that are already part of the operational structure of our discipline

A framework of web-based conceptual design

A web-based conceptual design prototype system is presented. The system consists of four parts which interpret on-line sketches as 2D and 3D geometry, extract 3D hierarchical configurations, allow editing of component behaviours, and produce VRML-based behavioural simulations for design verification and web-based application. In the first part, on-line freehand sketched input is interpreted as 2D and 3D geometry, which geometrically represents conceptual design. The system then infers 3D configuration by analysing 3D modelling history. The configuration is described by a parent–child hierarchical relationship and relative positions between two geometric components. The positioning information is computed with respect to the VRML97 specification. In order to verify the conceptual design of a product, the behaviours can be specified interactively on different components. Finally, the system creates VRML97 formatted files for behavioural simulation and collaborative design application over the Internet. The paper gives examples of web-based applications. This work forms a part of a research project into the design and establishing of modular machines for automation manufacture. A consortium of leading automotive companies is collaborating on the research project

Knowledge-based System to Support Architectural Design. Intelligent objects, project net-constraints, collaborative work

The architectural design business is marked by a progressive increase in operators all cooperating towards the realization of building structures and complex infrastructures (Jenckes, 1997). This type of design implies the simulta-neous activity of specialists in different fields, often working a considerable dis-tance apart, on increasingly distributed design studies. Collaborative Architectural Design comprises a vast field of studies that em-braces also these sectors and problems. To mention but a few: communication among operators in the building and design sector; design process system logic architecture; conceptual structure of the building organism; building component representation; conflict identification and management; sharing of knowledge; and also, user interface; global evaluation of solutions adopted; IT definition of objects; inter-object communication (in the IT sense). The point of view of the research is that of the designers of the architectural arte-fact (Simon, 1996); its focus consists of the relations among the various design operators and among the latter and the information exchanged: the Building Objects. Its primary research goal is thus the conceptual structure of the building organ-ism for the purpose of managing conflicts and developing possible methods of resolving them

Student-Centered Learning: Functional Requirements for Integrated Systems to Optimize Learning

The realities of the 21st-century learner require that schools and educators fundamentally change their practice. "Educators must produce college- and career-ready graduates that reflect the future these students will face. And, they must facilitate learning through means that align with the defining attributes of this generation of learners."Today, we know more than ever about how students learn, acknowledging that the process isn't the same for every student and doesn't remain the same for each individual, depending upon maturation and the content being learned. We know that students want to progress at a pace that allows them to master new concepts and skills, to access a variety of resources, to receive timely feedback on their progress, to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways and to get direction, support and feedback from—as well as collaborate with—experts, teachers, tutors and other students.The result is a growing demand for student-centered, transformative digital learning using competency education as an underpinning.iNACOL released this paper to illustrate the technical requirements and functionalities that learning management systems need to shift toward student-centered instructional models. This comprehensive framework will help districts and schools determine what systems to use and integrate as they being their journey toward student-centered learning, as well as how systems integration aligns with their organizational vision, educational goals and strategic plans.Educators can use this report to optimize student learning and promote innovation in their own student-centered learning environments. The report will help school leaders understand the complex technologies needed to optimize personalized learning and how to use data and analytics to improve practices, and can assist technology leaders in re-engineering systems to support the key nuances of student-centered learning

Building a Common Ground – The Use of Design Representation Cards for Enhancing Collaboration between Industrial Designers and Engineering Designers

To achieve success in today’s commercial environment, manufacturers have progressively adopted collaboration strategies. Industrial design has been increasingly used with engineering design to enhance competitiveness. Research between the two fields has been limited and existing collaboration methods have not achieved desired results. This PhD research project investigated the level of collaboration between industrial designers and engineering designers. The aim is to develop an integration tool for enhanced collaboration, where a common language would improve communication and create shared knowledge. An empirical research using questionnaires and observations identified 61 issues between industrial designers and engineering designers. The results were grouped and coded based on recurrence and importance, outlining 3 distinct problem categories in collaborative activity: conflicts in values and principles, differences in design representation, and education differences. A taxonomy further helped categorise design representations into sketches, drawings, models and prototypes. This knowledge was indexed into cards to provide uniform definition of design representations with key information. They should benefit practitioners and educators by serving as a decision-making guide and support a collaborative working environment. A pilot study first refined the layout and improved information access. The final validation involving interviews with practitioners revealed most respondents to be convinced that the tool would provide a common ground in design representations, contributing to enhanced collaboration. Additional interviews were sought from groups of final-year industrial design and engineering design students working together. Following their inter-disciplinary experience, nearly all respondents were certain that the cards would provide mutual understanding for greater product success. Lastly, a case study approach tested the cards in an industry-based project. A design diary captured and analysed the researchers’ activities and observations on a daily basis. It revealed positive feedback, reinforcing the benefits of the cards for successful collaboration in a multi-disciplinary environment. Keywords Industrial Design, Engineering Design, Collaboration, Design Representation, New Product Development.</p

A Social Learning Space Grid for MOOCs: Exploring a FutureLearn Case

Collaborative and social engagement promote active learning through knowledge intensive interactions. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are dynamic and diversified learning spaces with varying factors like flexible time frames, student count, demographics requiring higher engagement and motivation to continue learning and for designers to implement novel pedagogies including collaborative learning activities. This paper looks into available and potential collaborative and social learning spaces within MOOCs and proposes a social learning space grid that can aid MOOC designers to implement such spaces, considering the related requirements. Furthermore, it describes a MOOC case study incorporating three collaborative and social learning spaces and discusses challenges faced. Interesting lessons learned from the case give an insight on which spaces to be implemented and the scenarios and factors to be considered

A teaching experiment to foster the conceptual understanding of multiplication based on children's literature to facilitate dialogic learning

The importance of conceptual understanding as opposed to low-level procedural knowledge in mathematics has been well documented (Hiebert & Carpenter, 1992). Development of conceptual understanding of multiplication is fostered when students recognise the equal group structure that is common in all multiplicative problems (Mulligan & Mitchelmore, 1996). This paper reports on the theoretical development of a transformative teaching experiment based on conjecture-driven research design (Confrey & Lachance, 1999) that aims to enhance Year 3 students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication. The teaching experiment employs children’s literature as a motivational catalyst and mediational tool for students to explore and engage in multiplication activities and dialogue. The SOLO taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1989) is used to both frame the novel teaching and learning activities, as well as assess the level of students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication as displayed in the products derived from the experiment. Further, student’s group interactions will be analysed in order to investigate the social processes that may contribute positively to learning

Factors shaping the evolution of electronic documentation systems

The main goal is to prepare the space station technical and managerial structure for likely changes in the creation, capture, transfer, and utilization of knowledge. By anticipating advances, the design of Space Station Project (SSP) information systems can be tailored to facilitate a progression of increasingly sophisticated strategies as the space station evolves. Future generations of advanced information systems will use increases in power to deliver environmentally meaningful, contextually targeted, interconnected data (knowledge). The concept of a Knowledge Base Management System is emerging when the problem is focused on how information systems can perform such a conversion of raw data. Such a system would include traditional management functions for large space databases. Added artificial intelligence features might encompass co-existing knowledge representation schemes; effective control structures for deductive, plausible, and inductive reasoning; means for knowledge acquisition, refinement, and validation; explanation facilities; and dynamic human intervention. The major areas covered include: alternative knowledge representation approaches; advanced user interface capabilities; computer-supported cooperative work; the evolution of information system hardware; standardization, compatibility, and connectivity; and organizational impacts of information intensive environments