Supervision in an alternative paradigm

Original article can be found at: http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue6/content.htmIn this paper we express our framing of supervision as preparation and training for professional practice as a researcher, rather than the culmination of tertiary education. Instead of discussing the supervisory activity, performance and best practice, we focus on the uniqueness of practice as a researcher in the creative arts as being constituted by an emerging and novel research paradigm. We develop the theoretical framework of Guba and Lincoln, contrasting their use of the term ‘paradigm’ with that of Kuhn. We identify research in the creative arts as being a so-called ‘alternative paradigm’ but having its own unique characteristics. However, we claim that these characteristics are not discretionary but related to generic characteristics of research. By developing Guba and Lincoln’s model, we argue that the characteristics of research in the creative arts cannot simply be translated or inferred from the characteristics of research in cognate disciplines, but must be derived from the worldview and values of the arts community. This involves identifying both generic and discipline-specific characteristics. We claim that the discipline-specific characteristics reflect the values that are found in professional practice, and the generic characteristics reflect the values that are found in academic research across disciplines. As a result of establishing criteria for the evaluation of activities as research in a novel paradigm such as the creative arts, we present a critical framework for thesis production that facilitates the inclusion of the researcher’s own creative work in the doctoral study. A number of issues arising from the experience of the authors as supervisors and examiners are discussed. Finally, a template for a seven-chapter thesis in the creative arts is proposed, which addresses common problems such as weaknesses in the single-case study approach and researcher bias in participant-observation studies.Peer reviewe

Inferring a collective concept of research from the actions of the art and design research community

This article examines output types as manifestations of different concepts of research. We compare the UK academic scene to that of Brazil, identifying the former as responding ‘bottom-up’ to researcher needs and the latter determining ‘top-down’ what researchers can do. Taking the UK model as indicative of what researchers think they need, we undertook a detailed analysis of the output types used in RAE2008 across all subjects in order to see which types were used and by whom. We also undertook a further analysis of the use of traditional, text-based formats in art and design, and the use of non-traditional, non-textual output types in other subjects. We conclude that both the journal format and the exhibition format are expressive of the understanding each community has of the meaning of research as an activity. This is further reinforced by the national structures within which research is undertaken and evaluatedPeer reviewedSubmitted Versio

Passive orbit control for space-based geo-engineering

In this Note we consider using solar sail propulsion to stabilize a spacecraft about an artificial libration point. It has been demonstrated that the constant acceleration from a solar sail can be used to generate artificial libration points in the Earth-Sun three-body problem. This is achieved by directing the thrust due to the sail such that it adds to the centripetal and gravitational forces. These libration points have the potential for future space physics and Earth observation missions. Of particular interest is the possibility of placing solar reflectors at the L1 artificial libration point to offset natural and human driven climate change. One engineering challenge that presents itself is that these artificial libration points are highly unstable and require active control for station-keeping. Previous work has shown that it is possible to stabilize a solar sail about artificial libration points using variations in both pitch and yaw angles. However, in a practical sense, solar sails are large structures and active control of the sail's attitude is a challenging engineering problem. Passive stabilization of such reflectors is to be investigated here to reduce the complexity of space-based geo-engineering schemes

A pedagogical proposal in an area of epistemological uncertainty

IV Projetar 2009: PROJETO COMO INVESTIGAÇÃO: ENSINO, PESQUISA E PRÁTICA FAU-UPM SÃO PAULO BRASIL, Outubro 2009In professional areas in which there is an element of design practice, such as architecture and urbanism, the academic model of knowledge has not been clearly articulated. This means that often the values held in professional practice run counter to the traditional models of knowledge and research that are adopted. As a result there is a problem in accounting for research in these areas in ways that will be recognised and valued by both communities. There is an ongoing debate about the best way of dealing with and reflecting these values that are, from the academic viewpoint, non-traditional. The debate has substantiated an emergent type of research that is specific to areas of design practice that is called ‘Practice-based Research’ (PbR). PbR claims that design practice has an instrumental role in research in areas such as design and urban planning. This role is different from the role of experimentation in traditional empirical research, and different from the role of practice in professional design practice. This paper describes the development and delivery of a research methods training course in the department of spatial planning and design (Stedenbouw) at the Technical University Delft (TU Delft, Netherlands) that builds on research by the ‘Non-traditional Knowledge and Communication’ project (NtKC) at the University of Hertfordshire (UK). The paper will analyse the way in which research and practice are problematized in the TU Delft course. We claim that the problem of PbR manifests the differences between the worldviews of academic research and professional practice, with their differing aims and values. As a result, training and expertise in the professional values of design practice is insufficient for academic research, leading to a need for specific training as a researcher that recognises these differences. This need has been accepted at an institutional level in many universities in Europe, and the TU Delft course represents one such training programme

An international collaboration for the development of a research training course in an emergent academic discipline

Proceedings of INTED2010 Conference. 8-10 March 2010, Valencia, Spain.In professional areas such as the creative and performing arts and design, the academic model of research has not been clearly articulated. This means that often the values held in advanced professional practice run counter to the traditional models of knowledge and research that are adopted in academia. As a result, there is a problem in accounting for research in these areas in ways that will be recognised and valued by both communities. There is an ongoing debate about the best way of dealing with and reflecting these professional values in academic research. This debate has substantiated an emergent type of research that is called ‘Practice-based Research’ (PbR). PbR introduces the claim that creative practice has an instrumental role in academic research in areas such as design and urban planning. This role is different from the one of experimentation in traditional empirical research, and different from the one of practice in professional creative practice. This paper describes the development and delivery of a research methods training course in the department of spatial planning and design (Stedenbouw) at the Technical University Delft (TU Delft, Netherlands) that engages directly with these fundamental problems. The course, Research and Design Methods, has served as a testing ground for many ideas stemming from the cooperation between TU Delft and the University of Hertfordshire (UH, UK). As part of the international knowledge transfer initiative, a member of staff from TU Delft has been working at the UH for a year. One of the outcomes of this collaboration is the design and delivery of a new course at TU Delft, which tackles the relationship between academic research and planning and design, through a dialogue between different views on the activities of the urban planner and the designer. There are challenges that arise when structuring a course within an area for which the epistemological, ontological and methodological questions are still under discussion by the community. The broad aim was to offer insight into non-traditional academic research tools and methods for different areas of urban design and planning within a broader academic context. This included the analysis of different academic traditions that were relevant for urban planning and design. We define research as a systematic investigation of a subject that leads to the production of explicit knowledge, and adds to the existing body of knowledge about the subject. In the paper, we analyse the way in which research and practice are problematized in the TU Delft course and claim that PbR manifests the differences between the worldviews of academic research and professional practice, with their different aims and values. As a result, training and expertise in the professional values of creative practice is insufficient for academic research. There is therefore a need for specific research training that addresses these differences. This need for discipline specific research training has been recognized in the Bologna Process and the TU Delft course represents one such training programme.otherPeer reviewe

Solar sail formation flying for deep-space remote sensing

In this paper we consider how 'near' term solar sails can be used in formation above the ecliptic plane to provide platforms for accurate and continuous remote sensing of the polar regions of the Earth. The dynamics of the solar sail elliptical restricted three-body problem (ERTBP) are exploited for formation flying by identifying a family of periodic orbits above the ecliptic plane. Moreover, we find a family of 1 year periodic orbits where each orbit corresponds to a unique solar sail orientation using a numerical continuation method. It is found through a number of example numerical simulations that this family of orbits can be used for solar sail formation flying. Furthermore, it is illustrated numerically that Solar Sails can provide stable formation keeping platforms that are robust to injection errors. In addition practical trajectories that pass close to the Earth and wind onto these periodic orbits above the ecliptic are identified

Control of solar sail periodic orbits in the elliptic three-body problem

A solar sail essentially consists of a large mirror that uses the momentum change due to photons reflecting off the sail for its impulse. Solar sails are therefore unique spacecraft, as they do not require fuel for propulsion [1]. In this Note we consider using the solar sail to continuously maintain a periodic orbit above the ecliptic plane using variations in the sail's orientation. Positioning a spacecraft continuously above the ecliptic would allow continuous observation and communication with the poles