Research journeys:Making the invisible, visual

We argue for a new way of using pictorial publications to communicate the social, cultural, and material contexts in which "in the wild" research is carried out. Such research often allows for partial researcher perspectives, as the researchers travel to, encounter, and leave those places. However, in HCI research, the journeys and interactions in and around those places are rarely reported directly in archival papers. We argue that those journeys and interactions directly inform how we make sense of the project, and thus should be recorded and shared appropriately. We argue that pictorials can be a format that breaks the boundary between "supplementary materials" and archival publications, and allows us to do that sharing function. We illustrate this argument through reporting of our Research Journey to a number of islands off the west coast of Ireland as part of a project that is developing technology to support rural community radio

Visualization of Information and Visual Methods as Strategic Tools to Project Management

O gerenciamento de projetos tem possibilitado melhores resultados e vantagem competitiva nas organizações. Os projetos, geralmente, são alimentados por uma vasta quantidade de informações que necessitam ser analisadas e seus significados extraídos para a solução de problemas. Manter um gerenciamento adequado e sistemático não é uma tarefa fácil execução e, muitas vezes, se torna uma barreira. Nessa perspectiva, surgem os métodos visuais e a visualização da informação como ferramentas estratégicas para mitigarem os problemas do gerenciamento de projetos. Por meio de métodos visuais e da visualização, as informações são descobertas e explicitadas, a equipe é coordenada e o volume de informações é tratado substancialmente. O objetivo desse estudo é analisar a influência dos métodos visuais e da visualização da informação nos fatores de gerenciamento de projetos: comunicação, demandas (restrições) e ciclo de vida. Com uma pesquisa descritiva e quantitativa, foi aplicado um questionário semiestruturado com escala do tipo likert, composto por cinco variáveis: ciclo de vida, demandas do projeto, comunicação, visualização da informação e métodos visuais. Foram aplicados 386 questionários a alunos de Pós-Graduação Lato Sensu em Gerenciamento de Projetos, Stricto Sensu em Sistemas de Informações e profissionais da área. Obteve-se 359 respondentes válidos e verificou-se que há o reconhecimento da importância dos métodos visuais e visualização da informação no gerenciamento do projeto, além da existência de relações incipientes.Project management offers better results and competitive possibilities in organizations. Projects are usually fed by a vast amount of information that needs to be analyzed for problem solving. Maintaining proper and systematic management is not a simple task and is often a barrier. From this perspective, visual methods and a vision of information appear as strategic tools to mitigate the problems of project management. Through visual and informational methods, as information is discovered and made explicit, a team of coordination and volume of information are substantially treated. The objective of the study is to analyze the influence of visual methods and information visualization on project management factors: communication, demands (restrictions) and life cycle. Through a descriptive and quantitative research, a semi structured questionnaire with a likert-like scale was applied, composed of five variables: life cycle, project demands, communication, information visualization and visual methods. 386 questionnaires were applied to MBA students in Project Management, graduate students in Information Systems and professionals in the area. Were obtained 359 valid respondents and we verify that there is recognition of the importance of visual methods and information without project management

Caution Children Playing: Exploring the Attitudes and Perceptions of Head-Teachers relating to Physical Risky-Play in Four to Eight Year-olds in Three State Primary Schools in Northern England

This study explores the attitudes of primary school Head-teachers with regard to physical risky play in four to eight-year-olds. Perceptions of the barriers to facilitating risky play within school were examined. Potential barriers to facilitating risky play within school were examined; particularly the relationship and balance between attitudes to risk-taking – including its benefits, and wider influences on school policy, culture and practice on risky play. A purposive sample of three state primary school Head-teachers, based in Northern England, contributed to the research. Data was collated via semi-structured qualitative interviews enhanced by photo-elicitation techniques. The findings indicate that the Head-teachers embrace risky play as a means of enriching learning as well as establishing positive learning dispositions and risk negotiating skills. In addition to scholastic benefits, the head-teachers regard risky play as a means of ensuring children’s personal, social and emotional development and wellbeing. Barriers to risky play are numerous and include wider cultural influences and risk aversion. However, increased curriculum demands and fear of Ofsted judgement appear to affect teaching practices and to limit time available for risky play within the school day. Familiarity with the benefits of play and an enabling approach when assessing risk appear to be significant in influencing risky play practices. Risky play is regarded positively by the participants, which prompts its inclusion in their school practice and ethos. Consequently, the influence of barriers to risky play was diminished. This study’s exploration of Head-teachers’ perceptions of risky play adds to the shared understanding of how risky play is perceived and how those insights affect primary school policy and decision making, with the intention of informing practice