Analysis of science textbook pictures about energy and pupils' readings of them

This article outlines the findings of the part of the "Science Teacher Training in an Information Society" (STTIS) project concerned with describing the possible difficulties the pupils have when "reading" science textbook pictures about "energy". Six documents were selected on the basis that they had some of the textual/graphical features previously identified by the project as potentially presenting difficulties to pupils. The pupils' readings of these were investigated using a questionnaire and a follow-up interview. The analysis of three of the documents and of twelve pupils' readings of them is reported in this paper. The results confirm the hypothesis that the "reading" of science textbook pictures is not at all trivial for pupils and conclude that teachers need to spend time and effort talking through the meaning of the images with them. They also suggest that the list of textual/graphical features used in this research is a good starting point for this kind of critical examination

Applications of system dynamics modelling to computer music

Based on a composer's psycho-acoustic imagination or response to music, system dynamics modelling and simulation tools can be used as a scoring device to map the structural dynamic shape of interest of computer music compositions. The tools can also be used as a generator of compositional ideas reflecting thematic juxtaposition and emotional flux in musical narratives. These techniques allow the modelling of everyday narratives to provide a structural/metaphorical means of music composition based on archetypes that are shared with wider audiences. The methods are outlined using two examples

The salience of topology in verbal and pictorial representations of PVs in EFL learners

The aim of this thesis is to look at the salience of topology in strategic meaning construal of English particle verbs in the Mexican and the Croats’ verbal and pictorial representations. We conducted a qualitative analysis on a subcorpus of 30 questionnaires taken from the Learner Corpus collected by Geld (2009a). Theoretical framework and analytical tools were taken from Geld (2009b). We also analysed the development of strategic construal in three individual participants. Thus, individual case studies are also presented. In the theoretical part of this thesis we will focus on strategic meaning construal of particle verbs (PVs), previous research done on the Learner Corpus (Geld 2009a) and provide brief description of the procedure, categories, and most important findings regarding the differences between the PVs containing light and heavy verbs and particles out and in. The particle-verb analysis is separated into two parts – the PVs containing light verbs and the PVs containing heavy verbs. Each particle verb is analysed individually, and examples of both the verbal answers and pictorial representations are provided. Five categories important for this research are – topological determination, compositional meaning, lexical determination, (visual) paraphrase, and misinterpretation. The case studies are three participants – two Croats and one Mexican. Verbal answers and pictorial representations are analysed separately followed by discussion and conclusions

How can I produce a digital video artefact to facilitate greater understanding among youth workers of their own learning-to-learn competence?

In Ireland, youth work is delivered largely in marginalised communities and through non-formal and informal learning methods. Youth workers operate in small isolated organisations without many of the resources and structures to improve practice that is afforded to larger formal educational establishments. Fundamental to youth work practice is the ability to identify and construct learning experiences for young people in non-traditional learning environments. It is therefore necessary for youth workers to develop a clear understanding of their own learning capacity in order to facilitate learning experiences for young people. In the course of this research, I attempted to use technology to enhance and support the awareness among youth workers of their own learning capacity by creating a digital video artifact that explores the concept – learning-to-learn. This study presents my understanding of the learning-to-learn competence as, I sought to improve my practice as a youth service manager and youth work trainer. This study was conducted using an action research approach. I designed and evaluated the digital media artifact – “Lenny’s Quest” in collaboration with staff and trainer colleagues in the course of two cycles of action research, and my research was critiqued and validated throughout this process

Design reuse research : a computational perspective

This paper gives an overview of some computer based systems that focus on supporting engineering design reuse. Design reuse is considered here to reflect the utilisation of any knowledge gained from a design activity and not just past designs of artefacts. A design reuse process model, containing three main processes and six knowledge components, is used as a basis to identify the main areas of contribution from the systems. From this it can be concluded that while reuse libraries and design by reuse has received most attention, design for reuse, domain exploration and five of the other knowledge components lack research effort

Architecture and Visual Narrative

Architecture communication tools have been implemented in recent history by strategies and narrative artifices imported from cinema, comic, photo-journalism and infographic. The architect has integrated the traditional encoded drawing with more extensive narrative artifacts to expand the basin of its interlocutors and to describe underestimated aspects of architecture and design process. Through the illustration of recent significant experiences, this paper intends to highlight the great variety of images that can be attributed today to architecture and the lack of proper attention on this production by Visual Studies

Mapping the Common Gesture

The Common Gesture collaborative drawings are created through a series of directives that cultivate drawn relationships between body, material, and surface, between visual layers of gestures, signs, and marks, and between individual drawing participants and their collective presence. As an experiment in guided marking, graphic gaming, and shared creative labour, the drawings investigate both the limits and the potential of orchestrated group drawing. In the context of phenomenological discourse, the Common Gesture is a site of intersubjective drawing experience, wherein the image is figured and refigured according to the spatial rhythms produced by the material gestures and design strategies of the makers as enacted within, and emerging from, the drawing itself. This essay charts the evolution of a Common Gesture drawing developed at the TRACEY Conference Drawing || Phenomenology: tracing lived experience through drawing held at Loughborough University in September 2017

Parts of the Sum

Parts of the Sum is an installation of ceramic, wood, and drawn components which examines the symbiosis of individual and cultural identity: a recursive relationship which engenders unceasing diversity. The installation uses patterns and rule-based compositions as vehicles to address the development of complexity from compounded simplicity as it relates to personality. An immersive meta-network that emulates the complexity underlying identity, Parts of the Sum ultimately relies on the active participation and inclusion of the viewer for completion

Orthographic Projection and the Elaboration of the Imaginary

With the development of digital technologies, orthographic projection has been slowly removed from the process of architectural design. Instead, orthographic projection drawings are increasingly utilised purely post-design in the form of technical construction documents. Yet, according to Robin Evans orthographic projection is an active agency in the formation of images, and an effective agency for the elaboration of imaginary objects. Furthermore, for Iain Fraser and Rod Henmi orthographic projection produces conceptually sophisticated constructs whose abstract representation of space allows certain aspects and relationship to be seen which may not otherwise be visible. This thesis argues that the reduced role of orthographic projection in the process of design has affected architects' ability to elaborate the imaginary. To investigate the potential of orthographic projection in the elaboration of the imaginary, this thesis expands upon Marco Frascari's written theory of technological images as a palimpsest displaying three overlapping relationships: (1) between a real artefact and the reflected or projected image of it, (2) between a real artefact and its instrumental image, and (3) between the instrumental image and its symbolic image. To expand upon this theory graphically this thesis employs a methodology of architectural drawing as research. Outlined by Clemens Steenbergen, this framework proposes three distinct forms of architectural drawing that constitute research. This thesis couples these three forms with Frascari's three overlapping relationships of a technological image: (1) The Reproduction Drawings aim to register more accurately how something is made up through a process which interprets the object of observation and incorporates it into memory. These drawings embody the first overlapping relationship of Frascari's, technological image, between a real artefact and the projected image of it. (2) Analytical Drawings reveal abstract qualities and potentials by reducing the complex compositions of the first series to their elementary geometric forms, lines and grids. These drawings embody the second overlapping relationship, between a real artefact and its instrumental image. (3) Experimental Drawings project the reproduction and analytical drawings into an existing context to expand upon or reinforce the relationships and conceptual connections formed in relation to the site in the preceding two series. The effects of these interventions are assessed and altered, ultimately leading to new concepts and new compositions. These drawings aim to elaborate imaginative relationships between buildings and architectural ideas, through a process Frascari terms a mutual measure derived from a familiar nature. These drawings embody the third and final overlapping relationship between the instrumental and its symbolic image. By extending upon Frascari's theory graphically, this thesis argues that orthographic projection remains a valuable tool in the process of design. The real artefact chosen to demonstrate the continued value of orthographic projection is Wellington's Civic Square. This site was selected as the buildings located around its formal rectilinear domain offer a heterogeneous mix of civic architecture, ranging from the strictly orthogonal Town Hall and City Gallery to the curvilinear Public Library and City Administration Building. This site offers the opportunity to test both the advantages and disadvantages of orthographic projection, for the reading of architecture and the elaboration of the imaginary, within a formally diverse existing urban environment